London, June 16, IRNA -- The British government announced that it was re-starting the consideration of Iraqi asylum claims Monday after declaring the country "safe" for many Iraqis to return to.
"The situation in Iraq has now changed and we believe it is time for people to begin returning home to help re-building their country," Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes said.
She said the government was "therefore now resuming consideration of Iraqi asylum claims" that were suspended at the start of the US-led war on March 20.
At the same time, the government was "developing a coherent returns program with the International Organisation for Migration helping on voluntary returns," Hughes said.
She said that initially the emphases will be on facilitating assisted voluntary returns, but warned that that the small start would build up "with the start of enforced returns later this year."
The announcement comes as the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees (IFIR) were scheduled to hold a protest outside the Home
Office on Tuesday to demand that plans to deport Iraqi asylum seekers from the UK be stopped.
The IFIR has warned that returning asylum seekers in Iraq could put them in danger as democracy, human rights and security would not emerge in the country in the near future.
The decision to deport Iraqi asylum seekers was taken after Home Secretary David Blunkett met UN High Commissioner on Refugees Ruud Lubbers last month, when it was decided to follow the precedent set by sending back Afghani asylum seekers following the US-led war.
The decision has also been criticised by the Refugee Council,
which has appealed that it was too early to be talking about
returning exiled Iraqis because of the instability in the country occupied by British and American forces.
Just prior to the war against Iraq, the British government put on hold an estimated 7,000 Iraqi asylum seeker cases awaiting decisions in the UK.
Home Office figures show that Iraqis lodged 17,070 applications for asylum in the 15 months up to the end of March, the largest group from any country.
Over the past decade thousands of Afghanis have also sought refuge in Britain, with 7,380 claiming asylum last year, the second highest after Iraqis.


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