Asylum fiasco as Iraqis kicked out of UK are flown back again after being turned away from Baghdad

Published 17th Oct 2009

A plane carrying 30 Iraqi deportees has been forced to turn around and bring them back to Britain after they were refused entry into Baghdad.

They were among 40 failed asylum seekers sent home to Iraq on the first deportee flight there since the Western invasion in 2003.

But only ten were allowed into the country, with the others flown back to the UK.

The decision of Iraqi officials to send back the majority of the deportees appeared a triumph for campaigners.

Refugee pressure groups have called the flight unlawful and the UN refugee chief has opposed the return of Iraqis to the troubled central provinces of the country.

A spokesman for Refugee and Migrant Justice said: ‘For such a high-profile group to be returned is unprecedented.’

The Air Italy aircraft carrying the deportees and 80 escorts provided by the UK Border Agency left Stansted airport on Thursday.

The asylum seekers who were flown back to Britain are understood to have been taken to the Brook House detention centre near Gatwick airport.

The Home Office said it was talking to the Iraqi government to deal with the problems that led to the return of the 30.

UK Border Agency chief Lin Homer told the BBC: ‘We are establishing a new route to southern Iraq and have successfully returned 10 Iraqis to the Baghdad area.

‘This is an important first step for us.’

She added: ‘Having an enforced route for returns is an important part of our overall approach; however the Government prefers the majority of returnees to leave voluntarily.’

But a spokesman for Refugee and Migrant Justice said: ‘One would have expected with such a high-profile removal, the Home Office would have sorted this out with the Iraqi authorities.’

The central provinces of Iraq are regarded as safe for failed asylum seekers to return to according to Home Office assessments. The violence and sectarian bombings and murders that followed the war have tailed off since 2007.

However, refugee groups maintain that lawlessness and occasional outbreaks of violence mean the region is still dangerous.

There are no official figures for the number of failed Iraqi asylum seekers in Britain. However, Miss Homer said that more than 2,500 have voluntarily returned to Iraq over the past three years under the Assisted Voluntary Return Programme.

Failed asylum seekers are paid up to £2,500 to go home under the scheme.

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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