Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the extent of official corruption in Brazil; what the implications of such corruption are for the inclusion of Brazil on the list of safe countries; and if she will make a statement.

Countries may be designated under section 94 (4) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 where the Secretary of State is satisfied that there is in general no serious risk of persecution of people entitled to reside there and that removal to that country of people entitled to reside there will not in general breach the UK's obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. Brazil was added to the list of safe countries in July 2003.

Many factors are taken into consideration. Corruption would only be a factor where it is linked to persecution.

Asylum claims from those entitled to reside in the designated countries are considered and determined on their individual merits against the background of the latest available country of origin information. It is only after a person’s asylum and human rights claim is refused and the decision maker then goes on to decide that the claim is clearly unfounded, that the claim is certified under Section 94 of the 2002 Act.