Written question asked by Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) on Thursday, 6 November 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 10 November 2008. It was answered by Phil Woolas (Labour) on Thursday, 13 November 2008 on behalf of the Home Office.

Deportation: Democratic Republic of Congo

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Government’s policy is on removing failed asylum seekers to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Answer: The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) found in a determination dated 18 December 2007 that failed asylum seekers are not at risk of persecution or ill-treatment on return to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). On 23 April 2008, the appellant was granted permission to appeal the AIT determination to the Court of Appeal.We firmly believe that the AIT’s determination is correct and that there is no risk in enforcing the return of failed asylum seekers to the DRC. However, after careful consideration of all relevant factors, we have decided to temporarily defer all enforced removals of failed asylum seekers to the DRC until the Court of Appeal have handed down their judgment.Once the Courts have settled their decision on the safety of DRC for failed asylum seekers, we will reconsider our position on enforced returns.

Secondary information