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UK: Deportation charter flights to Iraq
imminent
31.8.2010
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August 31, 2010
LONDON, — Detainee support groups have
been inundated with calls for help by Iraqi
detainees given removal directions for 1 September
and 6 September. Many have no legal representation.
The first attempted charter flight to Baghdad from
UK in October last year was sent back by the Iraqi
authorities. Of the 40 deportees, only 8 were
accepted, allegedly those who were willing to
disembark.
In April this year, The UK Border Agency then tried
to deport Kurdish people to the Kurdish Regional
Government area in the north. The plane was all set
to take off, until word came through of a major
protest at Sulaimaniyah International Airport,
Kurdistan, with MPs of the Kurdish Government
joining protesters and threatening to occupy the
runway. The plane did not fly. |
Iraq deportation charter flights imminent. |
Now the UKBA has an agreement with the Iraqi
authorities to accept forced removals. This
agreement includes allowing Iraqi military officers
and government officials to interview potential
deportees in the UK before agreeing to accept them.
Kurdish detainees have complained of being
threatened by these officials. The last deportation
charter flight was in June, when handcuffed
deportees were beaten by British security officers
and many Kurds were detained in awful conditions in
Baghdad for several days before being transported
north.
As everyone knows, Iraq has to be one of the most
dangerous places in the world right now. In June,
the United Nations High Commission for Refugees
again warned against forcible removals.
In year 2009/10, the UK government spent £10.3
million on charter flight removals to several
countries.
Copyright, respective
author or news agency,
NCADC | ncadc org.uk
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