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."

A message from John McDonnell MP

To the Trade Union Conference Against Immigration Controls, 31st March 2007, from John McDonnell MP

Dear conference

As many of you will know, my constituency Hayes and Harlington is home to two of Britain’s immigration prisons, Colnbrook and Harmondsworth. Here people who have committed no crime are locked up before being deported, often to countries where their very lives are in danger.

Migrants are not criminals but human beings who would contribute to our society as any other citizens. I welcome and applaud this conference because it is essential that migrants and other workers join forces to support each other and fight for a society in which no one is left behind.

Divided, employers will exploit undocumented workers and use them to drive down wages and conditions for everyone else, disposing of them the moment they are no longer needed. Together we can support each other and build a mass movement that will deliver the changes we so badly need.

Trade unions will never be strong enough to win the struggles we face unless we embrace migrant workers regardless of their status. We cannot expect migrant workers to support our struggles unless we support theirs, fighting against the twin threats of detention and deportation and refusing to cooperate with the immigration system in reporting the undocumented, or cutting off services.

Ultimately our struggle is the same: for fair wages and conditions, and a decent life in which we are all treated equally and with dignity.

John McDonnell MP

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

Deportation Stopped by Trade Unionists

TRADE UNION ACTION STOPS THE DEPORTATION OF A TRADE UNION SPEAKER – NOW STOP HIS DETENTION!
COME TO THE TRADE UNION CONFERENCE AGAINST IMMIGRATION CONTROLS, LIVERPOOL,MARCH 31st

Trade union action stops flight!
Alphonsus Uche Okafor-Mefor is a Nigerian asylum seeker. He is also a political activist helping organise refugees in Liverpool. He was due to speak at the conference on immigration controls in Liverpool on March 31st. Organised by the No One Is Illegal coalition this has attracted wide union sponsorship. A leaflet is enclosed. At the end of February Adolphus was arrested without warning, imprisoned and told he would be deported in 48 hours. Within this time there was organised trade union activity co-ordinated by UCU (the University and College Union, a sponsor of the March 31st conference). The PCSU (Public and Civil Service Union) gave its support along with union branches and trades councils. Alphonus’s flight was stopped at the last moment while at the airport!
Background

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.


Still in detention and deportation still a danger! Trade unions call for release!
Alphonsus is still not free. He is in Tinsley House Removal Centre and we must fight to get him out of detention. Paul Mackney, General Secretary of UCUsays“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”.
What unions can do
(1) Email Liam Byrne: Minister for State for Immigration at byrnel@parliament.uk Quote ref number M1320887 Fax: 020 7035 4745
(2) Send copies to Adolphus’s MP who is supporting him-John McDonnell- mcdonnellj@parliament.uk and to No One Is Illegal at noii@org.uk
(3) Attend the March 31st conference ,1-5.30pm,Asylum Links, St Annes Church,Overbury St, Liverpool 7

LETTER from Jeremy Dear NUJ - March 2007

LETTER from Jeremy Dear NUJ - March 2007

It seems not a day goes by without the government and opposition parties proposing further immigration and asylum restrictions.

The strength of feeling about the cruelties that can be inflicted by such restrictions is shown by the fact that the General Secretaries of five major unions (UCU, NUJ, TGWU,RMT, PCS) have come together to protest the threatened deportation of Alphonsus Uche Akafor-Mefor.

Alphonsus is an asylum seeker from Nigeria, having been prominent in the struggle for Biafran independence. There are countless others presently in this country living under the shadow of forcible removal. Many face death, torture or persecution in their country of origin.

What gives added significance to Alphonsus’s case is that he is due at the end of this month to be a featured speaker at a conference for trade unionists on immigration control organised by the No One Is Illegal coalition – due to speak on such iniquities as the denial to asylum seekers of the right to work.

Yet, Alphonsus, a person who has kept to all his reporting restrictions, was arrested without warning and is now a captive in this country at Tinsley House detention centre.

Campaigners fear that as a leading figure in the group Asylum Voice which he helped form to protest against the introduction by the government of the New Asylum Model, designed for rapid removals, he is being scapegoated because of his legitimate activities in this country.

This is the daily reality of racist immigration controls and it is why as representatives of the labour movement we feel it incumbent to offer him all our support and solidarity. We would ask your readers to do the same and to make the Home Secretary aware of the opposition there is to Alphonsus’ deportation.

The ID Card

Imagine yourself having an ID card with the following details:

Name: Albert Einstein

Income: £40/Week

Profession: Physicist, Scientist.

*Employment :Prohibited

Travel: Prohibited

Marriage: Prohibited
*YOU ARE A PERSON WHO IS LIABLE TO BE DETAINED*YOU MAY NOT ENTER EMPLOYMENT, PAID OR UNPAID, OR ENGAGE IN ANY BUSINESS OR PROFESSION.*YOU MUST REPORT TO AN IMMIGRATION OFFICER (WEEKELY OR PERHAPS Daily)

_____________________

It is like that.

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”

Welcome

Asylum Voice welcomes you here and invites you to the pleasure of participating....