Unaccompanied Children

Tim Loughton
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) unaccompanied children and (b) children unaccompanied by adults with parental responsibility arrived in the UK in each of the last five years. [100477]

Beverley Hughes
I regret that the information requested is not available. Information is not recorded (or collated centrally) on whether children who arrive in the United Kingdom are accompanied or unaccompanied.The available information on applications from unaccompanied asylum seeking children is given in the table. Reliable information on the entry routes of unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC), including when UASCs first enter the United Kingdom, is not available.---------
|       |
---------
|19984  |
---------
|19994  |
---------
|20004  |
---------
|20014,5|
---------
|20025,6|
---------
Information on asylum applications from unaccompanied asylum seeking children is published annually in the statistical bulletin, "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom", a copy of which is available in the Library, and from the RDS website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html