The first enforced returns of failed asylum seekers to northern Iraq are expected possibly as early as this weekend despite objections from regional Kurdish authorities and the UN refugee agency. The Home Office has confirmed that 38 men are being held at immigration detention centres around Britain and that officials are "looking at a number of dates" for their return. They are likely to be flown on an RAF aircraft, via Cyprus, to the newly opened airport in Irbil, the regional capital. The Kurdish community believes the first flight will leave tomorrow. Many refugees say they could be killed, even in northern Iraq.There are thought to be as many as 7,000 Iraqis in the UK who have been refused asylum and face deportation. The deportations will begin by the dispatch of single men to Iraqi Kurdistan, which has largely - though not entirely - been spared the onslaught of Islamist suicide bombings. "We will only return to areas assessed as sufficiently stable and where we are satisfied individuals will not be at risk," a Home Office spokesman said yesterday. "Enforced returns will be taken on a case-by-case basis. "It's important for the integrity of the asylum system that anyone found not to be in need of protection is required to leave the UK. Enforced returns will commence as soon as we have made relevant arrangements."
The decision to deport was taken in February 2004 but two new factors have stiffened the government's resolve: a reassessment of immigration priorities after the London tube bombings and the first flight this month into Irbil of those returning voluntarily. Although only 18 people were on the plane arranged by the International Organisation for Migration, it opened up a route that avoids the dangers of overland journeys via Baghdad. "It has made life a bit easier for those wanting to go back," said Marek Effendowicz of the organisation. "In the last year we have helped 300 Iraqis return from the UK."
But the Home Office decision has triggered protests by human rights bodies and refugee groups who warn it is not safe anywhere in Iraq. One Kurd told the Guardian he was no longer reporting to the Home Office because he feared he would be detained. The London office of the UN high commissioner for refugees yesterday restated its opposition. "Iraq is still extremely unstable and dangerous," it warned. "No part of Iraq can be considered safe, although ... some areas are more stable than others. The UK government [should also] review its low recognition rate of Iraqi asylum seekers."
Even the regional government in Irbil has warned it does not want to be burdened with unwilling returnees. Massoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic party, condemned the move, declaring it "was unnecessary to force Kurds to leave Britain". The Kurdistan regional government office in London added: "The British authorities are aware of [our] position. We are in continuing dialogue and are hopeful the situation can be resolved."
At the Kurdish Community Centre in Haringey, north London, this week, failed asylum-seekers were angry and anxious. They were aware that scores of people have been detained and only some released. "The Home Office have a policy to refuse everyone," said Bestun Baban, an exiled journalist from Sulaimaniya in northern Iraq who arrived in 1999. "It doesn't depend on each case. They just say: 'Go to Kurdistan.' The [London tube] bombings have changed attitudes to asylum seekers...
Interesting situation. If they admit that large parts of Iraq are safe, then their quagmire argument is shown to be spurious.