Britain attempts to remove asylum seekers to southern Iraq for first time
30 out of 44 asylum seekers were refused entry to Iraq after the Government chartered a plane to Baghdad to remove a group of Iraqi asylum seekers. The Home Affairs Committee will be investigating the decision and how much money was spent on the removal. The removal was widely condemmed by the UNHCR, charities and campaign groups and three of the men claimed that they were beaten by British security guards.
Keith Vaz MP, chair of the committee, said that the Government had to consider carefully whether it was putting former asylum seekers at risk. “At the moment, it would seem sensible not to remove people – as with countries such as Zimbabwe – unless you are quite certain that people are going back to a safe environment.”
The Independent carried an interview with one of the men allowed to stay in Iraq, Abu Yousif, whose brother was murdered in 2004.
“I cannot go back to live at home because I am told that is being watched,” he told the newspaper. “I think that I will always be at risk from these same people who killed my brother. I keep a bag packed in case I have to move suddenly.”
The Independent: Forcing asylum-seekers to return to Iraq is ‘inhumane’
The Independent: “They gave me $100 and told me to fend for myself in Baghdad”
The Independent: Border Agency to be quizzed over failed deportations
The Guardian: Iraqis claim abuse and assault after failed deportation
The Times: Fiasco as Iraqi deportees turned back in Baghdad
BBC News: Iraq sends back UK asylum flight
BBC News: Iraq deportees in UK await fate
Removal flights to Afghanistan from Britain and France
Three Afghan men were removed from France to Afghanistan on a joint British and French funded plane, along with 24 others from Britain.
The Refugee Council has signed a petition by French charity France Terre d’Asile calling for deportations to Afghanistan to cease.
France Terre d’Asile online petition
The Guardian: British-chartered plane takes Afghan migrants home
Immigration detention damages children’s mental and physical health, study finds
A study conducted by a team of paediatricians and psychologists of 24 children detained at Yarl’s Wood detention centre found that 73% of the children had clinically significant emotional and behavioural problems since being detained.
The authors of the study said that as there was “no clear evidence to indicate that detention is necessary in order to prevent families from absconding, more humane alternatives to current practice must be explored.”
The Guardian: Study reveals scars of child immigrant detention
The Guardian: Letters: Detention for children can never be justified
The Guardian: Letters: End child detention
The Observer: Comment: Henry Porter: We are shockingly complacent about locking up 2,000 children a year
The Guardian: Comment: Simon Parker: Stop imprisoning children now
Channel 4 News: Video: Calls to end detention of children
Children and Young People Now: Detention in immigration centres seriously harms children
Changes to guidelines for legacy cases
The UK Border Agency have changed their guidelines on Case Resolution cases. The changes are technical, but are likely to have an impact on some asylum seekers who have been waiting for several years for their asylum claims to be resolved, and whose cases are Case Resolution cases that have not yet been considered by the Case Resolution Directorate – rather than a ‘stealth amnesty’ as reported by some of the press.
The Refugee Council has a briefing on our website with further information.
Refugee Council policy briefing
Daily Telegraph: At least 154,000 asylum seekers to stay
Daily Express: ‘Secret amnesty for 200,000 asylum cases’
Over a thousand asylum seekers in Glasgow are destitute
1,089 asylum seekers are living on Section 4 support in Glasgow – this is £35 worth of supermarket vouchers per week.
The Chief Executive of the Scottish Refugee Council, John Wilkes, said: “ It’s simply unacceptable to see that so many people are being forced to subsist on cashless support.
“While their cases for asylum have been refused, they are still in limbo and cannot return to their country for reasons of health, safety or further judicial process.”
The Scotsman: Destitute asylum seekers top 1,000
Head of UN Refugee Agency calls for the EU to overhaul its asylum policy
In an interview in the Financial Times, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres warned against scapegoating asylum seekers at the time of economic crisis and said he was concerned at the way certain EU countries dealt with those seeking sanctuary, such as Italy’s recent policy of sending boats back to Libya without first checking if their asylum claims are valid.
“You cannot have a single European space in which you can circulate freely without a passport, with different criteria in the asylum system,” he said. “This dysfunctionality needs to be addressed.”
Financial Times: UN warns EU against scapegoating migrants
