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Coalition To Stop Deportations to Iraq - Press Release 14th February 2007

Some reports have at last been received about the fate of the 38 UK Iraqi/Kurds forcibly removed to Iraq on February 12 from RAF Brize Norton.

We understand from sources in Erbil that the plane landed not at the normal passenger terminal but in a cargo area, and that journalists and most airport workers were kept away from the area.

Dashty Jamal of the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees phoned two of the deportees on Tuesday evening. The arriving deportees said they were faced with numbers of KDP special police (Asayish) outside the plane. Some were beaten by the airplane guards as they were herded from the plane and on to a waiting bus. They were taken to a hotel, which was under the control of the Asayish. They reported that some were eventually allowed to leave with their families, but those without their family members available are still in the hotel. It is reported that the Asayish are not allowing anyone into the hotel to visit the deportees.

The 'International Federation of Iraqi Refugees' and the 'Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq' in the UK are very concerned that the British government still sees fit to deport people to Kurdistan, subjecting them to being forced on and off military aircraft. Peoples' families in Erbil did not know where their relatives were for many hours.

We are also concerned that the KRG authorities facilitated the landing of the plane, and done nothing to stop the deportees being beaten. The media in Kurdistan has been full of denials from the PUK and KDP that they had any agreement with the British government to accept people forcibly returned.

We also understand from a Home Office letter to judges dated 2 February that the Home Office has in fact been concerned about the possibility of terrorist attacks on Erbil airport, which hardly supports their argument that the three northern governorates of Iraq are safe to return people.

End of Bulletin:

Source for this Message: COALITION TO STOP DEPORTATIONS TO IRAQ