UK scraps scheme to send home Iraqi exiles

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1194370,00....

Secret UN report warns of deadly risks over repatriation

Kamal Ahmed and Martin Bright
Sunday April 18, 2004
The Observer

Controversial plans by Britain to 'enforceably repatriate' hundreds of Iraqis who fled persecution by Saddam Hussein have been suspended following warnings that the policy could see people being sent back to their deaths.
Home Office officials were due to start flying Iraqi asylum seekers back to their country at the end of this month, despite growing violence there which has seen hundreds of Iraqis killed and thousands more injured in the past fortnight.

But last night a spokeswoman admitted the target date would no longer be met, as a memorandum obtained by The Observer showed that the United Nations gave a stark warning to the Government last month that the 'climate of instability' meant any plans to force people living in Britain back to Iraq should be abandoned.

'Despite the arrest of Saddam Hussein and the timetable for the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty, a climate of insecurity continues in Iraq,' says the memo, dated 1 March and sent to senior UN staff. 'Security incidents targeting both coalition forces and, increasingly, Iraqis continue with alarming frequency. These frequently result in the death or serious injury of the targeted individuals as well as other civilians.

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