Refugee Council release

In response to the media inquiry for The Independent about the use of mass deportations on specially hired planes, Fazil Kawani, Communications Director of the Refugee Council said:
“We are concerned that the chartering of planes to remove failed asylum seekers en mass could place those individuals in potential danger with the authorities of their countries. There is still no organisation which monitors what might happen to individuals once they are returned.

There is an urgent need for the Government to improve the quality of their asylum decisions. Until we have better procedures, can we be confident that all current decisions are fair? For example, more than a quarter of all applications are rejected without the Home Office even opening their files. These applicants include people from countries where severe human rights violations take place such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Sri Lanka.A key element to making the asylum system truly fair is to ensure that every asylum seeker has access to good legal advice and representation which is not happening in many cases.”

ENDS