52. Supplementary memorandum
submitted by Chris Mullin MP
I am writing to express the hope that your inquiry
will not lose sight of the fact that as a result of the huge pressure
being placed upon us to return illegal migrants we are doing some
terrible things. They make the figures look better, but morally
they are difficult to justify.
We are returning families with young children,
who have lived here for years, to dysfunctional countries such
as the Congo, Angola and Sudan where they face destitution and
possibly in some cases, death.
We drop them off at airports like Kinshasa,
which no one gets through unharassed, wave them goodbye and take
no interest in what happens to them afterwards.
We are taking young children out of school,
some of whom have been born in this country and who know no other
life but ours, and sending them and their families back to countries
with some of the highest infant mortality rates in the world without
a thought as to what will become of them once they are off our
books.
We recently returned a man from my constituency
to Azerbijan despite the fact that, as I pointed out in writing
to the Minister, the last two Azeris to be removed from Sunderland
had been severely beaten on arrival at Baku. This man has disappeared
without trace. His relatives were waiting for him at the airport,
but he did not emerge. I believe he may be dead.
It is my view that we should not be removing
children who have lived all or most of their lives in this country
to dysfunctional countries like the Congo, Angola and Sudan.
If we must remove them, then we should make
arrangements for them to be met and re-integrated—and not
simply wash our hands of them as soon as they are out the door.
Please find enclosed a copy of a speech on this
issue which I made on January 10. I subsequently had a meeting
with the then Home Secretary, Charles Clark, to discuss these
issues. He was not unsympathetic.
I hope a flavour of the above will be reflected
in your report. I believe firmly in robust immigration controls,
but we must not allow ourselves to be panicked into action that
is morally insupportable.
17 May 2006
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