Failed Iraqi asylum seekers deported from UK

The UK Border Agency has organised deportations for failed asylum seekers

A flight which was chartered by the UK Border Agency has arrived in Baghdad with about 40 failed Iraqi asylum seekers on board.

They were deported from London on Monday in the latest in a series of enforced returns, and are believed to be Kurds from the north of Iraq.

These are taking place against the advice of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The UK Border Agency has not commented on the latest deportation.

On previous flights, there were allegations of excessive force being used to get people on and off of the plane.

The UK Border Agency said after one flight in June that a necessary amount of force had been used to ensure compliance.

According to the BBC's Jim Muir, the regional government in the north of Iraq is refusing to receive such deportation flights.

Most of the expelled are expected to move northwards to Iraqi Kurdistan, once officials have verified their identities and credentials.

One is known to be from Kirkuk and another from Mosul, both areas which the UNHCR regards as unsafe. It says asylum seekers should not be sent back there.