Asylum refusal rate soars after 'change of practice' by
Home Office

Special report: refugees in Britain
Special report: Iraq

Vikram Dodd
Wednesday April 25, 2001
The Guardian

The government has secretly decided to order Iraqi Kurds seeking refuge from the war-torn
country out of Britain, the Guardian has learned.

The Home Office has admitted to an unannounced "change of practice" in the way it assesses
asylum claims from Iraqi Kurds who say they are fleeing Saddam Hussein and conflict in the
region.

This has led to a dramatic increase in the refusal rate. In February, the last month for which
figures are available, 78% of Iraqi applicants were refused asylum or exceptional leave to
remain, compared with 14% in July 2000. The refusals peaked in October when 91.4% of
those seeking asylum were ordered out of Britain.

Amnesty International last night accused the government of putting its efforts to clamp down
on asylum claims ahead of its duties under international guidelines to shield people fleeing
persecution.

The Home Office says part of northern Iraq, which it calls the Kurdish autonomous area, is
safe for the asylum seekers, as it is under control of Kurdish groups. But in some cases Iraqis
from outside the safe area are being ordered out of Britain. In one case a man who says he
was tortured after defying President Saddam was told that Jack Straw, the home secretary,
regarded his case as one of "prosecution not persecution" and his arrest as having a "valid
cause".

Some of the Iraqis ordered out of Britain say they will commit suicide rather than be sent
back.

Critics say the change in policy is hypocritical, considering that Britain joined the US in
bombing Iraq in January, citing as a justification the continuing danger its leader poses.

A Home Office spokesman said: "There has been a change of practice rather than a change
of policy towards asylum seekers from the Kurdish autonomous area of northern Iraq. The
Home Office country assessment on which case workers base their decisions has reflected the
fact that the Kurdish northern autonomous area is regarded as safe for certain Iraqi Kurds by
the Home Office and the office of the United Nations high commissioner for refugees.

"To that end the government is in the process of exploring the options to return Iraqi citizens
of Kurdish origin to northern Iraq."

A spokeswoman for the UNHCR, Hope Hanlan, said: "A case-by-case approach is
warranted. You can't guarantee the safety of anyone going back ... We do not pronounce
ourselves on the safety of any country."

A spokesman for Amnesty said: "We weren't told of the change, it was noticed by us and
other groups. The Home Office can call it what it wishes, a change of policy or practice - it's
a bogus distinction."

The deportations cannot be enforced yet as there are no direct flights to the parts of Iraq not
controlled by President Saddam. Control of northern Iraq falls between three groups, the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Democratic party and the Islamic Movement of
Iraqi Kurdistan. Some of those refused asylum say they are fleeing these groups.

One man who says he fled President Saddam was arrested twice in Dora, an area controlled
by the Iraqi dictator. The man, a power plant engineer, says he tried to resist an order to cut
power to Kurdish parts of Iraq. He was suspended, arrested and tortured with electric shocks,
beatings and mock execution.

The Home Office's refusal letter said: "The secretary of state considers your claim to be an
example of prosecution not persecution. In order to qualify for asylum under the terms of the
1951 United Nations convention ... you would need to be able to show that you would not
receive a fair trial or that any punishment you might receive as a result of a conviction
would be disproportionate for reasons of race, nationality, membership of a particular social
group or political opinion. The secretary of state considers that you have failed to
demonstrate that you would be treated unfairly for any of these reasons."

Ali Namik, 28, says he fled Halabja, a city controlled by the Islamic Movement of Iraqi
Kurdistan, after the IMIK persecuted him for owning a video shop selling western films, and
for being a communist: "I was tortured psychologically and physically. I was beaten up,
sometimes with cables, sometimes for an hour they would beat me.

"They're going to kill me, I know what they're like. I won't let them kill me, I'll kill myself."

Ali Rahimi, a solicitor who says he has had 100 Iraqi clients refused asylum since October,
said: "Returning to Iraq ... is absolutely terrifying for them. People can not believe what they
see in the refusal letters. All they see is that this government is proposing to send them back
to Iraq, the same government that has been in a state of war with Iraq for the last 10 years."
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com