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UK Lists 50 "Hate Preachers" for Deportation
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Clarke
is drawing up plans to deport the foreigners before they can
legally challenge his decision. (Reuters)
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CAIRO,
August 28, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Britain has drawn up a list of
50 "preachers of hate" seen as posing a threat to the
national security who will be deport under the new controversial
behavior guidelines, British newspapers reported Sunday, August 28.
"Immigration
officers and police officers will turn up at their doors and these
people will be taken away and detained pending removal," a senior
Home Office source told the Sunday Express.
"When
or if they can be deported depends on where they are from," he
added.
"Officials
are literally going through a whole bunch of names and seeing what
their status is and whether we can get shot of them."
British
Home Secretary Charles Clarke unveiled on August, 24, news guidelines
of "unacceptable behavior" under which the government can
deport and ban Muslim scholars accused of fomenting, justifying and
glorifying acts of terror and violence.
The
banned views include those conveyed through written or published
material, including Web sites, as well as public speaking.
The
new guidelines are part of the anti-terror measures taken in the wake
of the July 7
London
attacks, which were carried out by four Muslims, including three
British-born.
The
sizable Muslim minority has decried the new "draconian"
guidelines as too vague, warning they could further fan Islamophobia
in
Britain
.
Threat
The
Sunday Times said the internal security service (MI5), which
had drawn up the list of the "preachers of hate", had passed
it on to the government for deportation.
The
new list includes London-based Saudi dissidents Mohamed Al-Masari and
Saad Al-Faqih and Egyptian Yasser Al-Siri, The Sunday Times
said.
Masari,
living in
Britain
since 1994, hastily shut down parts of his controversial Web site
Saturday, August 27, blaming the clampdown for the closure.
His
site, according to the British media, features videos of beheadings
and suicide bombings in
Iraq
and attacks against
Israel
.
Faqih
runs the Movement for Islamic Reform in
Saudi Arabia
and his Web site could warrant his expulsion, according to some
British press reports.
Al-Siri
is a former leader of Islamic Jihad, the Egyptian militant group
blamed for the assassination of president Anwar Sadat in 1981.
The
expulsion list also includes the ten foreign nationals detained on
August
11 in
various parts of
Britain
on charges of posing a threat to the British national security.
They
would be deported to their home countries, some of which have a
history of torturing detainees.
Human
rights groups said that any plans for immediate deportations would be
legally challenged.
However,
Clarke is drawing up plans to deport individuals before they lodge
appeals, according to the Sunday Times.
The
move will mean suspects will have to fight legal cases from their home
countries.
Under
the 1971 Immigration Act, the home secretary has the power to deport
foreigners he believes pose a threat to national security.
But
the international law prevents
London
from deporting people to countries where they face inhumane treatment.
Earlier
this month,
Britain
signed an agreement with
Jordan
which
London
says will protect deportees from ill-treatment.
Britain
is also seeking similar accords with countries such as
Algeria
,
Lebanon
and others.
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