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Written question asked by Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated) on Tuesday, 1 September 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 15 September 2026. It was answered by Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour) on Tuesday, 15 September 2026 on behalf of the Home Office.

Zimbabwe: Refugees

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wood of Anfield on 27 July (HL1989), whether they will commence the recording by data fields of (1) the nationality of asylum seekers, (2) how they entered or came to be in the United Kingdom, and (3) which country they travelled from most recently before reaching the UK.

Answer

The Home Office publishes the number of asylum claims raised by nationality, and the number of people claiming asylum by prior route, by nationality in the Asy_D01 and Asy_D01a tables available here: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK

Asylum seekers arrive in the UK through a range of routes before claiming asylum. In the year ending June 2026, 41% had previously entered on a visa or other leave, 40% arrived by small boat, 12% arrived via other illegal entry routes, and 8% entered via other routes or could not be matched to a route of entry.

Information on countries asylum seekers travelled from before reaching the UK this information is not published. It is held as “free text” on individual case files and can only be extracted manually at disproportionate cost.

The number of people claiming asylum in the previous three years, and to date in the current year is shown below:

Time period

People claiming asylum

Year ending December 2023

87,427

Year ending December 2024

104,764

Year ending December 2025

101,911

January to June 2026

33,189

Source: Asy_D01 Asylum claims raised, by nationality, age, sex, UASC, applicant type, and location of claim.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL2862
Session
2026-27
Related items
Zimbabwe: Refugees
Monday, 27 July 2026
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects
Deportation Refugees Zimbabwe South Africa
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk