UK Deportation Officials Confronted on Plane by Iraqi Army
Reports have now come in to show that an Iraqi army officer apparently boarded a flight full of deported asylum seekers at the Baghdad airport. Here he is said to have told British emigration officials to not send anymore asylum seekers back by force.
This confrontation was reported to have happened late last week when a British deportation flight to Baghdad touched down carrying almost 40 Iraqis. After touching down, according to the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees, seven guards, which were bearing Kalashnikovs, flanked the deportation officers and asked the refused asylum seekers if they wanted to stay in Iraq or go back to the UK. During this, they also told the British emigration officers to never send back any Iraqis by force.
The passengers who chose to stay on the plane and not return back to Iraq are currently back in Britain and are being held at the Brook House Emigration Detention center. After leaving Iraq, the plane initially flew to Italy where all of the passengers were put on another flight. According to the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees, three people refused to change planes in Italy and were beaten by security guards.
Only about ten of the 39 Iraqi detainees where offloaded in Baghdad. The rest of the detainees were returned to Britain. The chief executive of the UK Border Agency, Lin Homer, said that they are currently working closely with the Iraqi government to iron out any of the issues which led to the failed send back of the asylum seekers. They plan to carry out another flight in the near future.
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