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Asylum Seekers (Language Testing)

I have made an authorisation under section 19D of the Race Relations Act 1976 as amended, to enable the Secretary of State to request that asylum applicants claiming to be of specific nationalities submit to language analysis. This replaces the Race Relations (Immigration and Asylum) (No. 3) Authorisation 2001, which is revoked. The condition for making such a request is that the person claims to be a Somali or an Eritrean. The Secretary of State may take a refusal to submit to testing into account when determining whether an applicant has assisted in establishing the facts of his case. It is known that some applicants for asylum claim to be of a nationality or from a region or grouping that is not their own for the purpose of gaining residence in this country on an unfounded basis. The authorisation will assist the Secretary of State to ascertain the extent of this abuse, as well as to make decisions in individual cases. This authorisation will be of four months duration. I will review the continued need for the authorisation before its expiry. I am placing copies of the authorisation in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament.