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10 Mar 2004 : Column 1570W—continued
Asylum and Immigration
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of provision for (a) the processing of asylum applications and (b) the housing of asylum seekers in Northern Ireland. [157969]
Beverley Hughes: The UK Immigration Service has staff based at Belfast International Airport part of whose responsibility is to screen new asylum applicants encountered in Northern Ireland.
After screening, new applicants are normally interviewed by staff from the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's Asylum Casework Group to determine whether they have a valid claim, as is the procedure elsewhere in the UK.
The number of asylum applications received in Northern Ireland is relatively low and I am confident that the numbers of staff and facilities available for this work is commensurate with the current level of demand.
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive has responsibility for housing those asylum seekers who are supported by the National Asylum Support Service. These asylum seekers are referred to the Housing Executive by the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities. The National Asylum Support Service does not disperse asylum seekers to Northern Ireland and the numbers supported there are low. Accommodation is provided to acceptable standards and is subject to housing inspections.
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many travellers were subject to immigration control at (a) Heathrow and (b) all other UK ports in each of the last five years for which there are records; and of these, what proportion were referred to medical inspectors (i) at Heathrow and (ii) at other ports. [156845]
Beverley Hughes: The figures for travellers subject to immigration control and who were granted leave to enter at (a) Heathrow and (b) all other UK ports in each of the last five years are as follows.
| Heathrow | Other ports | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 6.7 | 4.8 | 11.5 |
| 1999 | 6.8 | 5.2 | 12.0 |
| 2000 | 7.4 | 5.6 | 13.0 |
| 2001 | 7.4 | 5.4 | 12.8 |
| 2002(25) | 7.7 | 4.9 | 12.6 |
(25) Provisional.
Notes:
1. The data are of the number of journeys made; a person who makes more than one journey is counted on each occasion.
2. Long-standing policy is that any person subject to immigration control who:
(i) mentions health or medical treatment as a reason for coming to the United Kingdom, or appears unwell; or
(ii) is seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom for six months or more and is at high risk of having been exposed to tuberculosis should be referred by the immigration officer to a medical inspector.
The Department of Health does not collect data on the number of referrals for medical inspection. Data supplied by Heathrow and Gatwick health control units indicates the following number of referrals over the previous five years:
| Heathrow | Gatwick | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 72,079 | Not known |
| 1999–2000 | 88,079 | 7,705 |
| 2000–01 | 108,170 | 5,845 |
| 2001–02 | 148,619 | 6,960 |
| 2002–03 | 164,655 | 3,745 |
Since these figures relate to financial years and those for travellers calendar years it is not possible to determine the actual proportion of travellers who were referred to the medical inspector.
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether an on site nurse forms part of the service contracted by the National Asylum Support Service from Angel Heights, Newcastle; and whether this contract provides for female support workers as a result of a recent change in clients; [157044]
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- (2) what payments his Department has made to NHS agencies and services in Newcastle in this financial year in respect of asylum seeker dispersal support. [157045]
Beverley Hughes: The Home Office is not responsible for providing funding to NHS agencies to meet the costs of providing medical treatment to asylum seekers who have been dispersed. The National Asylum Support System does not provide on site nurses in any of its dispersal accommodation.
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful asylum applications there have been from Ethiopian citizens in the last five years; and how many of the unsuccessful applicants have been deported. [157650]
Beverley Hughes: The table shows the number of asylum applications and initial decisions for nationals of Ethiopia (excluding dependants) in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. Initial decisions do not necessarily relate to applications received in the same period.
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001(29) | 2002(30) | 2003(30) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applications received | 455 | 415 | 610 | 700 | 640 |
| Initial decisions | |||||
| Total initial decisions | 260 | 895 | 1,175 | 705 | 740 |
| Cases considered under normal procedures | |||||
| Grants of asylum | 20 | 40 | 90 | 50 | 15 |
| Grants of ELR | 5 | 80 | 240 | 170 | 40 |
| Grants of HP | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | — |
| Grants of DL | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 95 |
| Total refusals | 35 | 355 | 845 | 485 | 590 |
| Backlog clearance exercise | |||||
| Grants of ELR under backlog criteria(31) , (32) | 190 | 390 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Non compliance refusals under backlog criteria(31) , (33) | 10 | 30 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
n/a = not applicable.
(26) Figures rounded to the nearest five.
(27) Decision figures do not necessarily relate to applications received in the same period.
(28) Information is of initial determination decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.
(29) Revised figures.
(30) Provisional figures.
(31) Cases decided under pragmatic measures aimed at reducing the pre 1996 asylum backlog.
(32) May include a small number of cases where asylum has been granted.
(33) May include a small number of cases where the application has been refused on substantive grounds.
The table shows the available data, for outcomes of adjudicator appeals at the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA) for nationals of Ethiopia in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Appeals may relate to initial decisions made in earlier periods. Corresponding information on appeals to the Immigration Appellate Tribunal (IAT) relating to Ethiopian nationals (including appeals made by the Secretary of State) is not available and could be produced only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case files. Data on the nationality of appeals made in 1999 and 2000 are not available.
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| Number of principal appellants | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Appeals determined by adjudicators | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Total determined | 265 | 615 | 1,060 |
| Allowed | |||
| Total | 110 | 230 | 325 |
| As percentage of determined | 42 | 37 | 31 |
| Dismissed | |||
| Total | 140 | 340 | 685 |
| As percentage of determined | 53 | 55 | 65 |
| Withdrawn | |||
| Total | 15 | 50 | 50 |
| As percentage of determined | 6 | 8 | 5 |
(34) Provisional figures rounded to nearest 5 (except percentages). Figures may not add up due to independent rounding. Data on appeal outcomes by nationality in this table are derived from Immigration and Nationality Directorate electronic sources.
(35) Figures include cases withdrawn by the Home Office, as well as the appellant.
Deportations are a specific subset of removals alongside persons subject to administrative removal, removal due to illegal entry action or those refused entry at port and subsequently removed.
Estimates of the number of nationals of Ethiopia who had sought asylum at some stage and who were removed from the UK between January 2001 and September 2003 (the latest date for which figures are available) are shown in the table. These figures include persons departing 'voluntarily' after the initiation of enforcement action against them, and persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Returns Programmes run by the International Organization for Migration. Removals do not necessarily relate to initial decisions made in the same period. Data on the nationality of removals made in 1999 and 2000 are not available.
| Number | |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 10 |
| 2002 | 10 |
| January to September 2003 | * |
(36) Includes persons departing "voluntarily" after enforcement action had been initiated against them, persons leaving under Assisted voluntary return programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration, and removals on safe third country grounds.
(37) Figures rounded to the nearest five, with "*" = 1or 2.
(38) Data have been estimated due to data quality issues.
(39) Provisional figures
Information on asylum applications, initial decisions, appeals and removals are published quarterly. The current publication covering the fourth quarter of 2003, and provisional 2003 data, is available on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html. Data on the nationality of removals are published a quarter in arrears. Data for the final quarter of 2003 will be published at the end of May.
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