Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied minors seeking asylum were detained by the UK in 2017.

Information on the number of minors entering detention in the UK is available in tables dt_01_q and dt_02_q of the detention tables in the latest releases of ‘Immigration Statistics, July to September 2017’, available from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/662536/detention-jul-sep-2017-tables.ods.

Table dt_01_q includes a breakdown of asylum and non-asylum detainees, but cannot identify those minors which were unaccompanied. Minors as part of a family unit are only detained in Tinsley House (Family Unit) IRC and Gatwick PDA.

Figures for Q4 2017 will be released on 22 February 2018.