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2 Mar 2007 : Column 1606W—continued


Islam

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to tackle Islamic extremism. [124501]

Mr. Woolas [holding answer 1 March 2007]: The Government remain strongly committed to working with Muslim communities to tackle violent extremism. A security response alone however will not be sufficient to win hearts and minds. We have made it clear that it is not good enough to merely sit on the sidelines or pay lip service to fighting extremism. We are working with those organisations that are taking a proactive leadership role in tackling extremism and defending our shared values, such as the British Muslim Forum and Sufi Muslim Council and others.

On Monday 26 February 2007, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government set out in more detail our approach towards preventing extremism in her speech to the British Muslim Forum. The text of this speech can be found at

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Burma: Human Rights

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions the Government have had with (a) China and (b) Russia on the political and human rights situation in Burma. [124102]

Mr. McCartney: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown) on 24 January 2007, Official Report, column 1840W.


2 Mar 2007 : Column 1607W

In addition, officials raised Burma at the UK/Russia Human Rights Consultation in London on 22-23 January.

Burma: Politics and Government

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Government will bring pressure to bear on the military regime in Burma to (a) engage in dialogue with democratic and ethnic groups in the country and (b) move towards a transition to federal democracy. [124103]

Mr. McCartney: We have repeatedly called for the restoration of democracy in Burma. I reiterated this call in my meeting with the Burmese ambassador on 15 June 2006 and my letter to the Burmese Foreign Minister of 5 July 2006. In my statements of 2 June 2006, 2 October 2006, 19 October 2006 and 15 February 2007 I called for the release of political prisoners in order to allow a genuine and inclusive national reconciliation process to begin. We have worked in the United Nations Security Council, with our EU partners and in our contacts with key partners in the region to keep up the pressure for peaceful transition to democracy. We have consistently maintained that it is for the people of Burma to decide on their most appropriate form of democratic government.

Departments: Complaints

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many complaints from the public were received by (a) the (i) corporate affairs, (ii) consular services, (iii) protocol, (iv) defence and intelligence, (v) globalisation and (vi) political sections of her Department, (b) UK Trade and Investment, (c) UK Visas, (d) each embassy overseas and (e) each consulate overseas in (A) 1997-98, (B) 2001-02 and (C) 2005-06; and how many have been received by each in 2006-07. [124460]

Mr. Hoon: This information is not held centrally and would be disproportionately costly to compile.

Entry Clearances

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in which 50 countries the most work permit visas were issued from an overseas mission in 2005-06. [122400]

Dr. Howells: I refer the hon. Member to the following table:


2 Mar 2007 : Column 1608W

2 Mar 2007 : Column 1609W
Top 50 countries that issued UK work permit visas during 2005-06
Country Received Issued Refused Issue rate (%)

India

23,315

22,032

1,261

94

United States

6,752

6,652

57

99

Bangladesh

621

3,038

218

489

China

3,305

2,880

450

87

South Africa

2,893

2,800

93

97

Australia

2,518

2,497

2

99

Philippines

2,692

2,463

221

91

Japan

1,925

1,903

2

99

Pakistan

2,455

1,809

918

74

Ukraine

1,701

1,653

47

97

Romania

1,731

1,649

77

95

Bulgaria

1,691

1,648

55

97

Russian Federation

1,175

1,149

34

98

Canada

1,051

1,002

16

95

Malaysia

725

683

66

94

Thailand

759

640

95

84

New Zealand

628

609

4

97

Singapore

618

587

17

95

France

599

552

30

92

Korea

568

538

25

95

Jamaica

633

524

100

83

United Arab Emirates

503

502

7

100

Sri Lanka

535

469

59

88

Turkey

477

461

26

97

Belarus

409

398

6

97

Brazil

394

380

9

96

Germany

399

374

18

94

Israel

397

373

17

94

Moldova

454

373

79

82

Nigeria

470

338

137

72

Zimbabwe

363

321

44

88

Saudi Arabia

329

308

13

94

Cuba

291

291

0

100

Ghana

393

274

127

70

Netherlands

259

246

3

95

Egypt

237

237

1

100

Kenya

286

232

45

81

Irish Republic

249

229

14

92

Mexico

184

183

0

99

Colombia

221

178

43

81

Indonesia

186

174

17

94

Botswana

151

152

0

101

Lebanon

148

140

5

95

Spain

141

137

1

97

Trinidad and Tobago

135

135

0

100

Yugoslavia

131

131

0

100

Senegal

138

130

0

94

Switzerland

130

128

0

98

Argentina

127

126

1

99

Mauritius

114

118

1

104

Notes:
If applications issued and refused do not equal the total of applications received, it is usually for the following reasons:
1. Applications can be carried forward from one year to another before being resolved.
2. There may be instances of appeals received prior to 2005-06, however granted during 2005-06, which will be reflected in the issue figure.
3. Applications can also be referred to the Home Office for a decision to be taken, or for further inquiries to be carried out, or for sponsors to be interviewed. In these circumstances, delays can and do occur between the application being received and a decision being taken.
Source:
Central Reference System (CRS) 20 February 2007

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