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Hundreds of Iraqis who are refused asylum in Britain
could face cuts in benefits if they refuse to return
to their homeland.
The Home Office has ended new awards of "hard case"
benefits designed to give short-term support to
failed asylum-seekers from Iraq because officials
insist there is now a "viable route of return".
They are also writing to scores of Iraqis already
receiving benefits asking them to justify their
continued support. The Home Office said the issue
would be handled on a "case by case basis" and said
no asylum-seeker would have benefits stopped without
warning.
But a spokesman said that parts of Iraq had been
judged safe, while people were already returning to
northern Iraq and charter flights had started.
Campaigners attacked the decision, saying Iraq was
too unstable for people to be forced to return
against their will, and vowed to step up a campaign
against the forced removal of Iraqi Kurds whose
applications have been rejected.
Dashty Jamal, of the International Federation of
Iraqi Refugees in Britain, said the Home Office was
threatening to withdraw benefits if people did not
agree to return to Iraq voluntarily. He said: "This
is obviously against human rights. They are pushing
for Iraqi Kurdish asylum-seekers to go back
voluntarily."
Mark Oaten, the Liberal Democrat home affairs
spokesman, said: "This is a heavy-handed policy that
could result in families with children suffering
unfairly. We should try to show compassion to all
those temporarily here even if they are ultimately
to return to their country of origin."
Campaigners are planning demonstrations in London
and Birmingham aimed at preventing the forced
removal of about 40 Kurdish failed asylum-seekers,
who had been expected to be flown back to northern
Iraq at the weekend. They also plan to picket
British embassies in Sweden, Norway and Sydney.
Under "hard case" asylum rules, housing, food and
other support can be given to failed asylum-seekers
if they are destitute and cannot leave Britain
because there is "no viable route of return" home.
Latest asylum statistics show that more than 8,000
Iraqis have been granted "hard case" support since
the start of the year. But officials withdrew the
benefit for new claimants at the start of August,
arguing that there was now a viable route for Iraqis
to return.
Plans to start forced repatriation of failed Iraqi
asylum-seekers have been controversial. Human rights
groups have called on the Government to delay the
process of repatriating failed asylum-seekers,
arguing that the country remains too unsafe for
people to return.
Both the Refugee Council and the Joint Council for
the Welfare of Immigrants have objected to the
policy after the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees said that no part of Iraq could be
considered safe for rejected asylum- seekers.
A Home Office spokes-man stressed that the cases
involved people whose claims for asylum and
humanitarian support had been unsuccessful. He said:
"There are voluntary returns to Iraq and charter
flights have gone there. There is a voluntary route
of return to Iraq so this support can be withdrawn
if we are not satisfied that people are not making
efforts and are working to return to Iraq
voluntarily."
'I couldn't stay there - they would kill me if they
found me'
Fearing for his life, Nawzad Ashad Kader was forced
to hide in an animal shed for two months before
fleeing to Britain.
He had been jailed and tortured by the Kurdish
Democratic Party (KDP) but his father and uncle sold
all their valuables, including the family car, to
raise the $2,200 (£1,200) needed to get him to a
place of safety.
Mr Kader, 40, travelled out of northern Iraq in the
back of a lorry and when he arrived in Britain, he
was so disoriented he did not know which country he
was in. "It was night-time and I did not know where
I was, in Germany or in Britain," he said. "In Iraq,
I was in jail for 40 days and when I came out, I was
in hiding in a shed for sheep. I couldn't stay there
for ever because they would kill me if they found
me. They were angry with me because my younger
brother had joined another Kurdish political party.
I felt like killing myself."
In August 2000, he sought asylum and tried to start
life over again. He learnt to speak English from
scratch and made a few friends. He moved to
Liverpool in January 2005 and fell in love with a
British-born woman, Suzanne. They planned to marry
next year and threw a party a fortnight ago to mark
the engagement.
But after losing his application and appeal for
asylum in 2003 - after which he was not entitled to
state benefits and had to depend on friends - Mr
Kader's case has been closed by the Home Office. He
has been told he has no further right to appeal.
He faces deportation to Iraqi Kurdistan, where he
believes he faces persecution. He no longer knows
the whereabouts of his family and fears reprisals
from the political group from which he fled.
"I don't know where my brother is. I don't know
where my father is or any of my family. If I go
back, I could be in danger, and Suzanne will be
here," he said.
The couple are campaigning to gain a settlement visa
from the Home Office on compassionate grounds, as he
no longer knows anyone in Iraq and he feels settled
in Britain.
Suzanne, 26, said he has become a part of her large,
supportive family and she fears for his safety if he
is deported. "As it stands, we have to get special
permission from the Home Secretary to marry because
he is a failed asylum-seeker. I see that as a breach
of my human right to marry someone who I love," she
added.
The National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns
is supporting his campaign for a visa which would
enable him to marry Suzanne and stay in this
country.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
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