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Home Office plans leave 1,400 Iraqis facing deportation

13/03/2008

A leaked Home Office memo has revealed that more than 1,400 Iraqi asylum seekers in the UK face a choice between being sent home and homelessness.

According to the Guardian newspaper, departmental correspondence shows the war-torn country is now viewed as sufficiently safe for the return of asylum seekers.

And the asylum seekers are to be forced to choose between signing up for a voluntary return programme that would see them back in Iraq within three weeks or, if they refuse, facing homelessness and a loss of all state support.

A letter said to be signed by Claire Bennett, the deputy director of the Borders and Immigration Agency's (BIA) case resolution directorate, says home secretary Jacqui Smith now considers travel from the UK to Iraq "both possible and reasonable".

It adds that some 1,400 Iraqis who were granted 'hard case' support upon their arrival in Britain in 2005 - which includes basic accommodation and three daily meal vouchers - "no longer qualify for support under this criterion".

The asylum seekers involved will be required to "demonstrate that they are taking all reasonable steps to leave the United Kingdom or that they are placing themselves in a position in which they are able to do so" and will see their 'hard case' support discontinued if they do not submit their application to remain within the next month.

"The government is committed to ensuring that unsuccessful asylum seekers do not remain in the United Kingdom indefinitely," the letter adds.

"We consider that voluntary returns are by far the more dignified way of making a return, but if individuals fail to leave, their removal may be enforced."

In response to the Guardian report, a Home Office spokesman said:"All asylum claims are assessed on their individual merits by the Border and Immigration Agency and where appropriate an independent judicial process.

"Iraqis genuinely in need of our protection, for example some former interpreters, will be granted asylum.

"We consider it reasonable however to expect those individuals who have been found by an independent judge and appeals process not to need protection to return home. We prefer people to leave voluntary but if necessary we will enforce their return.

He confirmed that last year, some 600 Iraqis returned home voluntarily or were forcibly removed.