Overseas prisoners are being presented with bribes of 500 GBP just for going home.
December 24 2009 by Liam Clifford
UK immigration practice comes under fire for paying criminals to go back to their country.
Felons including murderers and rapists are being offered the immediate payment in return for accepting they go back to their home nations - as part of a deal of incentives drafted by UK immigration and valued at up to £5,000.
The cash is stored on personalised cards which can be triggered once the ex-prisoner arrives in their home country.
Government ministers say the initiative, which cost £3.4million last year, saves taxpayer’s money as it discourages criminals from holding up their return with expensive litigation against UK immigration authorities on their right to remain in the UK.
But opposition to the scheme said the pay-outs were "ridiculous". Shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve ranted that, "It is bad enough that Gordon Brown lost control of our borders and has let thousands of foreign criminals into the country.
"Now we learn that foreign prisoners are being given cash cards loaded with hundreds of pounds of taxpayers' money. The lesson is clear: under Labour, crime pays and the taxpayer foots the bill."
Under the new initiative called the Facilitated Returns Scheme, overseas criminals born outside the EU that agree to move home when their sentence finishes are entitled to grants worth £3,000. Those who go sooner, after finishing their minimum term, can have accession to £5,000.
UK immigration minister Phil Woolas added that it has drastically reduced 'frivolous' appeals.
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