Deported nationals 'bounced back'

Documents from the Home Office are at the heart of some cases

More than 100 foreign nationals deported to their home countries have been returned immediately to the UK, in the past five years.

Most of the failed deportations were blamed on problems with travel documents from the British government.

The cost to the taxpayer is estimated at more than £1m, research by BBC Radio Five Live has found.

The government said the returned foreign nationals were a "tiny percentage" of those deported.

'Desperate officials'

Many of the 106 cases uncovered had been issued with a travel document by the Home Office called an EU letter - containing basic details such as name, date of birth and country of origin.

They knew before they took him that it would be a complete waste of money Christine, partner of deported Disoni Bottino

It is recognised by many countries, but not binding, and means the receiving country can refuse entry to anyone carrying one.

This was the case with one man who was refused re-entry into Mozambique. He was immediately flown back to the UK - a measure known as "bouncing back" by immigration officials.

National Audit Office figures from October 2003-4 show 82 people were bounced back, and Five Live has uncovered another 24 cases during the past five years.

Disoni Bottino told the BBC he was taken from Kenya to Mozambique, then to Zimbabwe, and then back to Kenya and finally the UK.

His partner Christine said: "They knew before they took him that it would be a complete waste of money."

'Quick and cheap'

Pierre Maklouf, of the charity Bail for Immigration Detainees, said it was something that had been happening for years, including under previous governments, because of "desperate over-zealous officials".

"A lot of these people spend months, if not years, languishing in jails. In an effort to push them out and because the government has trouble trying to get travel documents for them, they send them."

One enforced removal costs £11,000, according to the National Audit Office - including flights, escorts and paperwork.

The Home Office has rejected on grounds of cost requests from the BBC for figures on failed deportation.

Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green said this meant the government was hiding the true level of the problem.

He called the bounce-back findings "a symptom of a system that's overwhelmed".

But Border and Immigration Agency boss Lin Homer said their system was working well, sending 64,000 people back to their home countries in the past year, or "one every eight minutes".

The EU letters provided "quick and cheap" returns to 130 countries for which they could issue a travel document, rather than waiting for a passport.

She said people were stopped in a "tiny proportion" of cases where they "often changed their story" on arrival.