１０００人以上の外国人囚人を解放してしまったという大失態（イギリス）
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/26/world/europe/26britain.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2150952,00.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2150862,00.html
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Times Online |
April
25, 2006 |
Q&A: the blunder that
let 1,000 foreign prisoners go free
Richard Ford, Home Affairs Correspondent for
The Times, explains how the Government accidentally released more
than 1,000 foreign prisoners on to the streets of Britain.
What is supposed to happen
to after foreign prisoners serve their time?
Foreign prisoners from outside the European
Economic Area (EEA) are supposed to be considered for deportation if they are
sentenced to at least one year in a UK prison. Foreign prisoners from within
the EEA must be sentenced to at least two years to be considered for
deportation.
Any foreigner should also be considered for
deportation if convicted of three lesser offences, or if a court deems it
appropriate.
Of the 1,023 cases revealed today, only 151 of
the convicts were serving prison sentences of less than 12 months. The rest
should have been considered for deportation. Among those were 160 who the
courts had specifically recommended should be considered for expulsion from the
United Kingdom.
What went wrong?
When the prisoners were approaching their
release date, the Prison Service should have informed the Immigration and
Nationality Directorate (IND) so that it could begin to assess the cases and
consider what action should be taken. For some years, that did not always
happen.
The Home Office introduced measures to ensure
that the Prison Service passed on more cases to the IND. But the directorate
was unable to deal with the wall of extra work coming towards it. Thus, 1,023
prisoners were let out before their cases had ever been considered.
To put this into perspective, the IND considered
5,005 cases in 2004/05, of which around 3,000 people were deported. This
suggests that more than half of the 1,023 are likely to have been expelled from
the UK if their cases had been heard properly. The Government admitted
that IND lost control of asylum and immigration because of the huge number of
migrants, including asylum seekers, coming to the UK.
How many foreign nationals are in British
prisons?
There has been a huge increase in the number
of prisoners, UK and foreign born, in the past decade. In 1996 there
were 4,259 foreign prisoners. According to the Prison Reform Trust 9,651 non-UK
passport holders were in UK jails in 2005. This constitues 13 per of the
total prison population.
One in five women in prison, 873 in total, are
foreign nationals. Foreign national prisoners come from 168 countries, but more
than half are from just six countries - Jamaica, the Irish Republic, Nigeria,
Pakistan, Turkey and India. A quarter are Jamaicans, by far the largest single
group.
What has been done about the error?
The Government realised that this was a problem
in March and has since located 107 of the former prisoners. Of these, 20 have
so far been deported. They are now looking for the 80 people who were
imprisoned on the most serious charges. Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary,
said that he was unsure they would ever be found.
What knock-on effects could this have?
As well as being hugely embarrassing, it is likely to be very damaging for the Government. It brings together concerns about asylum seekers, crime, immigration and re-offending in the middle of a local election campaign which has already been dominated by these issues.
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|
Times Online |
April
25, 2006 |
The Government's record on tackling crime came
under fire this evening after it emerged that more than 1,000 foreign prisoners
facing deportation have been mistakenly released.
Murderers, paedophiles and rapists are among the
1,023 foreign nationals freed into the community since 1999. All should have
been considered for expulsion from the United Kingdom after completing their
prison sentences.
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The Home Office has so far tracked down 107of
the convicts, of whom 20 have now been returned to their country of origin. The
whereabouts of more than 900 remain unknown. Ministers came under further
criticism this evening for refusing to release their names.
Charles Clarke was forced
to admit the "deeply regrettable" blunder in response to a
written question from Edward Leigh, the Tory chairman of the Public Accounts
Committee.
The Home Secretary said that his department was
working energetically to track down the missing prisoners. He admitted that
three murderers, five paedophiles and nine rapists were among those who have
disappeared. He accepted that he could not guarantee "hand on heart"
that all would be traced.
Mr Clarke said that the blunder was the result
of a breakdown in communication between the Home Office, Prison Service and
Immigration and Nationality Directorate. He blamed a 150 per cent increase in
the number of foreign prisoners in the past decade for overwhelming the system.
Mr Clarke said that he had considered resigning
over the issue but had taken the view that "my priority as Home Secretary
has got to be to put the situation entirely straight." He was facing
demands to make a full statement to the House of Commons.
Tony Blair said that he was "hardly
pleased" about the revelations but added that he did not believe it was a
matter for resignation. "I think it is unreasonable to expect ministers to
know what is going on in every nook and cranny in their department," he
said.
Opposition MPs said that the blunder was
evidence of the chaos and mismanagement endemic within the immigration and
prison systems. The revelation comes in the run-up to local elections where
issues of crime and immigration have dominated campaigns.
David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said
that it was the latest in a long line of failures that have jeopardised
protection of the public. He said that Mr Clarke had only issued today's
statement after misleading the Public Accounts Committee in December.
Richard Bacon, a backbench Tory member of the
PAC whose persistent questions led to today's admission, said: "It beggars
belief. This appears to illustrate a kind of administrative chaos that is hard
to credit." He said that the Home Office’s refusal to name the missing 916
criminals was "Kafka-esque".
He added: "I would have thought this is
information the public have a right to know. When the Home Office has made such
a hideous mistake, you’d have thought they would do everything possible to find
them, including enlisting the assistance of the public."
Also among the 1,023l were seven criminals who
had served time for sex offences, 57 for violent offences and two for
manslaughter. There were 41 burglars, 20 drug importers, 54 convicted of
assault and 27 of indecent assault.
Some 28 of the criminals
were convicted of immigration crimes, including 16 involved in people
trafficking. The Home Office admitted that it did not know the full details of
the offences committed by 100 more.
Sir Menzies Campbell,
the Liberal Democrat leader, said: "All the Government’s tough talk on
crime counts for nothing in the face of this incompetence. What possible excuse
can there be for this disgraceful state of affairs?
"It is extraordinary that so many people
who have been convicted of serious offences and should have been considered for
deportation have simply disappeared."
In his written statement, Mr Clarke said that
the number of foreign prisoners in British jails had more than doubled from
4,259 in 1996 to 10,265 this year but arrangements for dealing with them upon
their release had not kept pace.
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He wrote: "It is clear that the increasing
numbers of cases being referred for consideration [for deportation] led to the
process falling down. It is clear that there has been a failure on our part to
deal with all the cases we should have.
"That failure has been identified in part
due to the strengthening of the system for identifying foreign national
prisoners and there is now a package of initiatives underway to strengthen this
area of business."
Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of
the probation union Napo, said that the chances of tracking down large numbers
of the released prisoners was "remote".
He said: "The best opportunity would be if
they are re-arrested for other offences and checks are carried out on the
Police National Computer. The Home Office is facing crisis."