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Asylum applications lowest for 14 years |
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Tuesday, 22 May 2007 |
Asylum applications for the first quarter of this year have continued to fall, according to statistics published by the Home Office today.
The figures showed that 5,680 asylum applications were lodged in the
first quarter of 2007. This represents a ten per cent fall in
applications compared to financial year 2006/07 and the previous
financial year, giving the lowest yearly intake since 1993.
The highest numbers of applicants were from Afghanistan, where 755 applicants originated, Iran, with 600 and China with 480.
The statistics also demonstrated that, including dependants, 3,370
failed asylum seekers were removed between January and March 2007.
Overall this indicates a four per cent fall in removals between the
financial year April to March 2005/06 and 2006/07, as the Border and
Immigration Agency changed gear to prioritise removing the most
'harmful foreign nationals' first.
Statistics indicate that the deportation of foreign national prisoners
almost doubled in the first three months of 2007 when compared to the
first three months of 2006.
To accelerate the removal of failed asylum seekers, the Home Office
today proposed to Parliament a further ten countries to which
individuals with clearly unfounded claims can be returned before they
are entitled to appeal their asylum decision. This raises the number of
countries on the list to 24.
All asylum seekers from Bosnia, Mauritius, Montenegro and Peru who are
refused asylum following a clearly unfounded claim will have no right
of appeal in the UK. The same rules will apply to male asylum seekers
with clearly unfounded claims from the Gambia, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi,
Mali and Sierra Leone.
Immigration Minister Liam Byrne claimed that stronger border controls
had helped make sure the number of unfounded asylum seekers continued
to fall.
"There are now fewer people than ever coming to the UK and making
unfounded claims for asylum. Applications are down 75 per cent since
intake was at its peak in 2002," said Byrne.
"Here in the UK, we have delivered the change of gear we promised by
deporting the most harmful foreign nationals first. Nearly 1,000...
were removed in the first three months of 2007 compared with 495 for
the same period in 2006.
"In the year ahead we will set up effective action against those who
make unfounded asylum claims. By adding these ten countries we are
ensuring these claims are processed quickly, and that failed asylum
seekers in these cases are removed as swiftly as possible."
Also published today are the first figures for the number of Bulgarians
and Romanians registering to work in the UK. They show that between
January and March 7,935 had their applications granted, with 5,075
being allowed to access the labour market, 2,660 registering as self
employed and 200 registering as self-sufficient.
An additional 2,425 successfully joined the Seasonal Agricultural Workers scheme (SAWS).
Bulgarians and Romanians are coming to the UK to work - contributing to
the success of the economy and working as teachers, social workers, in
business and in the entertainment and leisure industry.
The Home Office also today published figures on the number of
individuals registering to work in the UK from the eight East European
countries which joined the EU in 2004. The accession monitoring figures
show that between January and March this year the number of individuals
who applied to work under the scheme fell by 16,000 from the previous
quarter to 49,000.
The annual citizenship bulletin, also published today, revealed that
149,035 people applied for British citizenship in 2006, a fall of 32
per cent compared to the previous year.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 22 May 2007 )
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