Asylum: Belarus

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for asylum were received from nationals of Belarus in each year since 1997; and how many of these applications were (a) approved and (b) refused and resulted in deportations. (143361)

[holding answer 18 June 2007]: The information requested could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost.

Information on the number of Belarusian asylum applications received in each year since 1997 is shown in the following table.

*Applications*¹ *received for asylum in the UK, excluding dependants, for nationals of Belarus, 1997 to 2006*
	Number of applications
1997	35
1998	110
1999²	600
2000²	580
2001	80
2002	110
2003	120
2004	45
2005³	60
2006³	55
¹ Figures rounded to the nearest 5. ² May exclude some cases lodged at local enforcement offices between January 1999 and March 2000. ³ Provisional figures.

Volume 461: debated on Wednesday 20 June 2007