A group of Iraqi asylum seekers in Britain will this week be sent back to Baghdad for the first time since the start of the Iraq war in 2003, refugee groups here said Wednesday. The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees said around 40 Iraqis currently being held in British immigration removal centres have been told they will be returned to southern Iraq, possibly as early as Wednesday.
It has condemned the move, saying many refugees fear they will be at risk of violence if they are made to return to their homeland. "The government is forcing people back to a country devastated by a war it started," said the group, which is holding a demonstration in central London Wednesday.
"They are trying to keep this secret... we call on everybody to resist these deportations in any way they can." Maurice Wren, director of the Asylum Aid charity, told the Independent newspaper: "Forcing Iraqi civilians on to a charter flight to Baghdad is inhumane.
"Many Iraqis have fled Saddam's persecution or the risks of being killed in the insurgency and have lived with their families as refugees in the UK for years." The Home Office said it could not comment on the detail or timing of operations to remove asylum seekers. Although this would be the first time asylum seekers had been sent back to southern Iraq and Baghdad since the 2003 US-led invasion which toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraqis have returned to the north from Britain.
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