E-Paper
UK Asylum seeker mistakenly deported to India
An asylum seeker of Indian origin was mistakenly deported to India by the Home Office this week and then ordered to return to Britain immediately.
An asylum seeker of Indian origin was mistakenly deported to India by the Home Office this week and then ordered to return to Britain immediately.
Jorawar Singh Dhillon, 34, was told to retrace his journey as soon as his plane touched down.
The blunder reportedly occurred Wednesday night and immigration services are urgently looking into the incident.
According to The Times, Dhillon applied for asylum on the grounds that he would face prosecution in India because he was involved in the transportation of arms for Sikh terrorists.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: "A failed asylum seeker was removed in error from the UK to India Aug 25 at 10 p.m. Arrangements are being made by the immigration services to return the individual to the UK.
"The immigration services are investigating the circumstances and his removal from the UK."
"Any action resulting from this investigation will be implemented by the immigration services to ensure that a recurrence doesn't occur."
Dhillon arrived in Britain in July 1996 and was refused asylum in both September 1996 and September 1998.
His legal representatives said having applied for asylum under the new human rights legislation meant he could not be removed.
But when he went for his routine visit to immigration officials Wednesday, he was detained.
Hours later, his legal team secured an injunction from a high court judge forbidding his removal from Britain, the newspaper said.
But Dhillon's deportation went ahead. And as he flew to India a second injunction was passed, ruling that he should not go through immigration at New Delhi but return to Britain immediately, the paper claimed.
