Asylum: Detainees
(asked on 8th January 2018) - View Source
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average duration of detention for adult asylum seekers in the UK in 2017.
Information on the length of detention of people leaving detention is available in tables dt_06_q and dt_09_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.
The table includes a breakdown of adults and child detainees who have previously claimed asylum at some stage. However, we cannot identify those minors which were unaccompanied. Figures for Q4 2017 will be released on 22 February 2018.
People leaving detention by length of detention, January to September 2017 | |||
Length of detention | Total Detainees | Of which: Adult asylum detainees | Child asylum detainees |
*Total | 20,730 | 10,222 | 24 |
A: 3 days or less | 5,514 | 2,044 | 21 |
B: 4 to 7 days | 1,483 | 855 | 2 |
C: 8 to 14 days | 2,604 | 1,086 | 1 |
D: 15 to 28 days | 3,619 | 1,550 | 0 |
E: 29 days to less than 2 months | 3,494 | 1,875 | 0 |
F: 2 months to less than 3 months | 1,566 | 978 | 0 |
G: 3 months to less than 4 months | 794 | 546 | 0 |
H: 4 months to less than 6 months | 813 | 631 | 0 |
I: 6 months to less than 12 months | 680 | 536 | 0 |
J: 12 months to less than 18 months | 100 | 75 | 0 |
K: 18 months to less than 24 months | 41 | 31 | 0 |
L: 24 months to less than 36 months | 20 | 15 | 0 |
M: 36 months to less than 48 months | 2 | 0 | 0 |
N: 48 months or more | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Figures are provisional. | |||
Asylum detainees: People detained solely under Immigration Act powers | |||
who are recorded as having sought asylum at some stage. | |||
The median length of detention for adults, who had claimed asylum at some point, between January and September 2017, was between 15 and 28 days. There are a small number of detainees who have been detained for long periods of time, which would skew the mean value. The median is therefore the most suitable average for these data.