Detained and deported - how the Tories really treat Syrian refugees

25.11.15

Detained and deported - how the Tories really treat Syrian refugees: [socialistworker.co.uk] Socialist Worker has uncovered barely reported figures for the first six months of this year. They reveal that Britain “forcibly removed” 6,189 people.

Adding those who “voluntarily” follow government orders to leave rather than risk going through this ordeal, some 26,000 were kicked out.

And the number of people held in detention centres increased by 11 percent since last year, to 3,418 at a time. Another 15,694 people spent time in these refugee jails.

The government has tried to head off the pressure to act on the refugee crisis by making Syrians seem like a special case. But 387 Syrians were among the detainees, including six children—and 163 were kicked out of Britain.

As for the Syrians arriving, there’s a limit to how welcome they are made to feel. Home secretary Theresa May stressed that they are being “security” vetted and having their biometric details put on file, treating them as suspected terrorists by default.