http://argument.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/story.jsp?story=332462

It is appropriate that, one year after the declaration of the war on terror - a war that, whatever its justification, did lead to a good deal of suffering for many innocent people of Afghanistan - we should recall the obligations we owe to the people of that country. In particular, we should reflect on the plight of those who fled to the West seeking asylum. Yesterday's High Court judgment in the case of the Ahmadi family suggests that we have yet to live up to the high moral standards we set ourselves after 11 September 2001.

Mr Ahmadi is the son of an Afghan army brigadier prominent in the Soviet- supported regime overturned by the Taliban. He claims he was tortured twice and his wife beaten by religious zealots. The Ahmadis escaped to Germany, where they say they were so badly treated by government officials and residents that Mrs Ahmadi suffered two breakdowns. They then sold their belongings, made the journey to Britain and settled in the Midlands.

Farid and Feriba Ahmadi and their two children were deported to Germany last month after police raided the mosque where they had sought sanctuary. The family claimed that the mental health of Mrs Ahmadi and the children would suffer if they were returned to Germany. The Home Office ignored their pleas and deported them. It was a high-profile case, and there is the suspicion that the Home Office was perfectly happy with coverage that showed ministers getting tough with "bogus" asylum seekers, and using force if necessary - presumably pour encourager les autres.

That has certainly backfired, with the High Court declaring Mr Blunkett's decision illegal on human rights grounds and opening up the possibility of the Ahmadis, and other families, returning to Britain. Had the Home Secretary done the decent thing and allowed the Ahmadis to go before an independent adjudicator to consider their psychological health they could have been dealt with as a special case. As it is, Mr Blunkett is left with the worst of all worlds, with his asylum policy undermined once again by his own headline-chasing instincts. He should use what's left of the parliamentary recess to re-read his own Government's Human Rights Act.