Anger As 50 Iraqi Refugees Are Sent Back

The Home Office is facing mounting criticism for deciding to forcibly return 50 failed asylum seekers to Iraq. The men were removed last Thursday from Campsfield and Colnbrook detention centres under escort.

They were deported to Irbil in northern Iraq. The British government claims the region is safe, but human rights campaigners warn it is becoming increasingly dangerous. It has emerged that one failed asylum seeker, Solyman Rashid, who was returned from Britain after his appeal was rejected, was killed by a car bomb in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, last September.

Dashty Jamal, of the International Federation of Iraq Refugees, said his organisation had spoken to several of the men since they were returned in handcuffs on Thursday night. A number were from Mosul and Kirkuk, both cities that are riven by violence. There were also unsubstantiated reports that several were from Baghdad.

A Home Office spokeswoman confirmed the flight had taken place: 'Fifty Iraqi nationals were removed from the UK on a charter flight.' Campaigners said they were alarmed the government was returning Iraqi asylum seekers from Kirkuk and Mosul. This month 55 people were killed by a bomb in Mosul.

Human rights groups called on the government to monitor what happened to them. 'Iraq cannot be considered a safe place,' said Dr Frank Arnold, a senior clinical medical adviser with the Medical Justice Network. 'We demand that the government adequately monitors what happens to those returned. But they have constantly failed to do this.'

The United Nations has urged Britain to show restraint. 'We advise against returning people to Kirkuk,' a UN spokeswoman said.