Release all asylum detainees from Democratic Republic of Congo - return is unsafe

   Message from Bail for Immigration Detainees Tuesday 7th October 2003

   Asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are being detained by the UK Immigration Service for prolonged periods even though removals are not taking place and return is unsafe, charity Bail for Immigration Detainees said today.

   The charity has written to the UK government asking that all DRC asylum seekers detained pending removal be released. They have also called for an urgent review of removals to DRC in the light of evidence of torture by the DRC authorities of asylum seekers returned to Kinshasa.

   "Immigration service departments are attempting to arrange the return of asylum seekers to Kinshasa and are maintaining detention of DRC nationals despite undisputed evidence, accepted in recent decisions of the Immigration Appeals Tribunal, that certain categories of returnees are at particular risk, and a growing body of evidence which suggests all returnees are subject to surveillance, detention, and ill-treatment regardless of their political background" said Tim Baster, BID coordinator.

   "The UK government is pursuing removal of a very vulnerable group of people, potentially putting their lives at risk. In the course of these attempts to arrange removal, a number of people have remained detained for prolonged periods. It is unacceptable to pursue removal or to maintain detention in the light of such serious allegations."
 
  BID's letter to the Director General of the Immigration and Nationality Department criticises the UK immigration service for

* detaining DRC nationals for prolonged periods of time even though they have been unable to organise removal within a reasonable timescale

* failing to investigate evidence of detention and ill-treatment before asserting that Kinshasa is safe for returnees

* failing to research or disclose evidence as to the fate of nationals of the DRC returned by the UK Immigration Service to Kinshasa

* seeking to remove DRC asylum seekers before a finding as to the safety or otherwise of return has been properly made.

Ends

Inquiries/further information:
Sarah Cutler
Policy and Research Officer
BID 
020 7247 3590
(BID office) / 07870 643373 /
sarah@biduk.org
or Tim Baster, Coordinator.

Notes to Editors
   1. A copy of BID's letter is attached.

   2. BID is a small independent charity that prepares and presents bail applications on behalf of those detained under Immigration Act powers. In 2001 it was awarded the Liberty/Justice Human Rights Award. BID website www.biduk.org
 
  3. BID became aware of a number of people from the DRC in detention centres at the end of 2002. They often had no legal representatives and some had strongly resisted removal due to their fear of return to the DRC. By the end of 2002 it appeared that removals to the DRC had effectively stopped. Despite this, detention had been maintained by the Immigration Service. Problems with removal to the DRC have been acknowledged repeatedly by various departments, including the Management of Detained Cases Unit (MODCU), the Removals Strategy and Co-ordination Unit (RESCU) and the Immigration Service Travel Document Unit. However, MODCU and other Immigration Service offices have continued, over a period of some 10 months, to defend the detention of DRC nationals on the grounds that removal is imminent or that travel documentation will be available in a short while.
 
  4. BID believes that the Home Office's decision to continue to detain DRC asylum seekers is unlawful, and not only acts against important rulings in detention case law, but is also contrary to the Home Office's own guidelines for detention. Whilst there is no statutory maximum period of detention, instructions to immigration officers enjoin them to remember that In all cases detention must be for the shortest possible time. A recent report of the Home Affairs Inquiry into asylum removals states "The Minister [Beverley Hughes MP] also agreed that detention without a prospect of removal was illegal, and denied that it occurred." (Q 686, p 27)
 
  5. In the course of our work representing DRC nationals, BID became aware that the UK Immigration Service had previously returned 13 unsuccessful DRC asylum seekers to Kinshasa by charter flight on 12 March 2002. BID had received first and second hand accounts from DRC nationals that this return did not run as smoothly as the Immigration Service had hoped. It is our understanding that one of the group returned on 12 March 2002 was refused entry to the DRC and immediately put on a plane back to the UK. Another fled again to the UK and has submitted a claim for political asylum, partly based on the ill treatment suffered on return. When BID presented details of the March 2002 charter flight, we were assured that we would receive a full reply from the relevant authorities. To date, BID has received no reply from the Removals Strategy and Co-ordination Unit (RESCU) regarding the reports of ill treatment to those on the 12 March 2002 charter flight.  

Bail for Immigration Detainees
bailforimmigrationdetainees@yahoo.co.uk
http://www.biduk.org/