Many UK asylum decisions 'flawed'

The asylum system is under pressure

Many asylum decisions taken by the Home Office are flawed and wrong refusals send thousands of people to possible torture, claims Amnesty International.

A report by the campaign group says 170 refusal letters show inaccurate information and a "negative culture".

One in five appeals - nearly 14,000 - are overturned and Amnesty urges better training for caseworkers and improved information available about countries.

The Home Office said it welcomed the report and was making improvements.

An Amnesty spokesman told BBC News Online: "We are not saying 'Let more people in' or 'Make more positive decisions.'

"But we do want the Home Office to get decisions right."

AMNESTY PROPOSALS Mechanism for Home Office to reconsider wrong decisions without costly appeal Refer people who claim to be tortured to specialist interviewers Legal representation at initial interview to corroborate An Independent Documentation Centre to provide current impartial information on countries of origin better training for caseworkers about refugees, human rights and country information

The report, called Get it Right: How Home Office decision making fails, quotes from letters sent to people refused asylum.

One letter to a person from the Democratic Republic of Congo says: "The fact that fighting was taking place in Kisangi is irrelevant.

"The secretary of state can reasonably expect you to go there."

Amnesty is urging the government to make improvements to the decision-making process and makes 15 recommendations aimed at getting initial decisions right.

They include the creation of an Independent Documentation Centre to provide more accurate information on countries of origin.

Wrongly refusing someone's claim could mean returning them to face torture or execution Kate Allen Amnesty International UK director

And a mechanism to reconsider cases which have minor omissions without having to make a full and costly appeal.

Specialist torture interviewers would be more sensitive and have the knowledge to tell if a claimant was lying, it argues.

Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen said: "Getting an asylum decision wrong is not like a clerical error on a tax bill or parking fine.

"Wrongly refusing someone's claim could mean returning them to face torture or execution.

"These are life or death decisions."

Appeals overhaul

She said a "negative culture" among those dealing with applications compounded their lack of knowledge and meant they did not take claims seriously.

Instead of trying to form a picture of what happened, adjudicators search for reasons to say no, claims the report.

Concerns are also raised about Home Office plans to reduce the number of appeals allowed to one.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We have recently set up an independent panel of experts to advise us on how the quality of our country information can be improved, and Amnesty have been invited to participate in the group.

"We are also working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to help improve quality control and have stepped up the use of fact-finding missions to countries with high numbers of applicants."