Immigration - new material (40)
01 November 1998
Control of Immigration: Statistics U.K., First Half 1998, Keith Jackson and Andy Bennett. Statistical bulletin (Home Office) Issue 24/98 (October) 1998. The bulletin provides basic statistical information on entry clearance applications; admissions and extensions of admissions; asylum; settlement and enforcement actions under the 1971 Immigration Act. The initial summary of the main points draws attention to the impact of the abolition, (in June 1997), of the primary purpose rule on entry clearance applications from spouses and fiances. The section on asylum focuses on the implementation of the Dublin Convention, (September 1997), and on the numbers of asylum applicants refused on Safe Third Country grounds. It also contains information on the countries of origin of asylum applicants and those granted either full refugee status or exceptional leave to remain. Whilst the period June 1997 to June 1998 shows an increase in the number of asylum applicants compared with the previous 12 months, the number of initial decisions on these applications has fallen. This is attributed to redeployment of staff pending administrative changes within the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. For more detailed information consult the Home Office Command Paper "Control of Immigration: Statistics, U.K."
Available from RDS Directorate, Home Office, 50 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1 9AT. Tel. 0171 273 2084.
In Exile. The Refugee Council, November 1988. This second issue of the re-launched magazine (previously Exile) includes details of a new web site and a summary of the statistics from the latest Home Office statistical bulletin, (see above). Other features include reports on the "housing" of asylum-seekers in tents in Holland; the difficulties confronting refugees who wish to practise medicine, and could make a valuable contribution to addressing the shortage of hospital doctors and GP's in Britain and the coercion of children into fighting in the civil war in Uganda. There is also an interview with Mike O'Brien who asserts his commitment to "restoring integrity" to the asylum system and recognises that this will require tackling the inefficiency which has come to characterise the operation of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. He also states that the Home Office will no longer refer to asylum-seekers, in the language of the Daily Mail, as "bogus". Instead, lest we drop our collective guard, we should beware of "abusive asylum-seekers". Where this new, officially-endorsed terminology fails to depart from the perspective of the Daily Mail is in adding a prejudicial tag to a category of people whose claims are still under consideration.
The Refugee Council, 3 Bondway, London SW8 1SJ. Tel 0171 820 3042.
Fortress Ireland, Maire Nic Suibhne. Guardian Weekend 3.10.98., pp32-39. This article documents a number of cases that expose the "unexpected" racism that greets refugees and asylum seekers on their arrival in Ireland.
Parliamentary debate
Immigration and Asylum Commons 27.7.98. cols. 35-53