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Written question asked by James Clappison (Conservative) on Tuesday, 21 January 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 29 January 2003. It was answered by Baroness Hughes of Stretford (Labour) on Wednesday, 29 January 2003 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many failed asylum seekers left the UK in each year since 1997, broken down by those (a) deported and (b) who left voluntarily. - Inc table.
Answer

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed asylum seekers left the UK in each year since 1997, broken down by those (a) deported and (b) who left voluntarily. [93324] Beverley Hughes: Information on the number of failed asylum applicants (a) removed; and (b) known to have left the United Kingdom voluntarily since 1997 is given in the table. It is not possible to separately identify the number of principal applicants who departed 'voluntarily' after enforcement action had been initiated against them. Principal asylum applicants removed from the UK1 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1997 1998 1999 2000 20012 (p) January to September 20023 (p) Total number of 7,165 6,990 7,665 8,980 9,285 7,780 principal asylum applicants removed4 Of which: Assisted -- -- 50 550 980 640 voluntary returns programme5 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Persons who had sought asylum at some stage, excluding dependants. 2 Removal figures exclude 1,495 dependants of asylum seekers removed in the period April to December 2001, of which 230 left under the assisted voluntary returns programme; data on dependants removed have only been collected since April 2001. 3 In the same period 1,825 dependants of principal asylum seekers departed, of which 185 left under the assisted voluntary returns programme. 4 Including persons known to have departed "voluntarily" after enforcement action had been initiated against them. 5 Persons leaving under the assisted voluntary returns programmes run by the International Organisation for Migration. May include some on-entry cases and some cases where enforcement action has been initiated.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
93324; 398 c914-6W;398 c910W
Session
2002-03
Subjects
Asylum Applications Deportation
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk