Written question asked by Chris Huhne (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 16 March 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 18 March 2009. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Monday, 30 March 2009 on behalf of the Home Office.

Asylum: Sexual Offences

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers on entry into the UK have used (a) sexual assault, (b) rape and (c) gender-based violence as the basis for their asylum claim in each year since 2001.

Answer: The requested information is unavailable as it is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by examination of individual case records.Information on asylum is published annually and quarterly. Statistics for the first quarter of 2009 will be available in May 2009 from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:"http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html"

Secondary information