Asylum Seekers

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what proportion of those asylum seekers currently detained under Immigration Act powers were first detained at a time when (a) their asylum claim had yet to be determined by the Home Office, (b) their appeal against a refusal of asylum had yet to be determined by an adjudicator or the immigration Appeal tribunal and (c) they had exhausted all appeal rights; [5412]

(2) if he will provide a breakdown of the total number of asylum seekers currently detained under Immigration Act powers by (a) nationality, (b) gender, (c) length of time in detention, (d) location and (e) immigration status at the time of detention. [5405]

The available information on those persons recorded as detained under Immigration Act powers as at 31 May 1997, and who had sought asylum at some stage, is given in the tables.

I regret that information on the stage at which these persons were first placed into detention could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Table 1. Number of people recorded as being detained^{1 2} on 31 May 1997 who had sought asylum at some stage, by gender and immigration status
Gender	Port	Illegal entrants	Subject to deportation action	Total
Male	297	334	49	680
Female	29	19	5	53
Total	326	353	54	733
¹ Provisional figures.
² Persons detained solely under the powers contained in Schedule 2 or 3 of the Immigration Act 1971.

Table 2: Number of people recorded as being detained^{1 2} on 31 May 1997 who had sought asylum at some stage, by stage of application and immigration status
Stage of application	Port	Illegal entrants	Subject to deportation action	Total
Awaiting initial decision	82	87	5	174
Awaiting result of appeal	139	132	33	304
Awaiting removal³	105	134	16	255
Total	326	353	54	733
¹ Provisional figures.
² Persons detained solely under the powers contained in Schedule 2 or 3 of the Immigration Act 1971.
³ Includes cases where the result of a further challenge is awaited or where another bar to removal currently exits.

Table 3. Number of people recorded as being detained^{1 2} on 31 May 1997 who had sought asylum at some stage, by length of detention ³ and immigration status
Length	Port	Illegal entrants	Subject to deportation action	Total
0–1 Month¹	77	80	8	165
1–2 Months	59	81	4	144
2–6 Months	131	143	18	292
6–12 Months	48	44	19	111
12 Months+	11	5	5	21
Total	326	353	54	733
¹ Provisional figures.
² Persons detained solely under the powers contained in Schedule 2 or 3 of the Immigration Act 1971.
³ In some cases the date a person enters detention may be understated due to the method of recording.

Table 4: Number of people recorded as being detained¹² on 31 May 1997 who had sought asylum at some stage, by nationality and immigration status
Nationality	Port	Illegal entrants	Subject to deportation action	Total
India	19	100	4	123
Nigeria	49	38	15	103
Algeria	15	55	6	76
China	38	13	0	51
Pakistan	21	23	5	49
Ghana	12	12	3	27
Turkey	16	5	1	22
Bangladesh	3	13	3	19

Table 4: Number of people recorded as being detained^{1 2} on 31 May 1997 who had sought asylum at some stage, by nationality and immigration status
Nationality	Port	Illegal entrants	Subject to deportation action	Total
Cyprus	14	2	0	16
Sri Lanka	8	5	0	13
Columbia	11	1	0	12
Kenya	9	2	1	12
Yugoslavia	10	1	1	12
Angola	6	4	1	11
Gambia	7	3	1	11
Poland	6	5	0	11
Romania	1	10	0	11
Albania	3	7	0	10
Liberia	10	0	0	10
Uganda	6	2	0	8
Jamaica	3	4	0	7
Lithuania	4	3	0	7
Somalia	6	0	1	7
Ethiopia	3	3	0	6
Morocco	1	4	1	6
Ivory Coast	1	3	1	5
Russia	1	4	0	5
Sierra Leone	5	0	0	5
Bulgaria	3	1	0	4
Iran	3	1	0	4
South Africa	3	0	1	4
Tunisia	1	2	1	4
Zaire	3	0	1	4
Afghanistan	1	2	0	3
Cameroon	1	2	0	3
Ecuador	3	0	0	3
Lebanon	1	2	0	3
Sudan	1	2	0	3
Other	18	16	6	40
Nationality Doubtful	0	3	0	3
Total	326	353	54	733
¹ Provisional figures.
² Persons detained solely under the powers contained in Schedule 2 or 3 of the Immigration Act 1971.

Table 5. Number of people recorded as being detained^{1 2} on 31 May 1997 sought asylum at some stage, by location of detention and immigration status
	Port	Illegal entrants	Subject to deportation action	Total
Prisons
HMP Rochester	57	58	7	122
HMP Haslar	28	31	10	69
HMP Greenock	1	15	0	16
HMP Magilligan	0	12	0	12
HMP Birmingham	1	7	1	9
HMP Wormwood Scrubs	2	5	1	8
HMP Brixton	0	5	2	7
HMP Manchester	0	4	0	4
HMP Armley	0	2	1	3
HMP Holloway	0	1	2	3
HMP Wandsworth	0	1	2	3
HMP Bristol	0	2	0	2
HMP Liverpool	0	1	1	2
Other prison	8	6	5	19

Table 5. Number of people recorded as being detained^{1 2} on 31 May 1997 sought asylum at some stage, by location of detention and immigration status
	Port	Illegal entrants	Subject to deportation action	Total
Other Places of Detention
Campsfield House	68	52	9	129
Tinsley House	56	41	7	104
Hammondsworth	50	29	5	84
Police Cells	18	61	1	80
Queens Building	10	5	0	15
Manchester Airport	3	6	0	9
Dover Harbour	8	0	0	8
Other place	16	9	0	25
Total	326	353	54	733
¹ Provisional figures.
² Persons detained solely under the powers contained in Schedule 2 or 3 of the Immigration Act 1971.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons applying for asylum at ports of entry were detained under Immigration Act powers for one night or longer in each month of (a) 1995 and (b) 1996. [5411]

The information requested is given in the table.

Number¹ of persons who had applied for asylum on arrival in the United Kingdom and were placed into detention under Immigration Act powers^{2 3} 1995 and 1996 by month
Month	1995	1996
January	155	140
February	140	135
March	160	150
April	185	130
May	135	125
June	175	150
July	155	155
August	145	160
September	145	200
October	185	145
November	165	145
December	195	150
Total	1,945	1,785
¹ Provisional and estimated figures rounded to the nearest 5.
² Persons detained solely under the powers contained in Schedule 2 or 3 of the Immigration Act 1971.
³ Includes those placed into detention on the day of their arrival in the United Kingdom, or the following day, but excludes those cases where detention length can be established as being less than one night in duration.

Volume 297: debated on Monday 30 June 1997