TRADE UNIONS UNPRECEDENTED STOPS DEPORTATION OF ASYLUM SEEKER

TRADE UNIONS GIVE UNPRECEDENTED SUPPORT AGAINST DEPORTATION OF ASYLUM SEEKER

For the first time an alliance of General Secretaries have come together in support of a refugee in detention and under threat of deportation. The refugee is Alphonsus Uche Okafor-Mefor (Home Office reference number M1320887)
The General Secretaries are: Paul Mackney of UCU (the University and Colleges Union), Mark Serwotka of the PCS ( Public and Commercial Service Union), Jeremy Dear of the NUJ (National Union of Journalists) and Tony Woodley of the TGWU (Transport and General Workers). They have all written to the Minister responsible for immigration at the Home Office (Liam Byrne) protesting both the detention and threatened removal of Adolphus.
Paul Mackney has said: Alphonsus Uche Okafor-Mefor is presently being held in a detention centre and is due to be flown back to Nigeria where he has been previously detained and tortured. 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, 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 by immigration controls – and shows why the slogan “No One Is Illegal” is a demand for justice and basic human rights”
Home Office scapegoats Alphonsus
The No One Is Illegal trade union conference to which Paul Mackney refers is one opposing immigration controls. It is therefore ironic that Adolphus is now being prevented from attending and is in imminent danger of deportation himself. Furthermore the reference to Asylum Voice refers to the campaign Alphonsus initiated in Liverpool (where he had been living) against the government’s so-called New Asylum Model (NAM) which is being piloted in Liverpool and which is intended to ensure speedy removals. Even whilst in detention (at Tinsley House) Alphonsus has been lodging a series of complaints about the ways in which refugees are maltreated there. The campaign in defence of Alphonsus considers that is his opposition to immigration controls which lead to his arrest without warning and his being put in detention . The Home Office is scapegoating Alphonsus.
Political background in Nigeria
Alphonsus claimed asylum in 2005.He is an Igbo and belongs to MASSOB (Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra) who are campaigning for an independent Biafra . He was detained and tortured following attendance of a MASSOB meeting there. He has continued to campaign in the UK to highlight the persecution of the Biafran people and the murder of MASSOB members and Igbos by the Nigerian government through the Biafran Actualisation Forum . Now known to the Nigerian government he faces imminent danger if he is returned. MASSOB members here are active in the campaign for Adolphus. They have issued a statement which contains the following:

“Mr Okafor-Mefor is a MASSOB leader who has taken a key role in this peaceful struggle and, if he is deported back to Nigeria, unequivocally his life will be in danger. Even UK foreign office officials have confirmed that Nigeria takes a “tough stand” (diplomatic terminology for persecution and killing!) on MASSOB activism.”


Trade union action stops flight to Nigeria
Alphonsus was first arrested on February 28th. Neither he nor his solicitor (Peter Simms) were given any warning. This itself shows how the immigration system operates. Alphonsus has kept in regular contact with the Home Office, he has never gone underground. Yet he was arrested without warning. He was given 48 hours before his flight was due to take off. He was taken to the airport for deportation. But just as he was about to board the plane the Home Office said he would not be flown out that day. We attribute this to a) an excellent legal team b) a public protest at the airport by supporters of MOSSAB and c) undoubtedly the vast amount of trade union support not just by national unions but at branch and trades council level. However Alphonsus is now back in detention anxious that each day he may be taken back to the airport. In the meantime his solicitor has prepared a judicial review of the refusal to grant asylum.
Adolphus’s MP
Adolphus is being supported in Parliament by John McDonnell MP- email mcdonnellj@parliament.uk

Enclosures with this press release
There is enclosed with this release the following:
1. Details of the trade union conference at which Alphonsus was/is due to speak on March 31st
2. A letter from Alphonsus written in custody
3. A statement by MOSSAB
4. Photographs of Alphonsus

Contacts for further information
1. On behalf of the campaign to defend Alphonsus contact No One Is Illegal members: Margaret McAdam on tel 07828670965 and 0151 709 1713, email mags_asylumlink@yahoo.co.uk or Steve Cohen on tel 0161 740 8090, email raysteve@cohen70.freeserve.co.uk
2. Alphonsus can himself be contacted at tel 01293 434 800 (ask for room 25 Alphonsus Uche Okafor-Mefor) or fax 01293 434 825
3. Adolphus’s solicitor is Peter Simms of the firm AS Law in Liverpool. Tel 0151 707 1212. Fax 0151 707 2458, email petersimm@aslaw.co.uk