Gran Bretaña acusada de fallar en su responsabilidad a los refugiados

Por Nigel Morris

Los pocos refugiados iraquíes que terminan el viaje peligroso y costoso a Gran Bretaña tienen poca perspectiva de ser permitido a permanecer.

De dos millones de iraquíes que han huido su patria, sólo cerca de 9.000 han demandado el asilo en este país desde que Saddam Hussein fue derribado por la invasión Nosotros-conducida en marzo de 2003.

Apenas 1.305 asilo-buscadores iraquíes aterrizaron en Gran Bretaña en 2006, una fracción de los 8.950 quién llegó en Suecia y menos que en los Países Bajos (2.765), Alemania (2.065) y Grecia (1.415). Tienen alrededor de el que está en la ocasión ocho de ser permitido a permanecer.

The asylum applications of 88 per cent of Iraqis were rejected last year, with 12 per cent either being granted asylum or discretionary leave to remain.

Six years ago, about half of all Iraqi asylum-seekers were granted refuge. More Iraqis are now being returned from Britain than arrive. Most go back voluntarily, but there have been a handful of forcible removals to the Kurdish north of the country, despite warnings about instability and violence across the whole of Iraq.

Donna Covey, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “Along with the rest of the international community, the United Kingdom has a responsibility to refugees displaced by the conflict in Iraq and we are not living up to that responsibility. The scale of the refugee crisis is growing and is now so acute that a change in policy towards Iraqi refugees is surely now imperative.”

She criticised the Government for not following the lead of other countries, including the United States, in agreeing to resettle some of the refugees sheltering in Iraq’s neighbours.

The Government’s tough line is a result of tightening border controls in recent years and the Home Office’s belief that “there has been a clear change in the conditions in Iraq and, with it, the factors to be considered when Iraqi nationals claim asylum”.

There are fears that Iraqis are opting to live in Britain illegally without ever declaring themselves to the authorities for fear of expulsion.

Britain is not alone in its uncompromising attitude to Iraqi refugees. The Netherlands only allowed about 25 per cent to stay last year, Germany 11 per cent and Greece refuses all applications. Sweden, by contrast, allowed more than 90 per cent, with the result that it receives almost half of Europe’s Iraqi asylum-seekers. Earlier this year it appealed to its European Union partners to share the load.

Pirkko Kourula, the European director of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said: “Given the seriousness of the situation in Iraq, one would certainly expect a much higher recognition rate for refugees from that country.”

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