Because the US and UK are in Afghanistan and Iraq "liberating", accepting political asylum seekers is being refused to those who are trying to escape the bloody mess that has been created because to accept them would be to accept the failures of our policies. Often these people have been caught in the crossfire of political and sectarian feuds, as was the case of Abdullah Tokhi who was refused asylum only to be sent back to Afghanistan where he was publicly "executed" on the street.
Mr Tokhi and his family had long feared this would happen. He repeatedly pleaded while seeking asylum in Britain that his life was in danger in a sectarian and political blood feud back home . But the Home Secretary at the time decided that Afghanistan was now a safe place thanks to the intervention of Britain and the US, and Mr Tokhi was sent back to his home, and his death, after the appeal process failed.The deadly results of our failed efforts continue.
The murder of Mr Tokhi, 35, was one of many that happen every week in this country, six years after "liberation". But this was one death that could have been prevented if the officials in London who turned down his plea for refuge had acknowledged what is really going on, instead of sticking ridgidly to the official position that the rule of law prevails in Afghanistan.
