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UK Immigration Minister: More Forced
Returns Unlikely
9.3.2006
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London, Wednesday March 8, 2006, (KRG) -
Tony McNulty, Britain’s Minister of State for
Immigration and Citizenship, on Wednesday told the
Kurdistan Regional Government that further enforced
returns of failed Kurdish asylum seekers were
unlikely following the rise in the number of Kurds
volunteering to return to their homeland.
Mr McNulty, speaking to Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman,
Kurdistan Regional Government High Representative to
the UK, and other Kurdish and Iraqi delegates, said
that many Kurds from Iraq had shown interest in and
signed up for the voluntary returns programme after
the British government increased the assistance
package to £3,000 (equivalent to about 5,200 US
dollars) in January.
Mr McNulty said the voluntary programme was going so
well that enforced returns were unlikely. However,
he added that he reserved the right to use the
enforced returns should the need arise.
Ms Abdul Rahman said: “Mr McNulty’s qualified
assurance that forced returns are unlikely is a
welcome development and reflects the continuous and
constructive dialogue with the British government by
the Kurdistan Regional Government and Kurdish
community organisations in the UK.”
The Minister agreed to Ms Abdul Rahman’s request for
better communication of the British Government’s
policy and the voluntary returns programme to allay
fears among the Kurdish community.
It is Britain’s worldwide policy to return failed
asylum seekers to their country of origin. Iraq is
one of several countries, including Iran, Serbia and
Montenegro and India, that have been targeted. In
November 2005, about 15 people were forced to return
to Kurdistan in Iraq and more than 600 have returned
voluntarily over the past several months.
The Kurdistan Regional Government has consistently
said that it is against enforced returns of failed
asylum seekers and has asked the British government
to reconsider its decision. But the Kurdistan
Government has welcomed voluntary returns so long as
sufficient economic assistance is provided. The
forced returns in November alarmed the Kurdish
community in Britain, particularly among those whose
asylum applications had failed or were pending, and
raised concern about the manner in which people were
detained.
The Kurdistan Regional Government has argued that
while the Region’s economy is better than in the
rest of Iraq, it would not be able to absorb an
influx of unemployed people forcibly returned, with
no money and no preparations made for their
re-integration into Kurdish society. There is also
concern that other countries in Europe and the
Middle East would also force Kurdish failed asylum
seekers in their countries to return.
Ms Abdul Rahman said that while Mr McNulty’s
comments did not constitute a total change of
British policy, they did reflect a more positive
stance towards Kurdish asylum seekers and a deeper
understanding of the needs of the Kurdish community
in Britain and in Kurdistan.
She thanked Ms Ann Clwyd MP, Prime Minister Tony
Blair’s Human Rights Envoy to Iraq, for arranging
and attending the meeting with Mr McNulty and for
her continued support for the people of Kurdistan.
The new voluntary programme provides a total support
package of £3,000 per person, £500 of which is given
to the returnee in cash as he or she leaves the UK.
A further £1,500 is available once in Kurdistan and
the remaining £1,000 is provided in the form of
training courses or help with business start-ups and
re-integration into Kurdish society. The £3,000 is
per person, so a family of five (two adults and
three children), for example, would be eligible for
a support package worth up to £15,000.
This scheme runs from January to May 31, 2006 and
will then be reviewed. For more information, contact
International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on
0800 783 2332, www.iomlondon.org.
www.krg.org
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