Lawyers, charities and church workers have described as “extraordinary” and “deplorable” comments by UK Immigration Minister Phil Woolas suggesting that most asylum seekers were not genuinely fleeing persecution.

No Borders South Wales wants people nationwide to protest against BMI Airlines for their part in the forced removal of migrants from the UK.

Immigration minister Phil Woolas has attacked lawyers and charities working on behalf of asylum seekers, accusing them of undermining the law and “playing the system”. Woolas said most asylum seekers were not fleeing persecution but were economic migrants.

High Court judges are set to decide the fate of thousands of asylum-seekers living in the UK this week as they consider whether the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo is “safe”.

A failed asylum seeker who found himself at the centre of an immigration storm after he was discovered selling pornographic DVDs in a North Yorkshire town has been kicked out of the UK. The 36-year-old had been controversially allowed to walk free following his court case because nobody from the UK Border Agency was prepared to collect him – with immigration officials instead sending him a letter asking him to voluntarily come to their offices.

A judge has condemned a bizarre “Catch 22″ situation which led to a failed asylum seeker being given a suspended prison sentence for getting a job after being ordered to survive off benefits when immigration officials refused to deport her back to Zimbabwe because of political unrest in the African country.

The family that was due to be deported to Cameroon is still in detention in the UK after their lawyers lodged a judicial review application with the UK Border Agency (UKBA).