Written question asked by Neil Gerrard (Labour) on Monday, 24 April 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 26 April 2006. It was answered by Tony McNulty (Labour) on Thursday, 4 May 2006 on behalf of the Home Office.

Asylum Seekers

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers from Iraq have had support withdrawn by the National Asylum Support Service since the commencement of flights to Erbil airport returning failed asylum seekers to Iraq.

Answer: Scheduled flights to Erbil commenced on 18 June 2005 and charter flights returning unsuccessful asylum seekers began on 16 August 2005 to Erbil and now also to Sulaymaniyah.NASS has withdrawn section 95 support, under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, from 1,650 Iraqis since 18 June 2005, 1,207 since 16 August 2005. Section95 support is withdrawn at the end of the asylum process and occasionally before the asylum claim has been determined, due to a breach in the conditions of support.After the resumption of air services to Iraq, from one September 2005 the National Asylum Support Service has withdrawn support from 5,148 unsuccessful asylum seekers who were claiming support under section four of the same Act, as they were not fully satisfying the eligibility criteria, for example by not taking reasonable steps to leave the United Kingdom.A discontinuation of section 95 support can lead to a successful application for section four support as an unsuccessful asylum seeker. This, in turn, will lead to another withdrawal of support, as section four is designed to be limited and temporary in nature. There will be individuals who have had a withdrawal of both types of support during this period and in the figures above.

Secondary information