Asylum Seekers Mr. Austin Mitchell To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what representations he has received on the use of dawn raids on asylum seekers; (2) what consultations he has had with legal advisers on the effect of dawn raids on asylum seekers on the right to family life; and what advice he has received on this subject; (3) what notice is given (a) before and (b) after dawn raids on asylum seekers to schools attended by the children of those asylum seekers arrested in the raids; (4) for what reasons dawn raids on asylum seeker families before 8:00 a.m. are used; and what notification is given to (a) the local police, (b) legal advisers and (c) hon. Members of the asylum seekers of those raids. Byrne The Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) do not conduct ‘raids’ against asylum seekers. Officers undertake operational visits to detain and remove persons who no longer have the right to remain in the UK and do so in line with operational policy and guidance. In terms of representations the following were consulted during the course of the review of IND's family removals processes, which included the consideration of the timing of detention visits: Children's Commissioners for England, Wales, Scotland and N Ireland Social Services Scottish Executive Glasgow City Council Independent Monitoring Board, Yarl's Wood Detention Centre ACPO and ACPOS Medical Foundation Save the Children Refugee Council Scottish Refugee Council ILPA (Independent Law Practitioners Association) BID (Bail for Immigration Detainees) Scottish Refugee Policy Forum The Law Society for Scotland. In addition, Adjournment debates on family removals were held on 10 and 19 January 2006, raised by the hon. Members for Sunderland, South and for Falkirk respectively. Legal advice on immigration enforcement visits with regard to the right to family life was sought when the Human Rights Act came into effect in October 2000. Legal advice was also provided on the instructions to IND officers, contained in the operational enforcement manual (OEM), with regard to conducting early morning visits. The advice provided was that actions of officers had to be proportionate to the legitimate aim of maintaining an effective immigration control as set out in the Immigration Act 1971, and that each case had to be assessed on its individual merits. IND is aware of the possible traumatising effect of early morning visits when they seek to remove the families of failed asylum seekers. Every effort is made to conduct an immigration enforcement visit with the least disruption to the children and at the best time of day to pick up a family as an entire unit, e.g. before any children depart for school or parents depart for work. Information on notifying schools of family detention visits is contained in the chapter 58 of the OEM, and the family removal policy notice (EPU 2/06), both of which are available on the IND website. Chapter 46 of the OEM contains information on early morning visits and about notifying the police of all enforcement operations. Where a person has legal representatives, they are sent copies of all enforcement decision notices which inform the person of their liability to removal. Information on notifying a person of removal directions and the opportunity to seek legal advice is contained in chapter 44 of the OEM. Mr. Clegg To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers were returned to Afghanistan in each of the last 12 months. John Reid The table shows the number of persons, who had claimed asylum at some stage, who were removed to Afghanistan between October 2005 and September 2006, by month. These figures include people departing voluntarily after enforcement action has been initiated against them, people leaving under Assisted Voluntary Returns programmes run by the International Organization for Migration and include those who it is established have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities. Figures have been rounded to the nearest five. Information on removals of asylum seekers is available on the Home Office website at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Number of asylum applicants | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Month |Total asylum applicants removed| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |October 2005 |95| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |November 2005 |80| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |December 2005 |70| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |January 2006 |95| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |February 2006 |100| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |March 2006 |85| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |April 2006 |70| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |May 2006 |75| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |June 2006 |70| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |July 2006 |65| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |August 2006 |65| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |September 2006 |95| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Total5 |965| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |1 Includes enforced removals, persons departing ‘voluntarily’ after enforcement action had been initiated against them, persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organization for Migration and those who it is established have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities.2 Persons who had sought asylum at some stage.3 Figures rounded to the nearest five and may not sum due to rounding.4 Provisional figures.5 October 2005 to September 2006.| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------