Nowhere to run: Iraqi asylum seekers in the UK

This article, covering the period 2003-2010, is concerned with those Iraqis whose asylum claims in the UK have been rejected in recent years and who have found 'nowhere to run'. A deterrence-based UK immigration regime has undermined many of their basic rights since the start of the war. And despite wide public knowledge about the dangers of return to Iraq, failed Iraqi asylum seekers are being made destitute, detained and even forcibly deported back to Iraq. From 2007 onwards, deportations on commercial and military flights increased, with deportees facing torture, disappearance and threats of violence upon their return. 'Deterrence' claims casualties in the UK, too, with Iraqis dying from homelessness, suicide, medical neglect and despair. Iraqi refugee organisations, the UNHCR and the European Court all call for an end to deportations to Iraq, yet the UK government refuses to listen.