Asylum-seekers 'are left to starve' in Britain : the Independent

By Emily Dugan

Published: 22 October 2007 http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article3084346.ece

Thousands of people are forced to spend years living in abject poverty on the streets of Britain's cities after fleeing persecution in their own countries, an independent asylum inquiry has heard. The destitute have no access to help from the state as they have not been granted asylum, yet they prefer to stay in Britain rather than return home because they fear of being tortured or killed.

 

Senior lawyers, doctors and immigration officials even claim such destitution is, in effect, now being used by the Government as policy, in an attempt to force desperate people out of the country.

 

There are at least 280,000 people living in poverty in Britain after having their leave to remain refused. Some of them are appealing those decisions. Some just go completely underground, taking their chances on the streets of the UK with no money or shelter.

Living on the margins, these outcasts have been "failed" by the place where they thought they would be safe, the inquiry was told. Many sleep rough; few have access to the healthcare that UN legislation says they have a right to. Sir John Waite, a former High Court judge and chair of the Independent Asylum Commission that will report to the Government next year, said: "I think it's a serious omission that we haven't looked earlier at this very pressing problem. There is a significant element of the population subsisting while awaiting hearings or asylum claims, especially after rejection. And some of them are suffering serious hardship either because they don't understand the system or because the system fails them."

 

The Commission met last week in Manchester to hear evidence from immigration experts as well as direct testimonies from those who had experienced the struggle of surviving in the UK first-hand. They described the extremes of poverty they suffered while living in fear of returning to their countries of origin.

 

In an impassioned plea to the Commission, Iranian Afshin Azizian, whose asylum case is still undecided after 12 years, said: "Thousands and thousands of asylum seekers have been made destitute. I ask those in the Home Office to think, if you were to spend one day in my shoes how would you like to be treated? We never had much of a voice until recently. If you don't have a piece of paper from the Home Office you're not considered human. How can you call yourselves civilised?"

 

The 36-year old, who was beaten by Revolutionary Guards in Iran, fled after his activist friends were brutally tortured by the regime. Until recently he was sleeping rough, before finding sanctuary in a monastery. Sleeping everywhere from laundrettes to parks, he said that his living conditions had been better in Iran. "I was not poor in Iran – I did not come here for your money but I was seeking refuge. I would never have believed that one day I would be starving for food, and I would never have imagined that people would get this kind of treatment in this country. We're human beings. You signed the [European] Convention on Human Rights: do you not respect your own signature?"

Financial support is cut off after 21 days for those without children whose asylum case has been rejected. Immigration experts have called this a "deliberate tool" to rush people out of the country, often before enough evidence has been collated to ensure the safety of their return.

 

Sandy Buchan, chief executive of Refugee Action, condemned the country's treatment of failed asylum seekers: "It seems the Government is using destitution as an instrument of policy. It's no accident. It's very much a deliberate tool of government. It's morally unacceptable to force people into utter destitution, and the most desperate and degrading circumstances when people are frightened of what awaits them when they return home.

"Destitution is an unworkable policy that has completely failed to deliver on its objectives," he added. "It means the Government loses contact with asylum seekers. Each day they are destitute, the chances of return become more remote."

 

Ruth Heatley, an immigration solicitor, said that part of the problem was in the phasing out of Exceptional Leave to Remain, a policy that used to grant temporary residency to those whose safety in their home country was still in question. In 2002, one in four initial asylum cases was granted this temporary permission; by 2005 this had been reduced to just one in ten.

 

"This is wrong and inhumane, and the policy doesn't work: people would rather face destitution than persecution," she said.

 

Dr Angela Burnett, who was at the hearing representing Medact, which campaigns to improve health worldwide, said healthcare provision for many asylum seekers was so poor that it broke UN conventions.

 

"Torture survivors are being denied access to healthcare due to an inability to pay. This contravenes the UN Convention Against Torture, ratified by the UK, which obliges states to provide as full a rehabilitation as possible to torture survivors," she said, adding that thedifficulty of understanding a labyrinthine set of regulations meant that even those eligible for healthcare missed out.

 

"The complexity of the current and proposed rules means that some people who do have full entitlement to free healthcare, such as people who have active asylum claims, have erroneously been excluded or charged."

 

The Independent Asylum Commission is conducting a nationwide review of the UK asylum system and will present a report to the Government in 2008. Last week's hearing in Manchester, was the sixth of seven nationwide hearings and was specifically aimed at tackling the issue of poverty amongst asylum seekers and refugees.

 

Mary Namkussa: 'It was like being an animal'

 

Mary Namkussa fled Uganda after she was raped and beaten by soldiers hunting for rebels. Her brother-in-law had been a rebel, but she had not known.

After months of being held captive and repeatedly raped by soldiers, the 40-year-old mother of two was released and pushed out of a car on to the road. She tried to resume life as normal in the pharmacy she owned with her husband, but her home was raided and her husband disappeared.

 

When she escaped to England in 2003, her Home Office interview was delayed as she was being operated on for internal injuries caused by being raped. Her solicitor asked the GP for a medical report, but he never sent it, and the Home Office refused her entry. At an appeal hearing in 2005 she had a medical report, but again she was denied asylum. She was left homeless and penniless, and for two and a half years she has survived on Red Cross food parcels.

 

"It is difficult for me to put into words how I feel about being destitute," she said. "I think living the life of a destitute person is like living like an animal, not a human being."

"If I was returned I'm sure I would be targeted. Who will help me? I'm not a public figure or significant, so no one from the West would help me if I was imprisoned. I would like to be able to work so that I can do something instead of just roaming or sitting still. I used to work, I am not disabled, I am an educated and hard-working woman. I can use my brain.

"I think about my children, my family and my position every day, and every day I cry."

Ibrahim Zukrya: 'I was harassed and abused'

 

Ibrahim Zukrya was captured and tortured in prison after photographing a bomb site in Darfur. The 47-year-old teacher, who had already been in trouble for encouraging his students to be politically active, was tied upside-down and beaten as he was questioned. He escaped during a prison transfer, when his van had an accident in the jungle. After a trek by camel through the deserts of Chad and Libya, he found someone who transferred him by ship and lorry to the UK in 2003. His application for asylum was refused, and after an appeal was turned down he was told to return to the Sudan. Mr Zukrya preferred destitution to being returned "to be killed by my enemies". He slept rough. "Drunk people would come up to me and harass me with racist comments. The only organisation I could get aid from was the Red Cross, who used to give me a parcel of food and £5." Finally, after being imprisoned at a detention centre for two days, he found a new solicitor to represent him, and was granted asylum in September last year.

 

 

British guards 'assault and racially abuse' deportees

By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor

Published: 05 October 2007

Hundreds of failed asylum-seekers deported from the United Kingdom have been beaten and racially abused by British escort teams who are paid to take them back to their home countries,

The scale of the alleged abuse has been uncovered in a joint investigation by The Independent and a group co-ordinating the representation and medical care of failed asylum-seekers.

 

A dossier of 200 cases, collated by doctors, lawyers, immigration centre visitors and campaign groups over the past two years, has unearthed shocking claims of physical and mental mistreatment of some of the most vulnerable people in our asylum system.

Many of the claims include allegations of physical and sexual assault and racist abuse which took place during the long journey from Britain to their home countries.

One of the cases of alleged abuse is that of Armand Tchuibeu, a Cameroon national who claimed asylum in the United Kingdom in February 2000. His application was refused last year. He was then arrested and prepared for removal.

 

On 29 January 2007 he was collected from Tinsley House removal centre in East Sussex by four escort officers who drove him to Heathrow to catch a 9pm flight to Cameroon, as pictured on the front page from CCTV footage inside the van.

 

He claims handcuffs were applied to his right arm. Mr Tchuibeu says he told the guards that there was no need to handcuff him as he had no intention of obstructing his removal. But he alleges that officers started to manhandle him and, while his arms were held, one of the officers punched him in his ribs and on his neck and told him words to the effect "You will go to your fucking country today, we will fucking show you what illegal people deserve in our country". Another officer is alleged to have held his head down so they could apply a leg strap.

Eventually, Mr Tchuibeu convinced the escort officers he had been injured and the deportation was aborted. Mr Tchuibeu was taken to the Hillingdon Hospital where he was examined and treated. His knee was placed in a cylinder cast which he wore for four weeks.

Mr Tchuibeu, who is being represented by the London solicitors Birnberg Peirce, is now bringing a civil claim for assault against the security company.

The authors of the 200-case dossier accuse the Government of turning a blind eye to the abuse in order to meet arbitrary targets for the forced repatriation of asylum-seekers.

They say some of the cases they are investigating are worse than the torture and abuse the refugee suffered before making their asylum claim in this country.

In nearly every case, the allegation of mistreatment is made against private security contractors employed by the Government to carry out enforced removals of asylum-seekers.

Mr Tchuibeu appears to be far from an isolated case.

 

Milton Apollo Okello, 25, who was tortured by the Ugandan security services, claims that, after his asylum claim was rejected, he was frogmarched on to a plane and tied to his seat by British guards.

But when word came through that he had won an eleventh-hour reprieve, Mr Okello claims he was taken to a van and beaten and racially abused. Mr Okello said: "The driver opened the sliding door and I was pushed into the middle of the seat. Two of the officers got on one side of me and the others came in on the other side. Officer A then punched me hard in the face and he said "These black monkeys don't want to go back to their country ..."

A 24-year-old man who escaped to Britain after being imprisoned and tortured in the Republic of Congo claims that when he refused to sign a document presented to him by his escorts, three of them forced both hands backwards. One of the escorts is said to have told him: "This is the key to going home."

A doctor who later conducted an examination of Mr A, wrote: "The fourth metacarpal of the left hand has undoubtedly suffered a fracture. This is highly consistent with excessive use of force during or after a failed attempt to remove him from the UK."

Dr Frank Arnold, a volunteer doctor with the Medical Justice Network, who has examined more than 100 detained asylum-seekers, says many of the injuries suffered during removal are not taken seriously enough by the British immigration authorities.

He said: "Some of these injuries have been so bad that police officers who saw them appear to have been genuinely shocked. But it is my experience that medical staff who examine asylum-seekers when they are taken back into detention have greatly underestimated the severity of the injuries, including fractures and nerve damage from forcible traction on handcuffs."

 

In the past two years government figures show that 1,173 attempts to remove failed asylum-seekers, such ase Mr Tchuibeu have failed.

The majority of those are due to the disruptive behaviour of the detainee on board the aircraft or because of an eleventh-hour judicial intervention. But others fail because of injuries suffered or the deterioration in the physical or mental health of the asylum-seeker during the removal process.

Last month Mr Tchuibeu was returned to the Cameroon. After a police investigation, no one has been charged with an offence. The company denies the allegations of brutality made against its staff.

A spokesman for the Border and Immigration Agency which contracts the security companies to help carry out the removals said: "Any allegations of misconduct are thoroughly investigated and all allegations of physical and racial abuse are referred to the police."

Three security firms are on the Government's approved list for the forced removal of failed asylum-seekers. They are Group4Securicor, ITA Group and GEO, an American company

A spokesman said Group4- Securicor was aware of complaints made but said they had never been proven – adding the company would condemn any such action. GEO and International Training Academy both declined to comment.

Terror of Flight 101: An echo of Orwell

The flight leaves Heathrow airport's Terminal Four, every Wednesday bearing the number KQ101. The echo of George Orwell's Room 101 is unhappily appropriate. On this Kenya Airways jet, many asylum-seekers' worst nightmares do come true. KQ101 is the deportation flight chartered by the British Government to return refugees to Africa. According to human rights groups, this flight carries out the most Africa-bound removals of unsuccessful asylum applicants to the UK. It has also become a flight that has attracted allegations of abuse by guards. From Nairobi the detainees are flown all over Africa where they are handed over to security and immigration authorities.

Last night the Home Office said it had a number of contracts with airlines for scheduled and charter flights which involved the removal of failed asylum-seekers. A spokeswoman from Kenya Airways confirmed it had a contract with the Government to fly failed asylum seekers to Africa. "We have not received any complaints about these flights," she said.

 

 

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Britain accused of failing in its responsibility to refugees

Britain accused of failing in its responsibility to refugees

By Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent

Published: 30 July 2007

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2816686.ece

The few Iraqi refugees who complete the perilous and expensive trip to Britain have little prospect of being allowed to stay.

Of the two million Iraqis who have fled their homeland, only about 9,000 have claimed asylum in this country since Saddam Hussein was toppled by the US-led invasion in March 2003.

Just 1,305 Iraqi asylum-seekers landed in Britain in 2006, a fraction of the 8,950 who arrived in Sweden and fewer than in the Netherlands (2,765), Germany (2,065) and Greece (1,415). They have about a one in eight chance of being allowed to remain.

The asylum applications of 88 per cent of Iraqis were rejected last year, with 12 per cent either being granted asylum or discretionary leave to remain.

Six years ago, about half of all Iraqi asylum-seekers were granted refuge. More Iraqis are now being returned from Britain than arrive. Most go back voluntarily, but there have been a handful of forcible removals to the Kurdish north of the country, despite warnings about instability and violence across the whole of Iraq.

Donna Covey, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: "Along with the rest of the international community, the United Kingdom has a responsibility to refugees displaced by the conflict in Iraq and we are not living up to that responsibility. The scale of the refugee crisis is growing and is now so acute that a change in policy towards Iraqi refugees is surely now imperative."

She criticised the Government for not following the lead of other countries, including the United States, in agreeing to resettle some of the refugees sheltering in Iraq's neighbours.

The Government's tough line is a result of tightening border controls in recent years and the Home Office's belief that "there has been a clear change in the conditions in Iraq and, with it, the factors to be considered when Iraqi nationals claim asylum".

There are fears that Iraqis are opting to live in Britain illegally without ever declaring themselves to the authorities for fear of expulsion.

Britain is not alone in its uncompromising attitude to Iraqi refugees. The Netherlands only allowed about 25 per cent to stay last year, Germany 11 per cent and Greece refuses all applications. Sweden, by contrast, allowed more than 90 per cent, with the result that it receives almost half of Europe's Iraqi asylum-seekers. Earlier this year it appealed to its European Union partners to share the load.

Pirkko Kourula, the European director of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said: "Given the seriousness of the situation in Iraq, one would certainly expect a much higher recognition rate for refugees from that country."

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Civilization

...how civilized we are : -

....In a dawn raid last week, immigration officers broke down the front


door of Juliet's house in Hackney and took mother and daughter to
Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre ....

Att: Willie Walsh, BA Chief Executive Officer British Airways.

Re: Juliet Nakajja

Port Ref: MEU/779026

Home Office Ref: N1057768

D.O.B. 22/01/1985

Nationality: Uganda

Scheduled for removal on Flight BA0063 departing at 21.15 on 28 September 2007.

Fax: 020 8759 4314 (0044 20 8759 4314 if you are faxing from outside UK)

Dear Willie Walsh,

We are writing to ask that BA refuse to participate in the forced removal of Ugandan political refugee and rape victiim Juliet Nakajja and her 18 month old daughter Ashleen, who are scheduled for deportation on BA0063 to Entebbe at 21:15 tonight Friday 28 Sept. 2007.

Juliet’s lawyers are seeking to lodge a Judicial Review at the High Court today, in which case the deportation should not proceed. However, if for any reason she is brought to the plane against her will we appeal to BA to refuse to carry her on board. The presence of a distraught passenger and her 18 month old daughter under physical restraint by security guards cannot be conducive to the safety and comfort of other BA passengers or the capacity of your cabin crew to carry out their proper jobs.

Juliet fled from political persecution in Uganda in 2002. Soldiers separated her from her parents and she was hit and raped and then placed in a cell in army barracks. A substance sprayed in her eyes caused vision disturbances, reduced hearing and loss of smell ever since. She was raped again.
Last week, while Juliet was still awaiting the outcome of her fresh claim for asylum, immigration officers broke down the front door of her house in Hackney during a dawn raid. Juliet and Ashleen were taken to Yarl’s Wood detention centre.




Please do not allow BA to be used to assist the removal of this family.

Yours sincerely,

Name………………………………………


Address………………………………………………………………………………


………………………………………………………………………………




More information:

Urgent Help Needed for Juliet & Ashleen Nakajja

Juliet Nakajja and her 18-month-old daughter Ashleen have been taken
from Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre to the airport to be
removed to Uganda tonight. Her lawyers are in the process of lodging
a Judicial Review to stop this forced removal. However we are asking
everyone who can to fax British Airways (BA) calling for BA to refuse
to carry her just in case the Judicial Review is not lodged in time.

This email contains background to Juliet's case, please use the
attached "model letter" julietBA.doc and fax to Willie Walsh, BA
Chief Executive Officer British Airways.

Please circulate this message widely to your networks

You can copy/amend/write your own version (if you do so, please
remember to include Juliet's removal flight details: British Airways
flight BA63 departing Heathrow airport at 21.15 Friday 28 September
2007.

Fax: 020 8759 4314 (0044 20 8759 4314 if you are faxing from outside UK)

Lawyers are seeking to lodge a last minute Judicial Review in the
High Court to stop the forced removal of Ugandan political refugee
and rape victim Juliet Nakajja and her 16-month-old daughter Ashleen.

In a dawn raid last week, immigration officers broke down the front


door of Juliet's house in Hackney and took mother and daughter to
Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre near Bedford. Juliet was still
awaiting the results of a fresh asylum claim when the pair were
detained and scheduled for deportation to Uganda on British Airways
tonight.

Juliet Nakajja fled to the UK 13 February 2002. Both agents of the
state murdered her parents in Uganda, and her 3 brothers have
disappeared. Juliet's father was a leading supporter of Dr Kiza
Besigye's Forum for Democratic Change party (FDR). Juliet joined the
Uganda Youth Democratic Party (UYDP) and accompanied her father on
campaigns. Dr Besigye lost the 2001 election and accused President
Museveni of rigging the vote. Around August 2001 soldiers started
arresting, detaining and torturing leading campaigners in the FDR.

One evening soldiers entered the house, beat Juliet's father and then
put him and her mother into a truck. Juliet heard her mother
screaming. She never heard her father's voice again. Juliet was
driven off, hit and raped by soldiers and then placed in an army
barracks cell. A substance sprayed in her eyes caused vision
disturbances, reduced hearing and loss of smell ever since. She was
raped again.

Juliet was forced to become a soldier's 'wife' and kept under guard.
One day 2 members of the UYDP beat her guard and helped her escape.
She was taken to an agent in Kampala where she learned that her
mother had been killed. Friends of her father paid US$3,000 for
Juliet to escape.

On 28 March 2002 the Secretary of State refused her asylum
application but granted Exceptional Leave to Remain until 21 January
2003. However, further leave was refused. A fresh application for
asylum was later submitted, but Juliet was still waiting for the
outcome last week.

Juliet is an active member of Hackney Refugee and Migrant Support


Group and has also been involved in the planning group for the
proposed Hackney Migrant Centre of which she was appointed a Trustee.

A journey to Cameroon :Home Office and Human Rights

A journey to Cameroon is something Beatrice feared greatly as she believes that her life is at serious risk if she is returned. Her campaigning against the ruling party of Cameroon has continued in this country with the Social Democratic Federation UK, who are based in London, and she genuinely believes that if returned she will be targeted by the government and suffer serious persecution and abuse.

After campaigning in Liverpool about her own right to asylum and that of other asylum seekers with the Liverpool immigrant rights campaigning group Asylum Voice – Beatrice Ketcha Guessie was arrested on the 5th July 2007. She was detained in Yarls Wood, and then held in the Orchard Hospital Luton for several weeks because of a severe psychological disorder. Beatrice was returned to Yarls Wood to face deportation to Cameroon on Tuesday 28th August 2007 at 6.40 a.m.

Beatrice was returned to Cameroon but that journey was worse than even she expected. Beatrice states that she was physically kicked and abused by her ‘escorts’, to such an extent that the Cameroonian authorities would not allow Beatrice to enter Cameroon. They stated that “She is in such a bad way we cannot allow her to enter this country in that state.”

For a country whose human rights record leaves a lot to be desired it clearly is a travesty for the British government to proclaim be a defender of human rights across the world.
ON CAMEROON - The government's human rights record remained poor, and it continued to commit numerous human rights abuses. Security forces committed numerous unlawful killings; they regularly engaged in torture, beatings, and other abuses, particularly of detainees and prisoners. Impunity was a problem in the security forces. Prison conditions were harsh and life-threatening. Authorities arbitrarily arrested and detained Anglophone citizens advocating secession, local human rights monitors and activists, and other citizens.

US Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Cameroon 2006

Today the Foreign & Commonwealth Office advises against travel to a number of areas in Cameroon.

Beatrice was put on a plane back to the UK on Tuesday 28th August at 10 p.m. She was returned to Yarls Wood detention centre where she remains. Her mobile phone was taken from her making communication with her friends and supporters very difficult.

Beatrice came here to seek sanctuary from the harm she suffered. However, not only was her claim for protection refused, Beatrice was also the victim of rape and abuse following her arrival here in the UK yet is now held in detention like a ‘criminal’.

Beatrice’s solicitors are building her legal case for her right to stay here. We are also campaigning for her to be returned immediately to Liverpool and that she is given the right to stay. We ask you to fax the home office with your support and demand her freedom and right to stay.
Please send faxes immediately to Jacqui Smith, Secretary of State for the Home Office asking that Beatrice have the right to stay in the UK and to be immediately returned to Liverpool.

Please remember to include Beatrice's Home Office Reference Number

K1123945. Fax: 020 7035 3262 (00 44 20 7035 3262 if you are faxing from outside UK)
Please let the Beatrice Must Stay Campaign know of any faxes you send: Asylum Voice Liverpool PO Box 283, Liverpool L13 4WY Email : asylumvoice@yahoo.co.uk

Beatrice Must StayHO Office reference number K1123945

VICTORY TO BEATRICE AND ALL ASYLUM SEEKERS

VICTORY TO BEATRICE
AND ALL ASYLUM SEEKERS
HO Office reference number K1123945

“I am Beatrice Ketcha Guessie and I fled from Cameroon and sought asylum in Britain over 5 years ago. I came here because I was in danger due to my political activity against the Cameroon Government. In 2002 I learnt from the Red Cross that my husband is dead. I was detained six weeks ago and taken to Yarls Wood detention centre, despite having a severe psychological disorder. I was then treated at a psychiatric hospital but have been returned to Yarls Wood Detention Centre. I am absolutely terrified for my future. I CANNOT go back to Cameroon I will surely die. Please write to the Home Office and my MP Louise Ellman.”
Six weeks ago Beatrice was campaigning in Liverpool about her situation and that of all asylum seekers with the immigrant rights campaigning group Asylum Voice – voice of the undocumented. A few days later she was arrested. Since being detained Beatrice tried to commit suicide six times and was then transferred to Orchard Hospital, Luton. But now she has been returned to Yarls Wood. Detention Centre.

Beatrice was severely harmed following the oppression, rape and abuse and her life is at serious if she is returned to Cameroon. Her campaigning against the ruling party has continued in this country with the SDF UK based in London. If returned she will most certainly be targeted by the government and suffer serious persecution and abuse. Beatrice came here to seek sanctuary from that harm and we demand that she is given the right to stay.
By seizing, detaining and threatening to deport Beatrice the Home Office has caused her psychological state to dangerously deteriorate. With support Beatrice can return to campaign and support all other asylum seekers as well as fight her own case.
Situation in Cameroon

The following information from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Home Office and Amnesty International all show that the Government of Cameroon has a bad record on human rights. “Extra-judicial executions, protracted detention without trial, torture of detainees and appalling prison conditions were all highlighted by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture in 1999.” Foreign and Commonwealth Office website.

Amnesty International Report 2000 on Cameroon says, "Torture and ill-treatment by the security forces remained routine, and prison conditions amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, resulting in a high mortality rate. Critics of the government...were harassed, arrested and imprisoned.”

The Home Office in 2007 continues to advise against all travel to many areas in Cameroon.
ALL YOU NEED TO DO TO HELP BEATRICE IS EMAIL OR FAX A LETTER OF SUPPORT - DEMAND HER RELEASE, STOP THE DEPORTATION AND DEMAND HER RIGHT TO STAY to:
What you can do to help!
1 Please send urgent faxes/emails to Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith, Secretary of State for the Home Office demanding that Beatrice to stay in the UK and quote Home Office Ref. 02/11/01296 Fax 020 7035 4745 (+44 207 035 4745) for outside UK
Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith MP, Secretary of State for the Home Office, 3rd. Floor, Peel Building, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1 4DF. Email: smithjj@parliament.uk
2 Send a copy to Louise Ellman MP. Constituency Office: Room 515, The Cotton Exchange, Old Hall Street, Liverpool, L3 9LQ Fax: 0151 236 4301 Email: ellmanl@parliament.uk

For further information and/or to help contact Asylum Voice c/o c/o Asylum Link Merseyside, 7 Overbury Street, Liverpool, L7 3HJ, asylumvoice@yahoo.co.uk

Message from Asylum Voice

ASYLUM VOICE
Asylum Voice - a Campaign of Liverpool asylum seekers, undocumented workers and activists together.

"We have been persuaded by the evidence that the Government has indeed been practising a deliberate policy of destitution of this highly vulnerable group. We believe that the deliberate use of inhumane treatment is unacceptable. " -From a report on the treatment of Asylum Seekers by the Joint Committee on Human Rights of the British Parliament March 2007.

So, a parliamentary committee concludes that the Government has a deliberate practice and policy of forcing people into destitution. This is unacceptable!
We demand justice, equality and human rights for all including all undocumented workers.


Press lies about asylum seekers

1 They are swamping the UK

No. After years of anti-asylum press stories, British people believe that the UK has 23 per cent of the world’s refugees. The real figure is below 2%. Those claiming asylum have reduced significantly.

2 They abuse the welfare system

No. We get £40 per week, 30% below the poverty line. Many of us get no money at all, we live on vouchers and many do not even get vouchers.

3 They get our housing

No. We are forced to live in sub-standard accommodation run by private companies contracted by the Home Office.

4 They are draining the resources of our NHS

No. We do not have the right to proper health care. Yet migrants have made a massive contribution to the NHS. Today, 23% of doctors and 47% of nurses were born outside of the UK.

5 They are taking our jobs

No. We do not have the right to work. Many of us are destitute and are forced to work for less than the minimum wage. The UK’s working population is declining and health and education need more staff.

We are all Immigrants

Britain is a country of immigrants and each new wave of immigrants, going back centuries, faced similar problems of discrimination and racism. The Chinese, Irish, African Caribbean, Indian and many others suffered in the same way.

We ask that the trade unions and community organisations support undocumented workers. It is not for pity but for solidarity. An injury to one is an injury to all - no matter country we were born in. A worker has the right to work, denying people the right to work is an injury to all. To fight employers lowering wages and conditions all workers should have the right to work and rights at work.

We are Here Because You are There

We came to Britain from Iraq, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. All countries that are either occupied by British troops to support Bush and/or the British & European multi-nationals are there to exploit that country for profit alone.

The British Government has a history of helping oppressive regimes. This Government knows these are unsafe countries, yet these are the countries that we asylum seekers regularly get sent back to.

The following was said about Ethiopia in a recent National Union of Teachers meeting in Liverpool.
“In Ethiopia there are no rights of: association, assembly, free press, free education.”
“Yet the Ethiopian government that supports Bush and Blair’s ‘war on terror’ receives aid from the West every year.”
“The opposition as a result is repressed and human rights advocates and trade unionists languish in jail not because they committed a crime, but because they spoke the truth and stood firm against the injustices being perpetrated in their country. The same happens with Nigeria, Zimbabwe and other oppressive regimes.”

What’s really happening?
· We suffer dawn raids which are the official ‘kidnapping’ and disappearance of immigrants.
· Forced destitution – a deliberate policy
· Forced detention including that of children
· An apartheid benefit system and health care system
· No right to work, No right to travel, No Rights

Support & Campaign
Immigration controls are unjust and racist laws
Support the fight for justice
We call for Solidarity not Pity

__________________________________________________

c/o Asylum Link Merseyside, 7 Overbury Street, Liverpool, L7 3HJ, asylumvoice@yahoo.co.uk

http://asylumvoice.googlepages.com/index2.html

re; asylumvoice

I am happy to be part of asylumvoice, We do share lots of experiences and information on refuge life in the UK and try to help and support each other in the long strugglle ...

Tsitsi

ASSYLUM: THE PLIGHT OF BEING RENDERED DESTITUTE IN BRITAIN TODAY

ASSYLUM: THE PLIGHT OF BEING RENDERED DESTITUTE IN BRITAIN TODAY
By N. Steve

Two incidents happen simultaneously. First, a so called “illegal” immigrant who has been failed by the Home Office asylum system is hit by an over speeding, stolen car driven by a “yob”. Police and ambulance quickly arrive at the scene. He is taken to the hospital but for being “illegal”, the hospital is directed to give him the only adequate treatment which will enable him to fly so that he can be deported. The police chain him to the bed to prevent him from escaping.

Secondly, in an African airport, there is a heated argument between an immigration officer and a rapist cum paedophile British on a similar mission. Since British can apply for visas at the point of entry, the man is applying for a six month period visa, but the immigration officer is urging him to take a longer one, as this will help with the economy of the country. The officer even offers the Briton a banquet of flowers as a sign of welcome, and hoping he will accept a longer term visa.

Welcome to the world of discrimination today!

When one seeks asylum in Britain today, the person throws oneself into the most degrading and humiliating process of all. Whereas asylum seeking is a globally accepted method of seeking help and human rights for those fleeing from problems back home to get refugee status, in Britain today, asylum seeking has been politicized and made a propaganda tool to satisfy the whims of politicians, capitalists and big businesses. This is why majority of people seeking asylum in Britain are failed by the same system which is supposed to protect them and give them dignity. Left without anything to do, after having exhausted the asylum seeking process, they are rendered destitute and impoverished. They are denied all known and unknown basic human rights including right to work, education, accommodation, food, clothing and any sort of decency. They end up being “on the run”, with devastating mental circumstances, until an incident happens, like the above mentioned car accident, when they get caught and deported back home, to face even worse danger and risk than they had initially ran away from.

To a very large extent, the West in general, and Britain in particular, is the cause of the many problems people ran away from their home countries. At the peak of the Empire, Britain presided over a huge empire where the sun never set. With this came the plunder and the looting of the resources of the world. But even with the slave labour of one third of humankind and virtually free resources of the world, due to its insatiable greed, Britain continues with this theft up to date. In order to manoeuvre the robbery of the global resources, Britain supports and encourages divisions among different groups of people, which brings about war, conflicts and hostilities in these countries. And that’s why people ran away to come and seek asylum here.

Watching the Home secretary foaming from the corners of his mouth saying how the government will make life unbearable for failed asylum seekers, it demonstrates how Britain can no longer continue to lead the world if it has nothing democratic to offer to move humanity forward in terms of human rights. As a matter of fact, British hegemony today is kept in place through fascism and racism. The Home Office imposes by force, a social system that has exhausted itself and outlived its historical usefulness in terms of human rights. Yet such an order does not crumble on the basis of its internal decadence alone, although this playa a very important predisposing role. A decadent social order can only be overhauled through the strength, organisation and discipline of the forces arraigned against it so that it can provide justice to asylum seekers. In the absence of a viable alternative, a decadent social order will stagger and muddle through to find a new level of decadence.

Destitute and failed asylum seekers can only save themselves from the Home Office injustice, by joining up with organisations that are rooted in solidarity to fight this paradigm of injustice, fascism and racism in Britain today.

The writer is a human rights activist based in Manchester, UK.

"...the vast majority of people are completely unaware of the true nature of the Asylum System."

Hello everyone - I guess this will be the last missive for a while - at least I hope so - and that Jannatul, Ishtiaque and Nazifa will have a bit of time to gather themselves before getting stuck in to more campaigning and building the legal side of their case.

I think the family are probably ready for visits from friends and supporters but I would phone ahead and check first. The Children have coped remarkably under the circumstances and although Jannatul was overjoyed to be back last night, she ia absolutely shattered and the walk from train to car was a slow one. She's still in a lot of pain and was full of pain killers when she arrived in Liverpool. Her speech was very slow and a little incoherent at times.She'll be in at Asylum Link briefly to say hi to the gang and then they'll be going up to the cemetery.

It's important to bear in mind that all the torment and expense of the last week (has it only been 7 days?) could have been avoided if the Home Office had acted with the minimum of compassion and practicality. This type of thing is replicated up and down the country every day and unless we are here to make a fuss about it, it'll be tucked away under the carpet and the public will go about their daily lives none the wiser. All I want is for people to begin to question the actions of the Government, who are after all, acting on their behalf. We live in a democracy and if people are happy with this sort of thing then it's time I packed up and moved away. However I think that the vast majority of people are completely unaware of the true nature of the Asylum System and are shocked when they see the effect it has on people like the Chowdhurys.

So.....................thank you all very much for the time, effort and support everyone has given to making this happen. There's a lot of hard work still to go but we wouldn't have got to this stage without everyone pulling together and standing up for what they believe in
--------
Circular by Ewan Roberts.

Returned Darfurian tortured

'I was expecting to die'
Inigo Gilmore Guardian Unlimited Wednesday March 28, 2007
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sudan/story/0,,2044927,00.html

Shifting awkwardly in his chair, Sadiq paused for a moment before he began to unbutton his shirt. As he peeled it back over his slender shoulders, he revealed a grim patchwork of scars slicing across his torso.
"They came from all sides - there were three people doing the torturing - one was questioning me, another beating me, and another was behind me," he said as he pointed out where his tormentors had left their mark.

"They just beat me everywhere. My whole body was numb so I couldn't feel anything any more. I was bleeding everywhere, I was completely soaked in blood, and the room was covered with my faeces and urine. I was expecting to die, I never thought I would be alive now."

I first met Sadiq at a secret rendezvous in early March, and since then have pieced together his story, which has become the basis of a special investigation about the Darfuri asylum seekers and torture, to be broadcast on Channel 4 tomorrow. My journey to the rendezvous - a city hotel in an African country - had been relatively easy, but for 31-year-old Sadiq Adam Osman, the road here has been long and traumatic.

I'd been tipped off about his story by a humanitarian group, the Aegis Trust in Britain, who helped him escape from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, where he says he was severely tortured by Sudanese security services.

The Aegis Trust is a genocide prevention charity and asked that the African country to which Sadiq, a Darfuri, had fled to and is now in relative safety should not be identified.

Sadiq said he only narrowly escaped with his life. The scars where his legs were pinned down with metal hooks and the marks on his forearms where he was bound up with ropes are now healing, but the mental scars appear to run very deep. His haunting, gaunt expression was disturbing as he clutched at his body, battered by beatings and illness.

Glancing about nervously, it became apparent that he was severely paranoid, telling me he feared Sudanese security agents were everywhere and were looking for him.

Over three days, he unfurled his extraordinary story, detailing how he had ended up in Khartoum after his application for asylum in the UK had been turned down and he had been sent back to Sudan in February 2007.

Campaigners say his case is unique in that it is very rare for a returned asylum seeker to emerge to tell their stories of torture. Some say it could constitute the most important challenge yet to the Home Office policy of deporting Darfuris to Khartoum - claiming it is a perfectly safe place for them to be returned to.

Sadiq's story suggests otherwise and, disturbingly, bears many common features, not only with Darfuri asylum seekers in the UK but with others, too. For two years, the Home Office has returned Darfuri asylum seekers from the UK despite warnings from the UN and human rights organisations.

When Sadiq was sent back in early February, it was the first time he had been in Sudan since 2004, when he fled the violence orchestrated by the government-backed Janjaweed Arab militia.

He was worried because he hadd already been jailed and, he says, tortured as a teenager in 1990. Since the more recent explosion of violence, he had supported his brother, a rebel fighter, but, he said, did not take up arms himself.

He said he decided to flee after his mother and another brother were killed when their village was attacked by the Janjaweed and Sudan's air force.

According to the UN, more than 200,000 people have been killed, and at least two million others - mostly ethnic African villagers - have fled Sudan's western Darfur province. This week, Tony Blair called the situation "unacceptable", reportedly floating the idea of enforcing a no-fly zone.Encouraged by such words of international support, thousands of Darfuris have, like Sadiq, headed for Europe and the UK. After arriving here in September 2004 - joining a growing community of Dafuris - he participated in anti-Khartoum demonstrations in London.

We obtained photos from a protest held 15 months ago, showing Sadiq looking much younger and healthier. In one, he is wearing a T-shirt 'Darfur survivor" - with the word "rejected" boldly stamped across in red.It reflected his growing sense of frustration with the asylum process. Arriving illegally, he immediately applied for asylum based on his ethnicity as one of the Zaghawa tribe who have been targeted by the Janjaweed militia because of their association with rebel groups. He went through the arduous asylum process of appeal and counter appeal before ending in failure in the courts.But this was despite the existence of what seemed a strong piece of evidence that he faced persecution if returned home.

It was a warrant for his arrest from a military court - unknown to him and presented to his family in 2004. He got a friend to send it to the UK at the end of last year.But neither his then legal team nor the home office got it translated. We did, and discovered that it contained a threatening warning that he would face prosecution in a military court if he did not turn himself in. His new lawyer, who found the document when she recently took over his file, was astonished.

"His case had gone through the whole legal system since September 2004 on the basis that he was at risk in Darfur and should not be sent back there but it was safe for him to go back to Khartoum," Jovanka Savic, of Sutovic Hartigan solicitors in west London, said."This document was material evidence which showed he was not safe in Khartoum, and it should have been translated by the representatives and the Home Office. And it was not. The system failed him.

"I went to the Sudanese embassy in London to talk about Sadiq's case with the ambassador, Omer Siddig. Even he conceded that an arrest warrant would have been taken seriously by the Home Office."Had it been correct, the Home Office here would not have let him be repatriated to the country," he said. "Had it been true, they would have translated it."According to Sadiq's lawyers it is authentic, as are his torture claims.

I showed the ambassador some of the video evidence I had of Sadiq's scars, and his allegations of torture at the hands of his government's security services.Mr Siddig remained impassive as he watched the video, and then said: "This is a claim he is making from his side, and I cannot confirm or deny that this thing happened."While the ambassador batted away some of the questions about international accusations of genocide and mass rape in Darfur, he admitted his government's security services had committed abuses.

"Violence is committed in Darfur, and there's lots of cases that were given to the legal system ... those who committed such crimes were sentenced, including some army officers, security officers," he said."In Darfur, yes there are some violations. But for things like this to happen in Khartoum is very remote, definitely.

"Campaigners say torture in Khartoum is anything but remote, and there are concerns that Darfuris detained in a new round-up in recent days could face the same fate. John Bercow, a Tory MP, who raised the Darfuri torture issue in the House of Commons this week, said the Home Office was playing with fire."Sadiq's case is not isolated - I think there is a wider picture " Mr Bercow said. "There have been many cases of people who have been instructed to return to Khartoum who have been intimidated, threatened and tortured having done so.

It's an extremely risky business for Britain to send people back."His sentiments are echoed by James Smith, the chief executive of the Aegis Trust, who said: "What is astonishing is that Home office officials are working so closely with Sudanese embassy officials and either they're blind to what is going on, or turning a blind eye.

"Tony Blair speaks strong words about the need for the world to respond, but they're negated by his own government's action of returning Darfuris into the hands of the abusive security services."The Home Office gave us a statement in reply to Sadiq's claims."In line with current case law, we continue to consider that it is safe to return to Sudan those Sudanese nationals who have been found by both the Home Office and the independent appeals process not to be in need of international protection," it said.

"We do not routinely monitor the treatment of individuals once removed from the UK - we would not remove them if we considered that they were likely to suffer persecution on their return."The end of the road for Sadiq came in January, when the Home Office ruled that he was not at risk. He lost his appeal and was arrested and transferred to Oakington detention centre, near Cambridge, to await deportation.Within days, he was at the airport and, on February 5, was flown on a Gulf Air flight to Khartoum via Bahrain.

After arriving in Sudan's capital he denied he was from Darfur, because, he said, he feared they might kill him."When I arrived at the airport an officer said to me, 'come here you donkey'," he remembered. "They took me into a small office and slapped me around and kicked me."As he continued to deny he was Darfuri, the officers became frustrated. "Later I was blindfolded, and taken to another location in a car," he said. "Then I was in a room, and I was tied to a chair. After they tied me up, they beat me."The officers brought some photos taken in London of Darfuris protesting. "They said to me: 'Do you know the people in these photos?' My photo was among those they were showing me, except I looked different. I was wearing a hat and had long hair at the time. He asked me 'do you know the people in the photos?' and began calling out their names. I recognised one name.

"Sadiq's claim that he was presented with photos of himself taken during protests over Darfuris is not unique among Darfuri refugees, and it is something I put to the ambassador. "Absolutely not!" Mr Siddig said. "I have no idea of what you are talking about. No one is monitoring Darfuris, and no one took any pictures around this embassy."But we have obtained video, shot outside the embassy, which clearly shows embassy officials filming Darfuri protesters and their supporters, including Glenys Kinnock and other campaigners.

"So what is wrong if that happened?" the ambassador asked when I pointed this out.Once confronted with these photos in Khartoum airport, Sadiq felt the game was up. He was taken, blindfolded, to an interrogation room at an undisclosed building used by the security services, where he said he was severely tortured. At one moment when his blindfold was removed, he saw some electric cables."My torturers were saying to each other: 'Let's just kill him'. One said: 'Please just finish him off'. But one man said: 'No, it's too early - someone might hear the gunshots.'"The men then left the room, and Sadiq, fearing he would be killed at any moment, made his move.

"I managed to move my legs and clutch a shovel between them. I moved it towards my back and tore through the ropes tying my hands until I was free. I then ran outside and headed to a nearby hill where I got help from a local farmer."He managed to contact the Aegis Trust, which had attempted to help him during his time in the UK. The organisation helped him find new lawyers who have now launched a judicial review.

His asylum case will once more go through British courts - but now with evidence that torture took place and with the crucial arrest warrant document to hand. The lawyers believe they have a very strong case.

For Sadiq, finding a country of refuge, whether it be Britain or somewhere else, could not come soon enough. He is haunted by terrible nightmares and is deeply insecure about his future."I have no country, no family, nothing left," he said. "My life is very difficult."
· Inigo Gilmore's film about Sadiq will be broadcast tonight on Channel 4 news, beginning at 7pm.

Asylum seekers' treatment "inhumane"

LONDON (Reuters) - Government ministers are deliberately pushing asylum seekers into destitution to try to make them leave the country or not come to the UK in the first place, according to a parliamentary report.

The Joint Committee on Human Rights found that the policy of refusing them permission to work and an "overly complex, poorly administered" support system meant many vulnerable people ended up with no benefit and reliant instead on charity or support from friends.

Committee chairman, Labour MP Andrew Dismore, said the overall conclusion was that there appeared to be a policy of doing this to get people to leave the country or to deter others from coming at all.

"We know asylum seekers don't attract a great deal of public sympathy," he told the BBC.
"We pass no verdict on who is or is not or who should or should be an asylum seeker. The question is, when people are here, are they treated with decent common humanity and our view is that in the end what's going on is inhumane and degrading."

He also brushed aside the popular perception that asylum seekers received benefits to which they were not entitled. "Many people don't get what they are entitled to which is in fact very little, contrary to what the tabloid press would have you believe."

"We're particularly concerned about the position of children," he added. "We heard some terrible stories of, for example, the dawn raid, the 6 a.m. knock on the door, children woken up by the immigration officers ... and the terrible, traumatic effect it has on them, children in detention for many weeks and that is not good."

A spokeswoman for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, a migrant rights organisation that gave evidence to the committee, said the report had uncovered many misconceptions.

"The report has exploded a lot of myths by showing that people can't claim benefits, they can't work legally and they are not here for an easy ride."
As a result, he said, many immigrants were vulnerable to exploitation and live a precarious existence." "We don't lay the blame for whipping up immigrant hate at the door of the popular press, rather it's at the door of politicians from all parties," the spokesman said.
"They could provide a lot more leadership to people in the UK about the truth about immigration and how it interacts with other policies.

"There are claims that immigrants claim a lot of services they're not entitled to. But if there are issues of shortages it is down to a range of factors, not asylum seekers. "There are further restrictions coming, for example one to restrict immigrants' access to health yet there's never been any analysis to show how many people not entitled to it are using the health service."
The Home Office said it will study the report's conclusions and recommendations.

In a statement, however, it added: "We simply do not think that it is right that those without any right to be in the UK should be given the right to work or access other services."

Every 26 minutes

Every 26 minutes we must STOP A DEPORTATION
Jannatul and her children Ishtiaque and Nazifa – Let Them Stay

Jannatul Chowdhury fled from Bangladesh two and half years ago with her family. Ishtiaque and Nazifa were kidnapped by members of the leading political party of Bangladesh leaving Jannatul and her husband Naushad no choice other than to pay the ransom. Despite being victims of such a dreadful crime the authorities refused to take any action over the kidnapping which left the family living in permanent fear and with the belief that they could never be safe in there again so they fled to Britain to seek asylum.

Naushad, Jannatul’s husband died of a heart attack in December 2005. Emergency heart surgery was cancelled 3 times and the family believe that this negligence caused his death. Nauchad is buried in Liverpool and this ties the familly strongly to the area. Jannatul had to take on the family’s asylum claim and it was refused.

Despite the trauma they suffered from the kidnapping, the tragic death of their father, the stress caused by the immigration system such as enforced dispersal to different houses in Liverpool, surviving on the meagre NASS support all this both children are doing very well in school. But now they are being imprisoned at Yarls Wood detention centre and are facing a terrifying imminent deportation back to Bangladesh.
All the pupils and staff at Childwall Sports College are distraught at what has happened and cannot understand why this is happening. Yet Liam Byrne has decided that they do not have the right to stay here and inhumanely had them snatched at dawn on Tuesday 27th March and booked them onto a flight on Sunday April 1st at 3.45p.m.

In Liverpool Jannatul assists with ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) classes at Asylum Link Merseyside and regularly cooks for other asylum seekers there. She writes for a local newsletter/magazine for the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities. And she been actively campaigning for her own family’s right to stay and also for the rights of others seeking asylum in the Asylum Voice (of the undocumented) campaign group in Liverpool which was set up and is led by asylum seekers and others who are undocumented.

There are other factors to consider:
There is an ongoing negligence case being pursued by Alexander Harris against the Cardio Thoracic Unit of Liverpool NHS Trust, following the Nauchad’s death.
Jannatul is scheduled for surgery on the 3rd April to explore severe abdominal pain – this condition will be made worse by her current predicament and Nazifa was due to see a consultant at Alder Hey Neurological Clinic for serious migraine/eye problems which have been getting worse.
Ishtiaque did very well in his GCSE’s and is working towards his AS levels and he is set for a university place.

Jannatul has slowly rebuilt her life and that of her children through hard work, perseverance and with the support of all the people around her. To send this family back to Bangladesh is cruel and inhuman. To remove a mother and her children like this is an appalling endightment of this government and its cruel immigration system. It is nothing to do with justice or fairness it is a racist system which is only concerned with achieving targets

What you can do to help: · Write to Liam Byrne MP, Home Office, Peel Building 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF – quote HO ref: C1167819 email http://uk.f281.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=byrnel@parliament.uk&YY=64759&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b Tel: 0121 789 7287Fax: 020 7035 4745 from outside the UK + 44 20 7035 4745
· Contact British Airways and demand that they collude in the forced removal of this family refuse to fly the family Flight Details – BA0145 from Heathrow to Dhaka 15.25 1st April
Tel 0870 850 9850 Email: webformuk@email.ba.com· Louise Ellman MP Tel 0151 236 4301 London fax 020 7219 2592 emai: http://uk.f281.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=ellmanl@parliament.uk&YY=64759&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b

Darfur Asylum Seekers (Removals)

House of Commons - 27 Mar 2007 : Column 1299
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070327/debtext/70327-0004.htm#07032777000005

John Bercow (Buckingham) (Con): I beg to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House, under Standing Order No. 24, to discuss a specific and important matter, namely, "the removal by the Home Office to Khartoum of failed asylum seekers from Darfur."

The immediate pretext for my request is the fact that the Home Office is minded tomorrow to remove no fewer than three such people on flights to Khartoum, and there are plans for further removals next week. One example that illustrates the argument comes to mind: Mohammed Abdulhaddi Ali is a black African from the Zaghawa tribe who has demonstrated outside the Sudanese embassy in London and who is a known opponent of the Sudanese Government. I submit to the House that he would be at risk of persecution if he were returned to Khartoum.

The Government have signed up to the principle of non-refoulement-they accept that they have a responsibility not to return people to states in which there is a serious risk of those people being subject to the death penalty, torture, inhuman or degrading treatment of punishment. The burden of the Government and Home Office argument is that it is unsafe to return people to Darfur but safe to do so to Khartoum.

My contention to this House is that there are a number of reasons why it would not be safe to return people to Khartoum. There is sporadic but intense fighting between the Government and a variety of rebel forces. It would not be safe to return people to Khartoum, where the national intelligence and security service is based and where it is constantly on the lookout for returnees. It would not be safe to return people who bear tribal scars and who are immediately identifiable by hostile authorities. It would not be safe to return people when we know from the published evidence of the Aegis Trust of a great many cases of people who have been returned only to be subject to intimidation, harassment or substantially worse.

"Safe as Ghost Houses", which was published last year by the Aegis Trust and authored by Sarah Maguire, is explicit on the issue. The evidence is on the record, and the Government have not issued an intelligible or coherent response to it. It is unsafe to return people when the Sudanese embassy is hand in glove with the Home Office to get people out, with God knows what consequences for those vulnerable people. It is not safe to return people such as those whom I saw last year. I saw video evidence about a man who was returned from this country and who was then brutally attacked and tortured by the Sudanese authorities.

I put it to the House that we have responsibilities-the country has a responsibility, the Government have a responsibility and this House has a responsibility to very vulnerable people. To kick them out would be wrong and precipitate. The matter must be debated and debated urgently.

Mr. Speaker: I have listened carefully to what the hon. Gentleman has said. I must give him my decision without stating any reasons. I am afraid that I do not consider that the matter raised is appropriate for discussion under Standing Order No. 24, and I cannot therefore submit the application to the House.

Sudan: Darfur

House of Lords - 27 Mar 2007 : Column WA265
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200607/ldhansrd/text/70327w0003.htm#07032762000025Lord
Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:

What action the United Kingdom ambassador to the United Nations, Sir Emyr Jones Parry, had in mind when he indicated that, in relation to the Government of Sudan's actions in Darfur, the United Nations Security Council should respond to continued provocation and that the council should consider further sanctions.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): The situation in Darfur remains appalling. There are continued attacks on civilians, peacekeepers and the humanitarian agencies. The arms embargo on Darfur continues to be violated. No side is making a serious effort to find a peaceful settlement to the conflict and President Bashir has gone back on his Government's commitments at Addis Ababa, in particular with regard to the UN support package for the African Union Mission in Sudan.

We believe that the UN Security Council should impose further measures on those responsible for violating UN Security Council Resolution 1591 and we will be taking this forward with our Security Council partners in the coming days.Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is their latest estimate of fatalities, casualties and displaced people in Darfur.
Lord Triesman: No reliable figures exist for the total number of persons who have died or been injured across Darfur as a result of the conflict there. However, a frequently-quoted, and plausible, figure for the number of deaths is 200,000.The UN estimates that there are currently 2,060,000 displaced people in Darfur and a further 220,000 living as refugees in neighbouring Chad.

Every death, injury, displacement or rape in Sudan is a tragedy. That is why we are pressing the Government of Sudan and the rebel groups to stop the fighting, to agree to the deployment of the UN-African Union hybrid force in Darfur, to commit to and implement the Darfur peace agreement, and to ensure full humanitarian access for the UN and non-governmental organisations in Darfur.
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Home Office round-up Darfur refused asylum seekers for deportation

It has been brought to the attention of NCADC that the Home Office have for the past five days been rounding up nationals of Sudan who have been refused asylum in the UK and that they intend to deport them to Khartoum.

Last week the High Court heard the case of 'HMGO' on country guidance in relation to the removal to Khartoum of certain Sudanese nationals. It seems that the judge said that there were serious errors in the Home Offices case and gave strong indications that the court may make it harder for the Home Office to remove anyone to Khartoum. However, the judgement has not been handed down yet and may not be for a couple of weeks.

NCADC know of 13 Darfurian asylum seekers being held at Oakington Removal Centre and 3 of them have removal directions for Wednesday with British Airways to Sudan. We also know of a number being held at Manchester Airport and Colnbrook Short-Term Holding Centre.
Some people in campaigning and advocacy groups have the impression that the Home Office is cynically attempting to detain and deport as many Darfurians before the country guidance case judgment is handed down and the law goes against them.
What you can do to help:

1. If you are in contact with Darfurian asylum seekers in detention/community who are facing removal, NCADC suggest; they should seek legal advice as to; 'if it would be feasible to ask the Home Office to defer their removal pending the judgement in the 'HMGO' case being made available, and if the Home Office refuse, to consider seeking a Judicial Review'.

*** If the asylum seeker wants you to, help them contact their legal representative, if they have one, about the above information.*** If they do not have a legal representative, give them the numbers for various legal advice lines, including:Refugee Legal Centre general advice line: 020 7780 3220 - open from 10.30 am to 4.30 pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, closed for lunch between 1.00 pm and 2.00 pm.Refugee Legal Centre advice line for Detained Asylum Seekers: 0800 592398 - available from 10.30 am until 4.30 pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The line is closed for lunch between 1.00 pm and 2.00 pm.Immigration Advisory Service: go to the website page for nearest office to where the asylum seeker is detained - a number is given for any advice line service.http://www.iasuk.org/C2B/document_tree/ViewACategory.asp?CategoryID=10Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants: 020 7251 8706 - available Tuesdays and Thursdays between 2.00pm and 5.00pm*** Talk to the asylum seeker about them setting up their own anti-deportation campaign, and consider helping them to form their own campaign support group. Further info:http://www.ncadc.org.uk/resources/index.htm2. Fax British Airways urging them to not carry out forced removals to Sudan. You can print off the attached model fax Sundan.doc, or write and fax your own version.

British Airways Fax No: 020 8759 4314
Please notify ncadc-north-west@ncadc.org.uk of any faxes sent.
Darfur: Europe's leaders respond to demands for action to stop the genocide
Europe's leaders toughened their stand against mass murder in Darfur yesterday, issuing new threats against the Sudanese government, as their own 50th birthday celebration summit was thrown off balance by the unprecedented appeal from Europe's leading writers for action.
Despite the scale of murder since the conflict began in 2003 - the US has described it as genocide - there has been no attempt to launch the kind of humanitarian intervention that saved civilian lives in Kosovo.

Full article: By Stephen Castle in Berlin, Published: 26 March 2007
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2393302.ece
End of Bulletin:

Source for this Message:
The Independent
NCADC

Help Alphonsus from being persecuted by our officials

TRADE UNION ACTION STOPS DEPORTATION AND DETENTION – FOR NOW!
STOP THE DEPORTATION OF ALPHONSUS UCHE AKAFOR MEFOR

“A victory for one is a victory for all, keep your struggle going, together let’s work in solidarity – tell the world how Biafrans are being persecuted and never be discouraged. I have a debt of gratitude to you all.

I am Alphonsus Uche Akafor Mefor and Nigerian. I was scheduled to be deported to Nigeria on 1st March, but my solicitor and an unprecedented campaign stopped the deportation and my forced detention. I was freed from detention on 15 March.”

Paul Mackney, UCU General Secretary said, “This case is of particular relevance to trade unionists as he was due to speak at a forthcoming ‘No One Is Illegal’ Trade Union Conference (details below) of which UCU is a sponsor. He is a leading figure in the campaign group Asylum Voice who have campaigned against the abuses suffered by asylum seekers …This coming together of General Secretaries of major trade unions in support of Alphonsus is unique and shows that the labour movement is committed to the defence of refugees and others threatened with immigration controls – and shows why the slogan “No One Is Illegal” is a demand for justice and basic human rights.”

Whilst in Nigeria Alphonsus was active in the struggle for Biafran independence. He was a member of the national liberation group MOSSAB (Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra) and was detained and tortured following attendance of a MASSOB meeting. He has continued to campaign in the UK to highlight the persecution of the Biafran people through the Biafran Actualisation Forum and the Biafran Liberation League who have in recent times organised high profile campaigns against the Nigerian Government. He faces imminent danger if he is returned to Nigeria. In spite of this he has been refused asylum.

Alphonsus does not argue that his case is different from that of others refused leave to remain. He does not argue that his case is exceptional. He asks for solidarity with himself and all others in his situation. What does make Alphonsus’ campaign different is that it is based on the trade union movement, five trade union General Secretaries (for the TGWU, NUJ, UCU, RMT, PCS), trades councils, and union branches who backed him when he was arrested without warning and imprisoned in an immigration camp. As a result of this unprecedented pressure combined with pressure by many community groups and the UK-based Biafran Liberation League he was released.

Alphonsus whilst living in Liverpool has helped organise other refugees in the group Asylum Voice which fights for asylum seekers and is fighting the government’s fast track to deportation system. He will speak at the No One Is Illegal trade union conference against immigration controls. However he still faces deportation and we must maintain the pressure until he obtains the justice we demand.

What you can do to help:
Ensure your trade union at all levels resolves to support Alphonsus by also writing to Liam Byrne MP, Home Office, Peel Building 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF, quote HO ref: M1320887

Set up local trade union based campaigns for Alphonsus and others under threat of deportation
Invite Alphonsus to speak at one of your branch meetings

If you live in the Merseyside area attend Asylum Voice campaign meetings - contact asylumvoice@yahoo.ac.uk web http://asylumvoice.googlepages.com/index2.html

Attend March 31st conference 1-5.30pm St Anne’s School, next to St Anne’s Church, Overbury St, Liverpool 7

SEND DONATIONS AND CHEQUES TO ‘ALPHONSUS CAMPAIGN’ c/o Asylum Link 7 Overbury Street L7 3HJ

Asylum seeker dies after setting himself alight -independent.co.uk

Asylum seeker dies after setting himself alight
By Victoria Mitchell, Chief Reporter, Scottish Press Association
Published: 20 March 2007

A failed asylum seeker has died after setting himself alight in the building where his immigration hearing was to be held, police said yesterday.
Uddhav Bhandari, a Nepalese national who had been living in Edinburgh, doused himself in petrol and set himself alight.

The father-of-two fled from Nepal to Edinburgh six years ago but was facing a second immigration hearing which could have seen him sent back to the troubled Himalayan country.
The proceedings in Glasgow on Wednesday March 7, were to be heard on video link by three judges in London.

But at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal Centre in Glasgow's Bothwell Street Mr Bhandari, 40, decided his own fate.

Shocked staff were reported to have made attempts to put out the flames with their clothes but he was taken to hospital with serious burns.
He had been terrified of being sent back to Nepal where it is said he had exposed corruption in the police force in a newspaper article.
A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman confirmed Mr Bhandari died in Glasgow's Royal Infirmary last night.
Robina Qureshi, director of Positive Action in Housing, a charity which works with ethnic minorities, said: "Uddhav Bhandari spent six years trying to seek refuge here and bring his wife and two kids over to this country.
"Forbidden to find paid work, he worked as a volunteer helping to recycle bicycles for disadvantaged families.

"Last night, he died alone in hospital a few days after setting fire to himself in the Immigration & Appeals tribunal Building in Glasgow.
"He was a victim of an asylum policy that persecutes and tortures the victims of persecution and torture.

"There are now over 1,600 asylum seeking families living in Glasgow for the last six years.
"Many have children who have been born and brought up here. They want to stay but are tortured daily with the threat of removal.

"The real question for Scotland is how come Scotland, which has the fastest declining population in western Europe, is prepared to stand by while our future lifeblood is sent back?"
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http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2374410.ece

Dispersal policy 'put asylum-seekers at risk' -The Independent.

Dispersal policy 'put asylum-seekers at risk'
By Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent
Published: 16 March 2007

Asylum-seekers were put at risk by the Government's much-criticised policy of dispersing them around the country, according to a Home Office report which the department refused to publish.
Tens of thousands of adult refugees have been moved around the country since 2000 in an attempt to relieve the pressure on London and the South-east.
Although numbers of asylum-seekers have fallen sharply in recent years, the policy is still in place, and the Home Office has indicated that it could be widened to include unaccompanied under-18s.

Private research conducted for the Home Office nearly five years ago by academics from Oxford Brookes University laid bare the extent of problems with the policy. It followed the murder of a refugee in Sighthill, Glasgow, the stabbing of another in Hull, and reports of rising community tensions in several northern towns and cities. The research was never released by the Home Office, which finally published it yesterday under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act.
The researchers warned that asylum-seekers had been sent to "highly volatile environments" where they encountered hostility and prejudice. They said there was "a worrying level of spontaneous racial harassment and racial attacks. The procurement of housing in the poorest areas polarises entrenched views held by the host community against the incomers."
This has left asylum-seekers isolated from their local community and lacking help and advice, the academics told the Home Office.

They pointed to a series of problems in the north-west of England, which has received large numbers of refugees. The Moston and Cheetham Hill districts of Manchester were considered "extremely dangerous and very unpleasant environments" by refugees.
"All asylum-seekers interviewed in these two areas reported wanting to move elsewhere, having experienced constant threats and verbal harassment.
Asylum-seekers placed in Toxteth and Everton also reported racial harassment and, in some cases, physical abuse, the study said.

Tensions in Everton were exacerbated by the perception that asylum-seekers were getting preferential treatment at the district's health centre.
"Many asylum-seekers complained of hostility from local ethnic minority populations, in contrast to what they referred to as 'English people'," the study said.
It also uncovered a host of practical problems and mistakes in the introduction of the dispersal programme. One example was a Somali family being sent to live in Redcar, Cleveland, despite no other Somalis living in the town and no translators being available.

Anna Reisenberger, acting chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: "This confirms what asylum- seekers have been telling us for many years - the dispersal system left them vulnerable to racism and extreme isolation. The efforts that have been made to improve their plight since this report was filed must be continued by everyone concerned."
Nick Clegg, the home affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, who made the FoI request, said: "No wonder the Government buried this report. It is a devastating condemnation of its centrepiece asylum dispersal policy.

"Breaking up families and then dumping asylum seekers in sub-standard accommodation in some of our poorest communities was always bound to backfire. It was a policy that was neither humane nor practical."

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "The material in this report is historic and was not published previously because it did not affect our policy on the dispersal of asylum seekers."