KurdistanObserver.com

Kurdish Asylum Seekers To be Flown To Hewler Airport Tomorrow

Home Office says flights to Kurd region will begin within days

The Guardian UK  Aug 27, 2005

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.

"Iraq is a very dangerous place for everyone. One month ago in Kurdistan they found an Islamist cell which had been killing people and cutting up their bodies. They had been operating for three years, abducting people. Each of the Kurdish parties may have their own militia but they cannot keep law and order. It is very difficult to know how to rebuild your life. I have been here six years but I have been refused leave to stay."

Sarah Parker, a voluntary worker at the centre, added: "People are very scared about being sent back now. They would go back if it was safe. They are scared and feel they have been treated very badly by the Home Office."

Soran Hamarash, manager of the immigration section at the Kurdish Cultural Centre in south London, attended a meeting at the Home Office on Thursday.

"We have asked for these deportations to be delayed," he said. "It is chaos. Officials just have targets to meet. The system is so unfair.

"I know of one man who is facing deportation even though he has four employees and a mortgage. Some have been here since 1997."

'They killed my brother and are looking for me'

Diar Mohammed Nasir, 29, from Kirkuk:

My brother and I refused to do military service for Saddam. He was executed; I was tortured. My arm was broken and I was sent to hospital in 1999. I escaped to Halabja in the Kurdish autonomous zone and was pressured to join an Islamist group, the IMK.

They told me to drive a car full of TNT to the Communist party offices in Sulaimaniya. They wanted to blow up everyone inside. I'm not a terrorist, so I warned them of the attack. The IMK then issued a fatwa against me.

In September 2000, I left because I feared for my life. I paid $4,500 to a man in Turkey and came to the UK. The Islamists have been to the house in Sulaimaniya looking for me. They are everywhere in Iraq. Our house in Kirkuk is occupied by an Arab family. I have been refused asylum.

Rezgar Mohammed, 24, from Sulaimaniya:

I fled northern Iraq because of a blood feud with a tribal group. My brother accidentally shot one of them when his gun went off. They killed another of my brothers in revenge and would have killed me if I had not come to London in January 2001.

I used to be a driver. My wife and children are still there, but I haven't been in contact with them for a long time.

I am worried the Home Office will try to send me back even though the blood feud is continuing.

Dilan Nazie, 24, from Sulaimaniya:

I am a sculptor and I made statues which showed the human body. The Islamists objected. I went into hiding. The Islamists seized me and would have killed me, but I escaped to Turkey, then by lorry to the UK.

If I am sent back I will be executed. Last month my family received a threatening letter. These Islamists are still abducting people, particularly artists and intellectuals.

Iraq is the most dangerous country in the world. Most of the Iraqi and Kurdish leaders have their families living in Europe. So why is it considered safe for us?

I have been refused asylum by the Home Office. I am scared.

Dalwar Mawlood, 30, from Irbil:

I have been in London since 1998. I used to be a lorry driver, delivering petrol. I have been refused permission to stay in the UK. I'm worried that when I next report to the Home Office I will be detained. They have told me I will have to go back.

But I don't want to. It's too dangerous. There are suicide bombings every day, people being killed. There have been attacks in northern Iraq, too. No one can protect us from those. There were 300 people killed several months ago.