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HOME DEPARTMENT

Accession State Workers

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of nationals of the new EU member states who were working in a self-employed capacity in the UK on 31 January. [66382]

Mr. McNulty: The Accession Treaty allows nationals of the new member states to establish a business in the UK if they choose on the same terms as UK nationals.
 
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Self-employed migrants from the new EU member states are not required to register under the Worker Registration Scheme and as such there are no reliable estimates of the number of self-employed accession nationals in the UK.

Airport Security

Mr. Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government are taking to safeguard the UK's borders at airports. [66698]

Mr. McNulty: At major airports, Border Control has staff deployed to meet all services requiring immigration control. At smaller airports, resources are deployed on an intelligence led risk basis to deal with passengers who require leave to enter. The IAN Act 2006 provides additional powers to deal more effectively with people posing a threat to border security, including the capture of data on passengers and fingerprinting of those detained. The Border Management Programme ensures that the three border agencies (HMRC, UKIS and the Police) work more closely together to maximise border security while minimising the impact on legitimate traffic. MATRA groups (Multi Agency Threat and Risk Assessment Group) at airports bring together border agencies, operators and carriers to identify and assess risks to general security and put in place action plans in order to counter any potential threats. e-Borders is a multi agency programme to harness passenger information and use new technology to provide more effective border controls. Project Semaphore, as part of the e-Borders programme, is further strengthening the border through the use of an advance passenger information processing system and the adoption of a proactive intelligence led approach.

Assisted Suicide/Infanticide

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) males and (b) females (i) were found guilty of and (ii) pleaded guilty to complicity in or assisting (A) a suicide and (B) infanticide in Coventry and the West Midlands in the last period for which figures are available. [65939]

Hazel Blears: rom the Court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform show that there were no convictions for aiding and abetting suicide in Coventry and the West Midlands in 2004. Offences of complicity in or assisting infanticide cannot be separated from the offence of infanticide itself in the data held. However the records show that there were no convictions for infanticide in Coventry and the West Midlands in 2004.

Figures for 2005 will be available in the autumn of 2006.

Asylum/Immigration

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department's policy is on the deportation of failed asylum seekers to the Democratic Republic of Congo; and if he will intercede in the case of Aleen Monka' bie Izai. [64926]

 
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Mr. McNulty: Congolese claimants who have been found by the Home Office and the appeals process not to be in need of international protection and have no legal basis of stay in the UK are expected to return to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Home Office works with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to facilitate voluntary returns of failed asylum seekers to any region of DRC. Where an individual does not return voluntarily, removal may be enforced. As with all countries, returns of failed asylum seekers to DRC are considered on an individual case basis.

With reference to the case of Aleen Monka' bie Izai, while it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the case, any representations received will be fully considered.

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on granting asylum to refugees from Darfur; and if he will make a statement. [65555]

Mr. McNulty: Asylum applications from all nationalities, including Darfuris from Sudan, are assessed on a case by case basis against the background of current country information.

Current reports from the foremost governmental and non-governmental human rights monitors confirm previously held information that tribal leaders, prominent activists and intellectuals of non-Arab ethnic Darfuri origin are at increasing risk of treatment amounting to persecution outside of the Darfur regions. In these cases the grant of asylum is likely to be appropriate. However, the available country information does not indicate that ordinary non-Arab ethnic Darfuris are likely to be at risk of treatment amounting to persecution outside Darfur. In these cases the grant of asylum is unlikely to be appropriate.

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department used to assess the suitability of the set of questions recently formulated by a group of senior Anglican clergy to assess the faith of asylum seekers. [65645]

Andy Burnham: Asylum caseworkers are trained to conduct interviews in a professional manner and to determine asylum claims fairly in accordance with our obligations under the 1951 Convention. However, cases where an individual claims to be at risk of persecution due to a faith conversion can raise sensitive issues where there are doubts about the genuineness of the conversion. The paper submitted by the clergy does not provide a set of questions to test an individual's conversion but will form the basis for further discussion and use in guidance to caseworkers. This will be taken forward in consultation with the clergy concerned and other stakeholders.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for asylum have been rejected on the grounds of asylum but have been approved, whether or not on appeal, on human rights grounds in each year since 1997. [65830]

Mr. McNulty: Information on the number of decisions to grant exceptional leave, humanitarian protection or discretionary leave are published
 
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quarterly and annually. Copies are available from the Library of the House and on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate web site at http://homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for section 4 support were received by National Asylum Support Service in each month since 1 January 2006; and how many of these applications resulted in a grant of such support. [65982]

Mr. McNulty: Section 4 support statistics are published on a quarterly basis, figures for January, February and March 2006 will be published on 23 May 2006. These will be available on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many flights have been made to Erbil airport from the UK for the purpose of returning failed asylum seekers to Iraq in each of the last two years; how many such people have been on these flights; and how many of these were voluntary returns. [66517]

Mr. McNulty: Between 16 August 2005 and 27 April 2006 there have been 21 charter flights which have returned 1,019 Iraqis under the VARRP (Voluntary Assisted Return and Integration Programme). Prior to 16 August all returns were made by way of flights from the UK to Jordan, with the returnees continuing their journey overland from Amman to Baghdad.

In the last two years there has been one flight from the UK to Erbil for the purpose of enforcing the removal of failed asylum seekers. This flight was on 20 November 2005 and returned 15 Iraqis.

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) asylum seekers and (b) migrants are registered with the police. [50667]

Mr. McNulty: Asylum seekers are not required to register their details with the police, although they may be required to report to the police as a condition of their temporary admission.

Bruche Police Training Centre

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions the Department has held on the future use of the Bruche Police Training Centre. [64744]

Hazel Blears: The Bruche site will continue to be used in its capacity as a police training centre up until 26 May this year. Decisions regarding the future of this Centrex site are the responsibility of the Centrex board and Chief Executive. The Home Office remains closely involved in the process of disposing of the site, both through the board and directly with the officials in Centrex. Discussions are not currently focused on the future use of the site as options around future use will depend largely on who takes an interest in purchasing the site once it is placed on the market.
 
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