Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Ann McKechin (Labour). It was answered by Tony McNulty (Labour) on Monday, 16 January 2006 on behalf of the Home Office.

Iraq (Asylum Applicants)

Question: If he will make a statement on recent progress in returning failed asylum applicants to Iraq.

Answer: There have been some 1,371 voluntary returns to Iraq since July 2003. In 2004, the Home Office announced its intention to commence an enforced returns policy to Iraq. As with all nationalities, removals will be enforced on a case-by-case basis, and the immigration service will return people only to those areas of Iraq assessed as being sufficiently stable and where we are satisfied that the individual concerned will not be at risk. The first enforced returns to Iraq took place on 20 November 2005, when 15 Iraqis were removed on a forced basis.

Secondary information