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Many Home Office asylum decisions are incorrect resulting in asylum seekers being returned to dangerous situations in their own countries, according to a new report, writes Amy Taylor.

The study, carried out by Amnesty International, found many decisions are based on inaccurate information about the countries asylum seekers are fleeing and unreasoned decisions about people's credibility.

Government figures show that one in five of the Home Office's initial asylum decisions were overturned after costly appeals in 2002.

The study of over 170 Home Office asylum refusal letters also found that a "negative culture" meant that many claims are not being taken seriously.

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen called on the government to "urgently review" the decision making process to ensure it gets more decisions right from the start.

The charity goes on to recommend the creation of an Independent Documentation Centre to provide up-to-date and accurate information on asylum seekers' countries of origin.

It also calls for better training for asylum caseworkers and for specialist interviewers to be available for asylum seekers who allege they have been tortured.

Amnesty Internation UK director Kate Allen said: "The appeals system is presently the only thing keeping thousands of people each year from persecution. When initial decision-making is so frequently wrong, reducing appeal rights…could mean returning people to execution or torture."

Home office minister Beverly Hughes said she welcomed Amnesty's report, but that the majority of asylum seekers coming to the United Kingdom were not genuine refugees.

'Get it right: How Home Office decision making fails refugees' from: sarah.green@amnesty.org.uk