Asylum statistics published

The number of asylum seeking children being detained by the
government doubled over the first three months of the year,
according to official figures published today, writes
Amy Taylor.

The figures show that 50 children were detained at the end of
March this year compared to 25 at the end of last year.

Five of the children had been detained for between one and three
months.

Asylum applications fell by 17 per cent over the same period to
7, 015 compared to 8, 465 in the previous quarter.

Removals were also up by four per cent compared to the last
three months of 2004.

Commenting on the statistics, Maeve Sherlock, chief executive of
the Refugee Council, said that numbers of asylum applications were
falling “largely as a result of measures put in place to
prevent refugees from getting here”.