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No UK amnesty for failed asylum seekers - lawyer
By Staff
Reporter
BRITAIN
is not giving an amnesty to failed asylum seekers, lawyers said Wednesday.
The clarification came as hundreds of failed asylum seekers received questionnaires from the Case Resolution Directorate at the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA), asking if their circumstances had changed since their asylum claims were rejected.
The letters said in part: “Have circumstances in your country of nationality changed since your asylum application was refused? If yes, give brief details of how this affects you and any dependants.”
The letters touched off rumours that the BIA was considering an amnesty, especially for families.
“Despite many misleading articles being posted in various platforms and on the streets, it is important that people know that there is no new amnesty coming anytime soon," said Lloyd Msipa, The New Zimbabwe’s immigration columnist and lawyer.
"The impact of all this peddling of false rumours gives false hope to people seeking asylum, over-stayers and irregular migrants seeking status.
“What is happening is that as from July 6, 2007, a total of 6000 questionnaires have been sent out by the BIA. To those who have received these questionnaires, it is probable that your case may have been identified as a ‘legacy case’ or identified for ‘case resolution’ and definitely not part of any new amnesty."
He added: "If you have not received the questionnaire, chances are you may receive one in the near future. The purpose of sending out this questionnaire is to allow the BIA to make decisions based o the information one provides in this questionnaire, which may be one of two things, to grant you status or to speed up your removal from the United Kingdom.
“Anybody getting one of these questionnaires is strongly advised to seek legal assistance in completing them as any misinformation may be fatal to their case.”
Some desperate Zimbabweans, believing the letters could gain them consideration for "amnesty", have been duped into parting with large sums of money by people circulating photocopies of the BIA letters.
Msipa said: "The only valid questionnaires are those sent by the Home Office. There is no amnesty.”
The BIA still has a number of programmes ongoing, including the Family Indefinite Leave to Remain Exercise, which Msipa believes may be contributing to the “confusion”.
He added: “To qualify for the family amnesty, the main applicant of the family unit must have applied for asylum before October 2, 2000, and further to this must have had at least one dependant under 18, other than a spouse or a civil partner, in the United Kingdom on October 2, 2000, or October 24, 2004."
Meanwhile an asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) hearing in the key case of a Zimbabwean asylum seeker known as HS (Zimbabwe) has concluded in London with judgment being reserved.
Three AIT judges sat over the two-week long hearings, a third of which were conducted in camera to protect witnesses.
The court heard testimonies from former Zimbabwean intelligence officers and police officers, together with expert witnesses brought by lawyers from the Refugee Legal Centre who are representing HS, the initials of the asylum seeker who cannot be named.
The outcome of the case, which was declared as the new country guidance case for Zimbabwe, could affect thousands of asylum seekers whose applications have been turned down and are now awaiting deportation.
Deportations to Zimbabwe are currently frozen pending the outcome of the case, but a ruling against HS could trigger a fresh wave of deportations which the UK government has done in the past.
Sarah Harland, a spokeswoman for the campaigning Zimbabwe Association said she hoped the judges would reach a “humane decision”.
“There is no point predicting these things, because there are so many imponderables,” Harland said Tuesday. “But a lot of the expert evidence provided to the judges clearly shows that the situation has in fact deteriorated in Zimbabwe, and it is our hope that the judges will reach a humane decision.”
Campaigners say failed asylum seekers returned to Zimbabwe face risk of persecution by President Robert Mugabe’s security forces. But the Home Office wants to retain the right to remove failed asylum seekers, while protecting those fleeing genuine persecution.
Writing in a British newspaper last week, a retired Zimbabwean police assistant commissioner Isaac Hlekisani Dziya warned that deported asylum seekers were viewed as traitors in Harare, and many will face “certain death” if deported.
He said: “There are special units within the intelligence organisations that operate from every entry point into Zimbabwe. These guys know their business and can never be underestimated, and worst of all they are no longer accountable.”
The Zimbabwe Association says 16 145 Zimbabweans applied for asylum in the United Kingdom between 2000 and 2004. A majority of the claims remain unresolved or have been dismissed.
The Association
says 1 010 Zimbabweans claimed asylum in 2000, a further 2 115 in 2001,
some 7 695 claims in 2002, 3 280 claims in 2003 and 2 045 we made in
2004.
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