EAST Lancashire human rights campaigners are calling on the Home Office to reduce the number of mistakes it makes on asylum seekers' applications to stay in Britain.
Amnesty International's Blackburn and Darwen members fear people fleeing persecution are returned home to face torture or death.
Government figures show 14,000 wrong decisions were made last year. One in five asylum cases was overturned after a costly appeal.
Amnesty International blames those mistakes on outdated information, unreasoned decisions about the credibility of individual asylum seekers, and the failure to properly consider complicated torture cases.
John Asher, of Amnesty's Blackburn and Darwen Group, said: "Getting an asylum decision wrong is not like a clerical error.
"Wrongly refusing someone's claim could mean returning them to face torture or execution.
"Our study of 170 Home Office refusal letters shows a staggering lack of information about the situations people are fleeing.
"This, plus a general culture of disbelief, means many asylum claims aren't taken seriously."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article