News

Foreign prisoners convicted of crimes in the UK were freed from an immigration removal centre in Dover during July 2009 according to Home Office figures.

A failed Kurdish asylum seeker who reportedly sewed up his mouth in an attempt to avoid being returned to Iraq had the stitches forcibly removed and was put on a plane the next day.

He was among 49 rejected asylum seekers who had been taken from Dover and Colnbrook immigration detention centres in preparation for the midday flight to northern Iraq from to Stansted airport last Wednesday.

The flight's take-off was delayed six hours because two other asylum seekers had to be removed from the cabin. One had allegedly smuggled a blade on board and slashed his stomach, while a second concussed himself by banging his head against the window.

The aircraft eventually left some six hours late bound for Irbil in northern Iraq.

Despite arriving in clear conditions, the flight made several passes before returning to Turkey because of “bad weather”, and eventually the plane and its passengers arrived back at Stansted 31 hours after leaving the UK.

A UK Border Agency spokesman refused to comment on the flight but said returns to northern Iraq were enforced when officials were satisfied that it was safe to do so.


 

'Trolley dash' took on a new meaning when six illegal immigrants tried to dupe the authorities by hiding in lorry carrying a consignment of shopping trolleys, border police revealed yesterday.

But their hashed attempt ended after the six men, four Indians and two Afghans were discovered in Dunkerque, France even before the lorry boarded the ferry to Dover.

The men were handed over to the French authorities.

A UK Border Agency spokesman said: “We have hundreds of officers at ports in France and Belgium. We do visual checks of vehicles, using heartbeat detectors, carbon dioxide machines and sniffer dogs to find well-hidden stowaways.”

Two Vietnamese men got a frosty reception when they tried to smuggle themselves into the UK inside a lorry load of fridge freezers.

They were caught as the Hungarian-registered lorry was about to board a UK-bound Eurotunnel train.

A scan with heartbeat detectors confirmed they were in the lorry at the Coquelles terminal in France, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) said.

Two illegal immigrants made a dog's dinner of their attempt to sneak into Britain, it has been revealed.

UK Border Agency (UKBA) guards based in France spotted the Iraqis clinging to the axles of a lorry transporting a cargo of dog biscuits.

The men were handed over to French authorities after they attempted to board a Eurotunnel service at Coquelle in France, a UKBA spokesman said.

Stowaways aboard cross channel trains could have cost Eurotunnel, £24m in profits according to analysts.

The Channel Tunnel rail link operator said that operating revenue dropped to £548 million from £579m the year before, as stowaways cost the firm an estimated £20m - but the unwanted freight had become less of a problem in recent months following the introduction of tightened security, said chief executive Richard Shirrefs.

Eurotunnel is currently fighting the Government over financial help to stop illegal immigrants using the Channel Tunnel to enter the country.

The Government is threatening to charge Eurotunnel £2000 for each illegal who manages to get through its security and enter Britain, after discovering that about 1000 stowaways use the route each month.

Analysts expected the problems could affect profits to the tune of £24m.

A £2million X-ray scanner meant to spot illegal immigrants hiding in lorries at Dover was out of action for a week last month, sources said.

The report in the Express says that the X-ray scanners are plagued by breakdowns and often switched off, according to claims.

The report also tells of a machine on the French border which is supposed to catch those trying to slip across the Channel has also suffered faults, union chiefs claimed.

One source at Dover said: “It is ridiculous to spend all this money on that sort of hi-tech machine and have it breaking down all the time. These problems just make it far easier for illegal immigrants to make their way in.”

John Tincey of the Immigration Service Union said a scanner operated by British officers in France has had a number of breakdowns.

He added: “None are 100 per cent effective and the more technical ones are more likely to break down.”

Three illegal Afghan immigrants have been arrested in Dover after they were caught trying to leave Britain.

They had sneaked into the back of a Polish lorry leaving Dover for France but were discovered when it braked suddenly, causing its load of timber to fall and pin one of them down.

The driver went to investigate after hearing noises from the back of his truck.

The other two men, who were also injured, were seen trying to run away.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the pressure group MigrationWatch, said yesterday: "It seems crazy to stop illegal immigrants leaving the country of their own free will.

"We would like to see an amnesty of departure so any illegal immigrant could leave, providing they were not wanted by police, as soon as they wish."

Sir Andrew added: "We do not need them here and we certainly do not need to pay for their removal."

Charlie Elphicke, 36, the Tories' prospective parliamentary candidate for Dover, said: "The Home Office is a complete shambles. Why are we stopping them from leaving?

"If they want to go, let them go. Why are we spending valuable resources in this way?

"We should be making sure our borders are secure against people who are trying to enter our country illegally and helping those who are here illegally to leave.

"It is ludicrous to prevent those wanting to leave to do so. The immigration system in this country is truly mad.

"No other country would run its immigration system the way we are. It's just an insane practice and highlights what a terrible-sorry state the Home Office is in."

Gwyn Prosser, 64, Labour MP for Dover and Deal, said: "I have heard of at least one gang that escorts illegal immigrants across the Channel, for which they pay a premium price, then the traffickers have to get back to France without having any relevant paperwork.

A Home Office spokesman said: "If they are failed asylum seekers we will be able to find their immigration background and there is a possibility of removal from the country.

A local father-of-two has lost his battle to stay in Britain.

Joao Muambo Ambriz, 35, arrived in the UK in 2003, from Angola and now lives in Dover with his British-born wife.

He won a reprieve against deportation in December, but now the Home Office has told him me must leave though he fears he will be tortured in Angola.

Dover MP Gwyn Prosser is backing Mr Ambriz but said Immigration Minister Liam Byrne wrote to him saying the case was not a genuine claim for asylum.

Mr Prosser, Labour MP for Dover, said the latest development meant the order to detain and remove Mr Ambriz could be reinstated.

He added: "Whatever transpires I am committed to supporting the case and doing all I can to keep this loving couple together with their children in their Dover home."

Mr Ambriz's wife Hannah said: "This is not the end of the game, we will push it as far as a judicial review if we have to.

"We have got lots of avenues to explore and we will not give up until we get the right answer."

Mr Ambriz came to the UK after fleeing his home country as a political dissident, but all his asylum applications since then have been rejected.

In December he won a last-minute reprieve against deportation and spent Christmas at home with his family after being released from a detention centre.

In a statement, the Home Office said: ""We only return those who the asylum decision making and independent appeals processes have found do not need international protection and who can therefore return safely.

"We examine with great care each individual case before removal and we will not remove anyone who we believe is at risk on their return."