Fuente : UK Government
http://www.open.gov.uk/

Asylum figures continue to fall

/noticias.info/ The number of people applying for asylum in the UK is continuing to fall, according to new figures.

An independent report also published today has found that the government's asylum statistics are broadly reliable. The report by the National Audit Office shows that there is no clear statistical evidence that the fall in asylum applications has been achieved by people entering the country in other ways.

Home Office figures for the first three months of 2004 show:

· a reduction in asylum applications of one fifth compared to the previous quarter, falling to 10,585;
· the number of cases waiting for an initial decision is the lowest for a decade and has halved over the last year;
· the number of failed asylum seekers removed from the UK went up by one per cent to 3,320; and
· most asylum seekers were from Somalia, Iran, China, Zimbabwe and Turkey.
Speaking at his monthly press conference earlier today, the Prime Minister said the progress was "real and genuine".

Mr Blair added that the problem of asylum abuse is "being gripped".

"These asylum figures show that the dramatic progress that we made last year when we halved asylum applications has actually continued."

"We also recognise however that there is still much to do and we must maintain the pressure, particularly on asylum removals."

The government has also published details of applications for citizenship during 2003. They rose by just over one fifth to 139,315. The number of people granted citizenship rose by three per cent to 124,315.

Home Office Minister Des Browne said:

"We want to encourage people who have made this country their home to take up British citizenship and play a full part in their community."

"Last year we introduced new citizenship ceremonies to make the process of becoming a British citizen much more of a celebration of a very significant event in someone's life. I am pleased that increasing numbers of people want to apply to become citizens."


25/05/2004 notas_de_prensa_archivo