It is not possible to say how many asylum applicants left voluntarily with or without financial assistance; this information would only be available by examination of individual case files at disproportionate cost.
Published statistics on immigration and asylum are available from the Library of the House.
| Removals, voluntary departures and assisted returns (1)(2) of asylum applicants, excluding dependants (3), nationals of Eritrea and Ethiopia, 1997 to 2003 (4) |
| Number of removals |
| Nationality | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 (E) | 2002 (E) | 2003 (E) |
|
Eritrea
|
5
|
*
|
..
|
..
|
5
|
5
|
10
|
|
Ethiopia
|
15
|
10
|
..
|
..
|
10
|
10
|
5
|
| (1) Includes enforced removals and persons departing voluntarily after enforcement action had been initiated against them. |
| (2) Includes persons leaving under assisted voluntary return programmes run by the International Organization for Migration from 1999 onwards. |
| (3) Figures exclude dependants of asylum applicants removed. Data on dependants removed by nationality are not available prior to 2004. |
| (4) Figures rounded to the nearest five (* = 1 or 2). |
| (E) Data have been estimated due to data quality issues. |
| .. Data are not available for 1999 and 2000 |
| Removals, voluntary departures and assisted returns (1)(2) of asylum applicants, including dependants, nationals of Eritrea, in 2004 to 2006 (3) |
| Number of removals |
| Year | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 (P) |
|
Total asylum applicants removed (4)
|
45
|
130
|
455
|
|
of whom: removed to Eritrea
|
*
|
*
|
*
|
|
of whom: removed to other and destination unknown
|
45
|
130
|
455
|
|
Persons removed and voluntary departures (5)(6)
|
45
|
130
|
450
|
14 Nov 2007 : Column WA15
14 Nov 2007 : Column WA16
|
of whom: removed to Eritrea
|
-
|
*
|
*
|
|
of whom: removed to other and destination unknown
|
45
|
130
|
450
|
|
Persons leaving under assisted voluntary return programmes (7)
|
*
|
*
|
5
|
|
of whom: removed to Eritrea
|
*
|
-
|
-
|
|
of whom: removed to other and destination unknown
|
-
|
*
|
5
|
| (1) Includes enforced removals, persons departing voluntarily after enforcement action had been initiated against them and persons leaving under assisted voluntary return programmes run by the International Organization for Migration. |
| (2) Since January 2005 figures include those whom it is established have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities. |
| (3) Figures are rounded to the nearest five (- = 0, * = 1 or 2) and may not sum to the totals shown because of independent rounding. |
| (4) Persons who had sought asylum at some stage, including dependants. |
| (5) Includes persons departing voluntarily after enforcement action had been initiated against them and since January 2005 those whom it is established have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities. |
| (6) Excludes assisted voluntary returns. |
| (7) Persons leaving under assisted voluntary return programmes run by the International Organization for Migration. May include some cases where enforcement action has been initiated. |
| (P) Provisional figures. |
| Removals, voluntary departures and assisted returns (1)(2) of asylum applicants, including dependants, nationals of Ethiopia, in 2004 to 2006 (3) |
| Number of removals |
| Year | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 (P) |
|
Total asylum applicants removed (4)
|
35
|
55
|
125
|
|
of whom: removed to Ethiopia
|
20
|
35
|
75
|
|
of whom: removed to other and destination unknown
|
15
|
20
|
45
|
|
Persons removed and voluntary departures (5)(6)
|
25
|
40
|
95
|
|
of whom: removed to Ethiopia
|
5
|
25
|
45
|
|
of whom: removed to other and destination unknown
|
15
|
20
|
45
|
|
Persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes (7)
|
10
|
15
|
30
|
|
of whom: removed to Ethiopia
|
10
|
15
|
30
|
|
of whom: removed to other and destination unknown
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
| (1) Includes enforced removals, persons departing voluntarily after enforcement action had been initiated against them and persons leaving under assisted voluntary return programmes run by the International Organization for Migration. |
| (2) Since January 2005 figures include those whom it is established have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities. |
| (3) Figures are rounded to the nearest five (- = 0, * = 1 or 2) and may not sum to the totals shown because of independent rounding. |
| (4) Persons who had sought asylum at some stage, including dependants. |
| (5) Includes persons departing voluntarily after enforcement action had been initiated against them and since January 2005 those whom it is established have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities. |
| (6) Excludes assisted voluntary returns. |
| (7) Persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organization for Migration. May include some cases where enforcement action has been initiated. |
| (P) Provisional figures. |
Asylum Seekers: Torture
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Under what circumstances, notwithstanding the submission of medical evidence substantiating a detained asylum seeker's claim to have been tortured, the case owner would allow the detention to be continued; and in any such circumstances, whether they will issue instructions that a document recording the reasons for the continued detention is placed in the Rule 35 log. [HL140]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): Detention in such circumstances may be appropriate for the following reasons: public protection in the case of convicted criminals; where the person concerned might be a persistent absconder; where the person is to be returned to a third country for consideration of their asylum claim; or, most commonly, where the person has no lawful basis of stay in the UK and whose removal it is necessary to enforce.
Existing guidance to the Border and Immigration Agency staff requires them to acknowledge receipt of an allegation of torture report from a removal centre doctor. During the passage of the UK Borders Bill we acknowledged that the response might go beyond a simple acknowledgement and undertook to look at the arrangements that exist. This process is still taking place.
British Citizenship
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, having regard to the Chinese Nationality Law promulgated by the chairman of the standing committee of the National People's Congress on 10 September 1980 and the clarifications concerning
14 Nov 2007 : Column WA17
implementation of Chinese Nationality Law in Hong Kong, adopted on 15 May 1996, a person who is a British National (Overseas) and is of Chinese ethnicity or race would be entitled to registration under Section 1 of the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997 under the following circumstances (a) he was born in Hong Kong; (b) he does not satisfy the criteria to be a Chinese national set out in Article 4 or 6 of the Chinese Nationality Law because (i) neither of his parents has ever held Chinese nationality, and (ii) neither of his parents was stateless; (c) he has never been naturalised as a Chinese citizen; (d) he is ordinarily resident in Hong Kong at the time of the application for registration; (e) immediately before 4 February 1997 he (i) was ordinarily resident in Hong Kong; (ii) was a British Dependent Territories citizen by virtue only of his having a connection with Hong Kong (within the meaning given by the schedule to the 1997 Act); and (iii) held no other nationality other than British National (Overseas); (f) since 4 February 1997 he has held no nationality or citizenship other than as set out above; and (g) he satisfies the requirements of Section 58 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. [HL99]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord West of Spithead): The person in this example would qualify for registration under Section 1 of the 1997 Act if he or she was not a Chinese national. However, paragraph 1 of the document entitled Explanations of some questions by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress concerning the implementation of the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, adopted on 15 May 1996, indicated that, apart from the criteria laid down in the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China for acquiring Chinese nationality, a Hong Kong resident would be a Chinese national if he or she was of Chinese descent and was born in Hong Kong.
Any person who, immediately before 4 February 1997, was a Chinese national, whether by virtue of the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China or otherwise, would not be entitled to registration under Section 1 of the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997.
