FOUR young Albanian asylum seekers have been deported from Lancaster Farms Prison in the last few months the Citizen can reveal.

As war ravages the Balkans the news comes in the month that local politicians said they would welcome Kosovan refugees to the former Pontin's Holiday Camp at Middleton with open arms.

One Kosovan, Rogeroli Meta, was deported back to the now war-torn former Yugoslavia in December. The other three were sent back last month. It has not been confirmed by the authorities that the three Albanians were actually fleeing from Kosovo. All four were aged under 21.

The news about Rogeroli only came to public attention when staff at Lancaster Farms made a public appeal for Albanian speakers so they could communicate with him.

Speaking at a public meeting of the newly formed Lancaster Refugee Support Group at the Gregson Centre this week, temporary chairman Chris Hart said: "I understood that the local prison was being used to house asylum seekers last December through my work for the YMCA. That's when I came across this particular case. I don't know what conditions are like for them. All we know is this one was sent back to Kosovo."

Speaking after the meeting he added: "Apparently he was conversing with an Italian speaker. I arranged a prison visit on December 23 but I rang up before - I work for Global Link and it was in that capacity - and they said "Oh he's gone." What made me aghast was later when the council leaders said they would have them it became a sexy issue. It was a sudden turn about face although I don't know how much they knew about the situation before. Whether they are official refugees or supposed illegal immigrants doesn't really alter the fact they were seeking asylum. You can't expect them to apply properly and all that in their situation."

Assistant Governor of Lancaster Farms, Barry Rossitor, explained that the prison were told to house the men by the Immigration Enforcement Office in Manchester. He added: "I don't know the man last December but I know the detainees last month were sent back, I believe voluntarily. We are always keen to help them and work with the local community to do that, but our role is just to hold them."

A spokesman for the Immigration Office in Manchester wouldn't talk about specific cases.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.