Tortured Asylum Seekers Being Ignored by UK

It now appears that torture survivors who were seeking sanctuary in Britain are being wrongly held in government detention centers. This disheartening news comes despite independent medical evidence supporting claims of brutal violence against them in their home countries.

Charities are saying that reports of abuse are being routinely ignored. According to Home Office guidelines, in cases where there is evidence that a person is seeking asylum because they were tortured in their home country, they should only be detained in exceptional circumstances. However, medical charities that have carried out hundreds of independent assessments of torture survivors ever year have now accused the government of ignoring their reports. Victims are being held in detention centers until their asylum claims are heard and, in almost every single case, rejected.

A spokeswoman for one of the charities, Sonya Sceats, said that it is very clear that there is a systemic and increasing problem with the whole thing. The dismissal of independent medical evidence and rejecting asylum of these people puts them at risk of being tortured again in the feature.

These allegations come just following strong criticism last week of the UK Border Agency. They are being condemned for failing to investigate claims of mistreatment by failed asylum seekers in abuse allegations up to July 2008. Ministers now plan to review the use of force against asylum seekers by British security guards after a Border Agency report on abuse conceded that serious injuries were suffered by detainees.

Experts state that this is something that has now gotten out of control and needs to be dealt with right away. They go on to say that it's apparent that these organizations feel they are above the law and can do what they please.