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Asylum Removals*
TABLE 1
RETURN STATISTICS:
REMOVALS AND VOLUNTARY DEPARTURES OF ASYLUM APPLICANTS,
BY QUARTERLY PERIODS*
Year Principal
Applicants
1.5 BEST PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED
389
Dependants** Total
Q2 2001 2,325 475 2,800
Q3 2001 2,340 515 2,860
Q4 2001 2,520 500 3,025
Q1 2002 2,445 480 2,920
Q2 2002 2,660 580 3,235
Q3 2002 2,805 850 3,660
Q4 2002 (p) 2,830 1,265 4,090
Q1 2003 (p) 2,620 1,370 3,990
Q2 2003 (p) 3,145 1,135 4,280
Notes: Data rounded to nearest 5 and may not sum due to rounding.
(p) Provisional data.
* Includes persons departing “voluntarily” after enforcement action had been
initiated against them and persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return
Programmes run by the IOM.
** Data on dependants of asylum seekers have only been collected since April
2001.
Source: Home Office, Quarterly Asylum Statistics: 2nd Quarter 2003.
UNITED KINGDOM
The main thrust of recent UK policy has been to explore ways of obtaining a well-functioning
and balanced immigration and asylum system, which protects the rights of refugees and also
deals with the increasing numbers of unsuccessful asylum applicants in the UK. Hence, new
immigration laws have sought to introduce innovative and stricter measures in dealing with
unauthorized residents, leading to some successes in how mandatory removals are effected.
In order to tackle difficulties presented by the lack of travel documentation, the Immigration and
Nationality Directorate has established a Documentation Unit to deal with documentation problems
at an early stage in the procedure to remove a person. Through this initiative, coupled with
the efforts by the Overseas Liaison Team, a number of workable solutions have been negotiated
with receiving countries. Documentation problems have also been partly resolved with the use
of the Standard EU Removal Document, which is used much more frequently and successfully
in the UK than in other EU Member States.
Increased cooperation between relevant agencies enforcing removals, notably between the
Immigration Service and the police, has contributed towards operational efficiency and improved
information sharing. Outside the UK, this form of interagency cooperation has been extended to
Europol and other EU Member States, as well as information networks established under Schengen
(SIS), even though the UK is not a member.