Britain encouraged risky immigrant visas

LONDON, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Dangerous people were allowed into Britain as immigration officials were told by the government to take risks in granting visas, documents indicate.

Government correspondence, illegally withheld from the public for four years and finally released under Britain's freedom of information law, showed that the government earlier in the decade encouraged immigration officials to take risks on visas, work permits and extended residency permits to hundreds of thousands of new migrants, The Sunday Times of London reported.

The newspaper said that under the scheme, officials agreed to "fast-track" 337,000 applications with minimal checks, leading to a rapid rise in immigration that saw the number of visas jump from 170,000 in 1999 to 300,000 by 2002.

The Sunday Times reported that the policy in 2001 resulted in more than 20 Taliban militants who fled from Afghanistan after their defeat by American and British forces being allowed to stay in Britain.

"We are still in a situation where some risks have to be taken, and staff should feel that if they are encouraged to take risks they will be supported when something does go wrong," then-Immigration and Nationality Directorate Director-General Bill Jeffrey reportedly wrote in a 2003 e-mail.