Darfur survivors to get UK asylum

About 300,000 people died in the Darfur conflict, the UN estimates

Survivors of the Darfur crisis who sought refuge in the UK are to be granted asylum under new rules.

Non-Arab Darfuris will no longer be deported back to Sudan after updated Home Office guidelines warned they faced a "real risk of persecution".

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) said it would grant protection where needed but still consider applications on merit.

Campaign group Darfur Union said it was "great news" and meant its members could finally "start living again".

General secretary Khatir Kayabil, an asylum seeker himself, said: "This is great news. So many of our members have been living in limbo for years. Now, we can start to rebuild our lives here."

'Long time coming'

The latest Home Office figures show that 50 Darfuris were repatriated between April and June this year.

The new guidance states: "All non-Arab Darfuris, regardless of their political or other affiliations, are at real risk of persecution in Darfur and internal relocation elsewhere in Sudan is not currently to be relied upon.

"Claimants... who do not fall within the exclusion clauses will therefore qualify for asylum."

Asylum-seeker Ahmed Dilli Osman has welcomed the ruling

Human rights group the Aegis Trust said it had uncovered evidence asylum seekers from Darfur had been tortured after being deported back to the Sudanese capital Khartoum from the UK.

It said it had corroborated claims by five Darfuris who had had asylum applications rejected by the UK, and welcomed the change of policy.

Chief executive Dr James Smith said: "It's been a long time coming, but we're delighted the Home Office made the right decision."

The six-year ethnic and tribal conflict in Darfur effectively ended in August, according to the United Nation's (UN) outgoing military commander Gerneral Martin Agwai.

The UN estimates that the war has killed about 300,000 people and forced an estimated 2.7m to flee their homes.

Grant protection

Ahmed Dilli Osman, whose wife and baby son were shot dead by Janjaweed militia in 2003, has been seeking asylum in the UK for the past five years.

He said: "I can't believe this has finally happened... I know when my case comes back to court I will get asylum. I will be able to start living again."

Matthew Coats, head of the UKBA's immigration group, said the situation in Sudan would be carefully monitored and reviewed.

He said: "The British government takes its international responsibilities seriously and we will grant protection to those Sudanese nationals that need it.

"We will continue to consider each application for protection on its individual merits. We will always seek to remove from the UK those who do not need our protection and who have no right to remain here."