http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id= 503809 <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id =503809&in_page_id=1770> &in_page_id=1770
Thousands of foreign criminals allowed to stay in Britain By JAMES SLACK Immigration bosses have 'no interest' in deporting thousands of foreign criminals serving short jail terms, internal Government papers have revealed. The instruction to officials not to bother with any overseas convict sentenced to less than a year behind bars marks the end of a commitment made by Gordon Brown earlier this year. In July, the Prime Minister declared: "I want a message to go out. If you come here you work and you learn our language. If you commit a crime you will be deported." But - as a result of the new Prison Service instruction - at least 4,000 foreign criminals convicted every year of offences such as theft, burglary, benefit fraud and drug dealing will be released back on to the streets at the end of their sentence. Foreigners will also be allowed to be kept in open jails, despite the risk of absconding. The revelations are contained in a Prison Service instruction to staff on how to make the best use of space in the network of open prisons, which have little or no security. Foreign prisoners were barred from these jails last year by then home secretary John Reid after a spate of escapes. But the instructions say this need no longer be the case if inmates are not facing deportation proceedings. Giving examples, it states: "The Criminal Casework Directorate of the Border and Immigration Agency have confirmed to us that as a rule they have no interest in pursuing foreign national prisoners serving sentences of less than 12 months for deportation." The exceptions are if the criminal was recommended for deportation by the courts, or if they have a string of convictions within the last five years. On moving the foreign criminals to open jails, the order says local immigration officers "will have an interest in a foreign national sentenced to under 12 months, for example because the prisoner has no leave to remain in the UK and they wish to remove them from the UK on completion of their sentence". However, it goes on to say that "this is not the same as deportation [and] does not preclude them from being allocated to open conditions". Tory justice spokesman Nick Herbert said: "The vast majority of offenders who are sent to prison are sentenced to less than a year, so this directive will apply to a large number of foreign nationals every year who will now not be considered for deportation. "The result will be that foreign thieves, fraudsters, burglars and drugs dealers will be released back into the community. "Gordon Brown claimed he wanted to send a message that foreign criminals would be deported. It takes a special kind of cynicism to promise tough action on foreign criminals while simultaneously instructing that the majority of them are to be released." Reasons why there is no point in officials taking an 'interest' in criminals sentenced to less than 12 months included an EU directive. For European Economic Area nationals the Home Office can remove only those highly likely to reoffend and present a "present, genuine and sufficiently serious threat" to society. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
