Benyam
Mohammed
Lynne
Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer given by her
predecessor to Q36 of oral evidence taken before the Foreign Affairs
Committee on 13 December 2005, what form the misinformation referred to
about the case of Benyam Mohammed (al-Habashi) took.
[80070]
Dr.
Howells: Serious allegations have been made concerning
mistreatment of Mr. Al Habashi. As my right hon. Friend the
former Foreign Secretary (Mr. Straw) made clear, Mr. Al
Habashi was interviewed once by a member of the UK Security Service
while he was in detention in Karachi in 2002. The Security Service had
no role in his capture or in his
27 Jun 2006 : Column 345W
transfer from Pakistan. The Intelligence and Security Committee report
“Handling of Detainees by UK Intelligence Personnel in
Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and Iraq” of March 2005 gave details
of the guidance under which such interviews were conducted, and the
service officer did not observe any abuse and no instances of abuse
were reported to him by Mr.
Habashi.
The
Government, including the intelligence and security agencies, never
uses torture for any purpose, including to obtain information. Nor does
the Government or its Security and Intelligence Services ever
instigate, condone or otherwise support others in the use of torture
for any purpose.
British
Passports
Mr.
Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British passports have been
issued by her Department overseas in each of the last five years,
broken down by country; and in how many cases the recipient was issued
with a passport for the first time in each case.
[79171]
Dr.
Howells: The number of British passports that have been
issued overseas in each of the last five years is shown as follows. The
table also provides a breakdown by issuing country. Data are not
available for financial year (FY) 2001-02 as we did not begin to keep
records until FY 2002-03. The figures for FY 2005-06 are derived from a
source different from that of the previous years and will be adjusted
in due course and when global figures are available from the consular
annual returns from overseas posts. We are unable to tell in how many
cases the recipient was issued with a passport for the first time, as
our records do not provide data on the number of first time applicants
for passports.
The
total number of British passports issued overseas rounded to the
nearest thousand
is:
| FY | Number |
2002-03 | 450,000 |
2003-04 | 447,000 |
2004-05 | 453,000 |
2005-06 | 438,000 |
A
breakdown of figures on passport issues by issuing
country:
| | Passport
issues |
| Country | FY
2002-03 | FY
2003-04 | FY
2004-05 | FY
2005-06 |
Algeria | 63 | — | — | — |
Angola | 103 | — | — | 26 |
Argentina | 649 | 712 | 1,066 | 902 |
Australia | 53,011 | 44,138 | 61,549 | 66,162 |
Austria | 941 | 1,074 | 1,362 | 1,644 |
Azerbaijan | 126 | 219 | 287 | 334 |
Bahrain | 1,073 | 999 | 972 | 1,233 |
Bangladesh | 790 | 905 | 806 | 1,187 |
Barbados | 2,267 | 2,614 | 3,372 | 2,495 |
Belarus | 7 | — | — | — |
27 Jun 2006 : Column 346W
Belgium | 3,612 | 4,324 | 4,430 | 4,181 |
Belize | 130 | — | — | — |
Bolivia | 267 | 170 | 204 | 168 |
Bosnia
and
Herzegovina | 54 | — | — | — |
Botswana | 576 | 516 | 455 | 442 |
Brazil | 932 | 1,021 | 1,228 | 1,229 |
Brunei | 674 | 681 | 576 | 633 |
Burma | 46 | — | — | — |
Canada | 24,268 | 27,728 | 23,263 | 28,160 |
Chile | 460 | 498 | 558 | 581 |
China | 118,348 | 109,537 | 81,386 | 62,068 |
Colombia | 323 | 319 | 432 | 353 |
Congo
(Democratic
Republic) | 39 | — | — | — |
Costa
Rica | 237 | 387 | 730 | 575 |
Croatia | 89 | — | — | — |
Cuba | 65 | 61 | 66 | 76 |
Curacao | 16 | — | — | — |
Cyprus | 6,070 | 5,033 | 6,382 | 6,219 |
Czech
Republic | 554 | 647 | 668 | 860 |
Denmark | 1,721 | 1,745 | 1,932 | 2,084 |
Dominican
Republic | 60 | 61 | 164 | 167 |
Ecuador | 212 | 261 | 274 | 222 |
Egypt | 1,098 | 1,741 | 1,399 | 1,287 |
El
Salvador | 39 | — | — | — |
Estonia | 61 | 70 | 77 | 93 |
Ethiopia | 115 | 126 | 148 | 149 |
Fiji | 270 | — | 118 | — |
Finland | 357 | 449 | 434 | 509 |
France | 14,455 | 18,598 | 20,624 | 22,417 |
Gambia | 76 | 156 | 196 | 175 |
Germany | 16,197 | 15,387 | 18,145 | 16,383 |
Ghana | 519 | 507 | 698 | 639 |
Greece | 2,423 | 2,388 | 2,691 | 2,724 |
Guatemala | 188 | — | — | — |
Guyana | 292 | — | 170 | 199 |
Honduras | 95 | — | — | — |
Hungary | 533 | — | 463 | 573 |
Iceland | 102 | 88 | 90 | 96 |
India | 3,014 | 2,400 | 3,073 | 2,921 |
Indonesia | 1,034 | 1,040 | 1,200 | 1,181 |
Iran | 310 | 230 | 298 | 336 |
Ireland | 9,582 | 10,024 | 10,893 | 10,813 |
Israel | 3,357 | 3,062 | 5,784 | 5,537 |
Italy | 4,029 | 4,302 | 4,994 | 5,313 |
Ivory
Coast | 117 | — | — | — |
Jamaica | 2,451 | 2,531 | 2,375 | 2,487 |
Japan | 1,959 | 2,176 | 2,652 | 2,506 |
Jerusalem | 1,299 | 978 | — | — |
Jordan | 581 | 749 | 826 | 740 |
Kazakhstan | 77 | — | — | — |
Kenya | 2,273 | 2,853 | 4,050 | 2,361 |
Kuwait | 685 | 543 | 792 | 800 |
Latvia | 37 | — | — | — |
Lebanon | 585 | 519 | 622 | 692 |
Lesotho | 77 | — | — | — |
Libya | — | 303 | 364 | 419 |
27 Jun 2006 : Column 347W
Lithuania | 29 | — | — | — |
Luxembourg | 722 | 787 | — | — |
Macedonia | 95 | — | — | — |
Malawi | 569 | 785 | 920 | 676 |
Malaysia | 0 | 1,482 | 1,818 | 1,732 |
Malta | 923 | 936 | 842 | 904 |
Mauritius | 662 | 486 | 833 | 659 |
Mexico | 385 | 615 | 1,264 | 1,193 |
Mongolia | 47 | 26 | 28 | 33 |
Morocco | 241 | 186 | 277 | 241 |
Mozambique | 144 | — | — | — |
Namibia | 177 | 172 | 144 | 167 |
Nepal | 566 | 162 | 156 | 199 |
Netherlands | 6,511 | 6,274 | 5,919 | 6,021 |
New
Zealand | 17,495 | 18,341 | 21,590 | 22,604 |
Nicaragua | 41 | — | — | — |
Nigeria | 1,589 | 1,259 | 1,881 | 1,661 |
Norway | 1,684 | 1,625 | 1,925 | 2,069 |
Oman | 776 | 801 | 762 | 780 |
Pakistan | 4,269 | 3,932 | 4,726 | 5,681 |
Panama | 102 | — | — | — |
Papua
New
Guinea | 94 | — | — | — |
Paraguay | 33 | — | — | — |
Peru | 380 | 443 | 597 | 411 |
Philippines | 1,295 | 1,300 | 1,925 | 1,221 |
Poland | 429 | 590 | 566 | 656 |
Portugal | 1,805 | 1,985 | 2,293 | 2,144 |
Qatar | 701 | 708 | 873 | 972 |
Romania | 167 | 225 | 220 | 192 |
Russia | 479 | 510 | 656 | 783 |
Saudi
Arabia | 3,268 | 2,635 | 2,482 | 2,185 |
Senegal | 22 | — | — | — |
Serbia
and
Montenegro | 100 | 115 | 184 | 223 |
Seychelles | 291 | 147 | 171 | 129 |
Sierra
Leone | 98 | 116 | 292 | 300 |
Singapore | 3,867 | 4,429 | 5,149 | 4,501 |
Slovakia | 74 | — | — | — |
Slovenia | 33 | — | — | — |
Solomon
Islands | 17 | — | — | — |
South
Africa | 22,781 | 22,875 | 17,464 | 21,750 |
South
Korea | 316 | 263 | 356 | 422 |
Spain | 22,772 | 18,915 | 19,500 | 20,645 |
Sri
Lanka | 383 | 372 | 484 | 521 |
Sudan | 127 | — | — | — |
Swaziland | 227 | — | — | — |
Sweden | 1,366 | 1,583 | 1,867 | 1,939 |
Switzerland | — | 6,882 | 7,224 | 6,100 |
Syria | 231 | 223 | 221 | 215 |
Tanzania | 408 | 662 | 665 | 482 |
Thailand | 3,469 | 3,265 | 4,559 | 5,081 |
The
Bahamas | 413 | — | — | — |
Tonga | 19 | — | — | — |
Trinidad
and
Tobago | 742 | 1,109 | 1,345 | 1,022 |
Tunisia | 136 | 70 | 146 | 188 |
Turkey | 1,289 | 537 | 1,255 | 1,564 |
Turkmenistan | 2 | — | — | — |
27 Jun 2006 : Column 348W
Uganda | 280 | 260 | 365 | 343 |
Ukraine | 60 | 61 | 107 | 131 |
United
Arab
Emirates | 3,719 | 5,155 | 6,153 | 6,810 |
Uruguay | 69 | — | — | — |
USA | 49,649 | 55,034 | 52,746 | 45,178 |
Vanuatu | 27 | — | — | — |
Venezuela | 1,069 | 519 | 715 | 565 |
Vietnam | 339 | 344 | 403 | 441 |
Yemen | 272 | 179 | 191 | 396 |
Zambia | 620 | 752 | 791 | 649 |
Zimbabwe | 2,862 | 2,356 | 2,513 | 1,998 |
Total | 449,897 | 447,358 | 452,901 | 438,128 |
