UK
handout funds an ostrich farm in Iran - for failed asylum seekers
By
James Slack - Home Affairs Editor, Daily Mail, December 17,
2007
Failed
asylum seekers have been handed £36 million to open businesses,
including a beauty salon, a vineyard and even an ostrich farm,
back in their homelands.
More
than 23,000 have taken advantage of generous handouts worth
up to £4,000 each. The revelation reignited a row over
Labour's controversial policy of 'bribing' bogus refugees to
leave the country.
Critics
said the Government had created a climate where a false claimant
could not lose. They also warned it could encourage more people
to head to Britain to lodge a claim.
Details
emerged for the first time of how the failed asylum seekers
- who could have been forcibly deported - are spending their
support package. One man, a 35-year-old Iranian, opened an ostrich
farm after spending four years in the UK. The vineyard near
Tirana, was opened by an Albanian man who produced organic grapes
and raki, a local spirit.
The
beauty salon in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare was opened
by a woman who went home last year after six years in Britain.
Other
businesses that have benefited include a fishing firm in Angola,
a ferry in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a dress shop in
Sudan, a car dealership in Kenya, a laundry in Afghanistan,
a shoe shop in China, a hotel in Nepal, a garment factory in
Sri Lanka, an internet cafe in Ecuador and a market stall in
Jamaica. The payouts are worth up to £1,000 in cash at
the airport, followed by £3,000 in support to open a business.
Other
perks available, provided the £4,000 is not exceeded,
include private schooling for the failed asylum seeker's children.
The Home Office pays around two thirds of the bill, with the
remainder coming from the EU - itself funded by the taxpayer.
Shadow
Home Secretary David Davis said: "The price of the Government's
failure to secure our borders is all too clear. Given their
inability to deport illegal immigrants, they have had to resort
to bribing them - with the taxpayer picking up the bill."
Sir
Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch UK, said failed asylum
seekers were being given a 'no loss' option. He added: "Either
they succeed with their claim and are given a meal ticket for
life, or they fail and return home much the wealthier. The sum
of £4,000 is a fortune in most source countries."
Matthew
Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "Giving
failed asylum seekers business grants smacks of rewarding criminality
and will act as a honey trap for even more illegal immigrants."
The
Voluntary Assisted Return Programme has cost £36million
since its launch in 1999. The budget for next year is £22million.
The Home Office says the policy is cheaper than forcibly deporting
failed refugees - a process which costs £11,000 each.
But opponents say it is evidence of desperation in the Government's
attempt to clear a growing backlog.
Throughout
2006, officials managed to deport only 18,280 failed asylum
seekers, while 20,700 were added to the list waiting for deportation.
The Treasury has instructed the Home Office to significantly
increase the number of bogus refugees dealt with each year.
Sex slaves smuggled into Britain are to share millions in compensation
for their 'pain and trauma'. The Criminal Injuries Compensation
Authority has agreed to hand over £140,000 to the first
four cases to come before it.
The
woman had suffered a 'sustained period of sexual abuse' after
being trafficked into the UK by a syndicate of British criminals.
A further 10,000 are estimated to be eligible under a new interpretation
of guidelines by the CICA, a Government agency.
Of
the first four, one girl was brought into the UK five years
ago at the age of 13. Another was trafficked in 2003, when she
was 16.
The
decision will reopen controversy over the way victims of sex
trafficking should be treated. Ministers recognise the danger
that offering them help - including compensation - could encourage
illegal immigration.
