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May 10, 2006

UK: Muslims Who Hijacked Plane Can Stay In Britain

Fed up with living under the regime of the Taliban in Afghanistan, nine Muslims escaped from the country in February 2000. They did not cross into a neighbouring country peacefully. Armed with AK-47 assault rifles and grenades, they hijacked a Boeing 727 on an internal flight from Kabul, and forced the pilot to fly the plane to Britain. It landed at Stansted airport in Essex. There then followed a four day stand-off, as the hijackers threatened to blow up the plane and also made threats to kill some of the 173 passengers, whom they kept as hostages. The men eventually gave in to SAS marksmen, and were jailed for five years for hijacking, possessing guns and explosives, and false imprisonment.

The scandal now is that these individuals, who had brought their families on the plane, have now been allowed to stay in Britain indefinitely, where they can claim welfare benefits and free housing, without having to even work. By September 2004, their legal fees had amounted to more than 4.8 million pounds ($8 million), a financial burden footed by the UK tax-payer.

News in the Telegraph and Guardian today reports that a judge, Mr Justice Sullivan, ruled today that the men are free to stay in Britain.

Previous home secretaries have refused the nine Afghans leave to enter Britain on indefinite leave to stay, and only granted them temporary permission. It was reasoned by these that by allowing them such rights would create a precedent for future hijackers to follow suit.

Sullivan claimed the government had "deliberately delayed" acting upon a ruling by an appeals court, which said that the men could not be returned to Afghanistan where their lives would be "at risk".

In an act of punitive spite, Sullivan ordered that the Home Office should pay the legal costs at the highest rate, to demonstrate his "disquiet and concern." Sullivan said: "It is difficult to conceive of a clearer case of 'conspicuous unfairness amounting to an abuse of power."

Sullivan obviously has not looked at his own actions, which have been seized upon by the media as an example of the disgraceful aspects of the UK's asylum system.

To cover himself, Sullivan stated: "Lest there be any misunderstanding, the issue in this case is not whether the executive should take action to discourage hijacking, but whether the executive should be required to take such action within the law as laid down by Parliament and the courts."

Home Office minister Tony McNulty said the government was considering whether to appeal. He said: "It is common sense that to deter hijacking and international terrorism, individuals should not be rewarded with leave to remain in the UK."

He added: "That is why the Home Office introduced a policy that, depending on the circumstances of the case, enabled the secretary of state not to grant leave of any sort to people who are excluded from international protection and instead keep them on temporary admission."

McNulty said the Home Office intended to return the nine to Afghanistan as soon as it could be done in safety.

One should consider the way the pilot of their hijacked plane, Medhi Syedi, was treated. He said in July 2004 that as his family was not on board, he could not apply for asylum without them. So he had to return to Afghanistan, where the Taliban imprisoned him, and beat him with cables on a daily basis. Both his houses were taken from him. At the time of his statement, he was living in a house in Kabul with no electricity nor running water.

Of the passengers on the hijacked plane, 22 were granted asylum, 89 returned to Afghanistan, and 25 were under review in July 2004. The costs of all these cases amounted to more than 20 million pounds. 13 of the 22 successful applicants were dependents of the terrorists who hijacked the plane, and it would be ludicrous to suggest they did not know of the hijackers' intentions. By conspiring to stay silent these individuals should, like the hijackers, be deported.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 10, 2006 3:28 PM

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