Ambushed at Relliance House ,Central Liverpool.

To The Trade Union Conference

It is with heart full of thanks and appreciation that I am sending this message of solidarity to the trade union movement. Your resilience in the face of injustice is unassuming; your unallied commitment to equality and justice is unparallel. You are the beacon of hope for the oppressed and the most vulnerable in the society (the asylum seekers).

One of the most recent eloquent testimonies of this bravery is the spirit of openness and unity of purpose by which you responded positively to rescuing one of the darkest moments of the Home Office “silent snatching operations on asylum seekers”. Specifically, I was snatched by the immigration authorities on Monday 26th February when I went to sign at Reliance House in Liverpool and was immediately served with a removal direction for Thursday 1st march 2007 without any prior notice or chance to take my belongings which may be of immediate need to me.

The movement was so fast that I was taken to the Manchester airport temporary detention centre with two ladies. I was detained there till Wednesday 28th February 2007. I was then finally taken to Colnbrook removal centre for onward removal to Nigeria on Thursday 1st march 2007.

The trade unionists intervention at this point could not have come at a better and more auspicious time of desperate need for me.

Today I am still here in the UK but not yet free. Permit me to say that I am writing to you “in chains”.

Finally I owe a huge debt of gratitude to individuals and groups especially my solicitor, the University and College Union, Public and Civil Service Union, Asylum Link, Merseyside Refugee Support Network, NCADC, MPs and the Human Rights Committee. Without whose support I would not have been here in the UK.

While I am not with you in person, I’m encouraged and energised by your unstinting support for me.

I hope to join you as soon as possible. I hope to speak at the trade union No One Is Illegal Conference.

Alphonsus Okafor-Mefor

Your Comrade in “Chains”