[Onthebarricades] Anti-deportation protests

Mon Apr 14 17:37:42 PDT 2008

*  UK:  Detained immigrant mothers hold naked protest
*  UK:  Hunger strike at Oakington over immigration status delays, food
*  UK:  Success for Sukula family anti-deportation campaign
*  UK:  Student protest halts Plymouth family's deportation
*  UK:  Protests at threat to deport Nigerian
*  SWEDEN:  Protesters block roads, prevent deportation of Iraqi
*  UK:  Curry bosses rally in Scotland against immigration crackdown, claim 
it will ruin curry industry
*  BOSNIA:  Muslims protest against deportations, withdrawals of citizenship

Publicly Archived at Global Resistance: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/globalresistance

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mothers-detained-in-immigration-centre-hold-naked-protest-807802.html

Mothers detained in immigration centre hold 'naked' protest
By Emily Dugan
Friday, 11 April 2008
A group of mothers held in the Yarl's Wood immigration centre have staged 
protests over the extended detention of children. They argue that locking up 
minors is cruel and say being kept in close confinement has caused outbreaks 
of viruses.
Many of the women, who have been awaiting deportation from the Bedford 
immigration removal centre for months, stood naked in a corridor and have 
gone on hunger strike in a bid to make their demands heard.
The detention of children is increasingly contentious, following the 
Independent Asylum Commission's verdict that the practice is "wholly 
unjustified".
It is understood that 15 mothers took part in the protest at the family wing 
of Yarl's Wood yesterday morning. The incident followed a period of 
confrontation between detainees and officers, as the women demanded to have 
their concerns heard by the UK Border Agency.
The confrontation began on Wednesday night after 11 detainees tried to stop 
a mother and child being removed. The action was in protest at not being 
granted time with immigration officials to address the issue of young 
detainees. Yesterday a pregnant Nigerian woman who led the protest was 
allegedly parted from her six-year-old son and taken to a solitary wing.
At least 15 women protested outside the staff office, demanding to know 
where she had been taken and reiterating requests for a fair hearing. 
Several of them removed their clothes to mark their disgust at the 
"imprisonment" of their children.
A spokesperson for Serco, the company which runs Yarl's Wood, said 
discussions had taken place between residents and staff, but "no significant 
protest" had occurred.
Mercy Guobatia, 22, from Nigeria, was one of the mothers who stood naked in 
the centre as a symbol of the inhumane way she felt they were treated there.
"I took my clothes off because they treat us like animals. We are claiming 
asylum, we're not animals. They treat us as if we've done something 
terrible."
She said that both her daughters, one aged six months and a a two-year-old, 
have lost weight and been consistently ill since arriving at Yarl's Wood. 
"Just five days after arriving they started being ill," she said. "They have 
had diarrhoea and been vomiting ever since. It's because we are kept so 
close together in detention." Ms Goubatia pleaded with the Border Agency to 
consider a more humane policy.
Serco would not comment on individual cases, but a spokes-man confirmed: 
"There has been a localised outbreak of a common vomiting virus at Yarl's 
Wood Immigration Removal Centre. This is being dealt with by our medical 
staff who are in close liaison with the Health Protection Agency and the 
local primary care trust.
Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: "We remain 
absolutely opposed to the detention of children under any circumstances. The 
evidence shows it is physically and emotionally harmful for children to be 
locked up this way, and there can be no justification for it." Sources at 
the centre say many women are on hunger strike and more protests are 
planned.
A UK Border Agency spokes-person said: "Families with children are detained 
only where absolutely necessary and for as short a period as possible and in 
designated accommodation."

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_cambridge/displayarticle.asp?id=302590

Detainees go on hunger strike to protest delays
stephen.exley at cambridge-news.co.uk and john.downing at cambridge-news.co.uk
MORE than 150 immigrants waiting to be deported from the UK are continuing a 
hunger strike at Oakington Immigration Removal Centre.

Kenneth Dilworth, who has been detained for three weeks, spoke to the News 
yesterday and said they were protesting at the length of time the Home 
Office takes to come to a decision on their fate.

And he said the hunger strike will last "as long as it takes".

Mr Dilworth, originally from Jamaica and recently living in Bristol with his 
partner and two-year-old daughter, has applied for leave to remain in the UK 
and is increasingly frustrated at the speed of the response from immigration 
authorities.

He said: "The hunger strike is continuing. We will keep on as long as it 
takes.

"We are fed up at being stuck inside here. I've been here three weeks but 
people have been waiting here for months waiting for their applications to 
be sorted out.

"This is affecting family life. I have lived with my partner for four years 
and we have a daughter who is two years old."
He said he had no complaints about the officers at Oakington but was 
critical of the food.
He said: "We want better food. We get chicken and chips seven days a week."

The partner of an inmate told the News detainees were furious about their 
conditions.
She said: "Most of the people there are normal, hard-working people.

"The food is dreadful - the average meal is a plate of chips. They just get 
a little blanket to sleep on as well. They must have basic human rights."

A spokesman for the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) insisted the 
situation was under control.
He said: "There have been some passive protests by detainees at Oakington.

"The situation remains calm and we are discussing with detainees their 
concerns.

"But we have got our priorities straight. In 2007 we deported the highest 
ever number of foreign lawbreakers, up by a huge 80 per cent, and we 
attacked illegal working much harder because it undercuts British wages, 
with 40 per cent more illegal working operations than in 2006.

"On top of this, we are making asylum decisions quickly. By the end of the 
year we were beating our target of 40 per cent of cases being concluded 
within six months and we are on track to conclude the majority of cases 
within six months by the end of the year."

Oakington was slammed in a report for the BIA in January which said it was 
the second worst in the UK and the least secure of all 10 sites.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, pictured far left, and the 
Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, visited the centre and met staff and 
detainees in February.

They discussed political and human rights issues associated with immigration 
and gave a homily after a short service.

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u n i t e d k i n g d o m - - >

>> Campaigning victory for Sukula famliy

> By IRR News Team

10 April 2008, 12:00pm

Three years after contacting IRR News and launching their anti-deportation 
campaign, the Sukula family have won indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

Daniel Sukula, then aged 15 and living in Bolton, wrote to IRR News in 2005 
telling of his fears of being deported. 'I am writing this because me and my 
family face deportation to Congo,' he wrote. 'I don't want to go back to 
Congo because there is a war there and, if I go back, my life will be 
finished.' IRR News visited Daniel and his family in their home in Bolton 
and spoke to them about their intention to launch an anti-deportation 
campaign.

That campaign went on to win the support of the local newspaper, trade 
unions and over 3,000 people who signed a petition calling for the Sukulas 
to be allowed to remain in Bolton.

Over the last three years, the family were also threatened by the notorious 
Section 9 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 
2004, under which parents were made destitute while their children risked 
being placed in the care of social services. But the strength of the local 
campaign meant that supporters were ready to physically blockade any attempt 
to evict the Sukulas from their home. And Bolton Unison backed social 
workers who refused to initiate care proceedings against the family. This 
defiance of government policy by local authority workers later spread to 
other councils in Greater Manchester and Yorkshire, where the 'Section 9' 
policy was undergoing trials. Similarly, an attempt to expel Daniel's sister 
Flores from Bolton Sixth Form College - purely on the grounds of her being a 
'failed asylum seeker' - was successfully opposed by Bolton NUT and the NUS.

On hearing the news of the campaign victory, mother Ngiedi Lusukumu, aged 
42, said: 'I slept properly for the first time since arriving in this 
country after I found out we were allowed to stay. For the first time I feel 
my family, my beautiful children, are safe and have a future. We are no 
longer living in fear of being sent to a place where our lives would be in 
danger. The threat to my family was very real.'

The family and campaign thank everyone who supported them and have pledged 
to continue fighting against all deportations.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jan/28/politics.world

Student protest halts family's deportation
Steven Morris
The Guardian,
Monday January 28 2008
Article history
About this article
Close
This article appeared in the Guardian on Monday January 28 2008 on p13 of 
the UK news and analysis section. It was last updated at 23:53 on January 27 
2008.
A family of seven threatened with deportation has been reprieved after a 
campaign that began in a Devon classroom, spread around the world, and led 
to the government being bombarded with thousands of protest letters.
Last night more than 10,000 people had joined a Facebook group devoted to 
saving the family from being sent back to Nigeria, and the youngsters who 
launched the campaign from a sixth-form common room vowed to keep up the 
pressure.
The mother, Helen, who has asked for the family name not to be published, 
and her six children had lived in Plymouth for four years. They claimed 
asylum because they feared they would be persecuted if they were sent back. 
Helen was afraid her 14-year-old son, Emmanuel, could die in Nigeria because 
he has sickle cell anaemia and she could not afford the medication.
Friends of the family at Stoke Damerel community college in Plymouth were 
outraged when they were seized by immigration officials and held in an 
immigration centre, ready to be flown back to Africa. Alex Stupple-Harris, 
17, who was in the same year as two of the brothers, Mac and Winston, told 
how he went back to school on the evening he heard about his friend's plight 
and began printing off protest letters. They wrote to MPs, the Home Office 
and even executives of the airline that was to fly the family home. The 
campaign quickly spread through the school. "Thirteen-year-old boys were 
coming up to me and asking for 150 letters. They would come back with them 
all signed. The Facebook campaign has also been amazing."
The family was permitted to stay for three more weeks and on Wednesday 
officials are to look at the case again.
Stupple-Harris said he was sure that the campaign had helped to give the 
family a second chance. "The strength of feeling has been immense. We're 
going to carry on, even if the hearing that's beginning on Wednesday goes 
the wrong way."
The family were described as "model citizens" by Father Sam Philpott, of St 
Peter's Church, Stonehouse, where they worshipped. He said they would be 
hugely missed if they were sent back to Nigeria.
Helen has worked as a volunteer for the Devon and Cornwall Refugee Support 
Council and as a university researcher. She is a governor of a primary 
school in Plymouth. The Home Office will not talk about individual cases but 
said: "We only remove people whose asylum claims have been dismissed by an 
independent judge. Families with children are detained only where this is 
absolutely necessary for as short a period as possible."
Helen claims she has been told she may be killed if she returns to Nigeria. 
Stupple-Harris last spoke to her on Friday. She is refusing most food but 
taking a little nourishment in case the family is suddenly flown from the 
UK. He said: "Despite everything she was on good form. We spent most of the 
conversation laughing, which sums her up."

http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2008/03/03/birmingham-family-to-be-deported-back-to-nigeria-97319-20550798/

Birmingham family to be deported back to Nigeria
Mar 3 2008 By Alison Dayani, Birmingham Mail

A NIGERIAN mother who has sparked a campaign to stop her deportation is set 
to be flown out of the country this week.
Immigration officers seized Jumoke Adediwura and her two children, 
Elizabeth, aged three, and Daniella, aged two, from their Brandwood home in 
the early hours of Saturday.
Campaigner Holly Nolan said the family were being held in a detention centre 
and had been told they will be deported to Nigeria on Wednesday.
Holly said: "Jumoke phoned me in a panic to tell me she had been taken to a 
detention centre and we have just days to try and stop the deportation.
"The mums in Allens Croft are still fighting to keep their good friend 
Jumoke and her daughters here in Brandwood.
"We have got a new solicitor looking into a judicial review on new grounds 
and also hoping to get St Luke's Church, in Bristol Road, where Jamoke 
worships to fund a new appeal.
"Immigration is a sensitive issue, but it is by no means black and white. 
Jumoke is part of our community."
The campaign to stop the family's deportation has already gained supporters 
from UB40 to Sting, Benjamin Zephaniah and Pato Banton.
Ms Adediwura came to Birmingham four years ago after fleeing violence in her 
home village and was forced to leave her 13-year-old son behind.
The 35-year-old settled in Kings Heath and gave birth to her two daughters 
in Birmingham.
But the Home Office plans to deport the mother-of-two who claims special 
needs Elizabeth would be murdered if they are sent to Africa due to 
extremists who may believe her disability is a punishment from God.
The family was detained before Christmas but won an eleventh hour reprieve 
when Elizabeth caught an ear infection meaning she could not be given an 
essential malaria jab before she left the country.

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20080408120814496

Sweden: Activists Blocked Road, Stopped Deportation of Iraqi Refugee

Tuesday, April 08 2008 @ 12:08 PM PDTContributed by: AnonymousViews: 24

At 4:30 local time today, a man from the Iraqi Kurdistan Region was to be 
put on an airplane from Gothenburg, Sweden, and leaving towards an unknown 
fate. However, it did not turn out that way. Activists who had gathered 
outside the Detention Center of the Department of Migration at Kållered in 
the area, managed to stop the deportation.At 4:30 local time today, a man 
from the Iraqi Kurdistan Region was to be put on an airplane from 
Gothenburg, Sweden, and leaving towards an unknown fate. However, it did not 
turn out that way. Activists who had gathered outside the Detention Center 
of the Department of Migration at Kållered in the area, managed to stop the 
deportation.Around 30-40 people had gathered outside the detention center. 
They did it to show support for hungerstriking Afghan refugees there and to 
stop the deportation to Iraq.- I think all deportations should be stopped, 
says a member of No Human Being Is Illegal (Ingen människa är illegal, Imäi) 
to the newssite Yelah.net.- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs advices people 
not to go to Iraq, so it is absurd that they send people there. Everybody 
should live where they want and Swedish authorities should not have the 
right to send people to die.According to the Imäi member, activists blocked 
the road to the detention center and prevented cars from leaving the 
area.The police showed up but did not succeed in interrupting the blockade. 
Instead, the man was brought back into the building.In 
Swedish:http://www.yelah.net/news/20080408183157

http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hlz9XNSoA5GBS9ktTbhk43HVFOtg

Curry bosses demo over immigration
Mar 13, 2008
The curry industry will die if action is not taken to address tough new 
immigration laws, restaurant bosses have warned.
They claim food quality will deteriorate and warned up to half of the Indian 
restaurants currently in business could shut.
The stark warning came as around 100 restaurateurs staged a protest at 
Holyrood over the changes to immigration rules.

 http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL02301372.html

Muslim ex-fighters in Bosnia protest deportations
Sat 2 Feb 2008, 14:28 GMT

By Danilo Krstanovic
ZENICA, Bosnia, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Several thousand Muslim ex-fighters and 
their supporters protested on Saturday against a Bosnian government plan to 
start deporting foreign volunteers who stayed in the country after the 
1992-95 war.
Thousands of fighters from the Middle East and Africa arrived in Bosnia to 
fight alongside Bosnian Muslims against Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats. 
Most left after the war but hundreds stayed on after marrying local women.
The protest was organised under the slogan "Forgive Us, Hamza" in the 
central town of Zenica, where most of the ex-mujahideen live, ahead of the 
expected deportation next week of their informal leader Imad Al Husayn, 
known as Abu Hamza.
"We organised this meeting as a protest against his deportation and the only 
support we can extend to Hamza," said Aiman Awad, one of the organisers.
Former fighters and their Bosnian wartime comrades spoke of courage on the 
battlefields and the hypocrisy of authorities who now wanted to get rid of 
them under pressure from the West.
Under pressure from its ally the United States, Bosnia has revoked over the 
past two years more than 600 of the 1,300 citizenships awarded to foreigners 
from a wide range of countries during and after the war.
Most are expected to appeal and may be allowed to remain, but dozens are set 
to be deported because the government has said they represent threats to 
national security. The first ex-fighter, Algerian-born Atau Mimun, was 
deported in December.
Many Bosnians of all faiths view volunteers who live in strict Islamic 
communities with suspicion and fearing they want to impose their strict 
religious practices on the traditionally moderate Bosnian Muslims.
Hamza, who has a Bosnian wife and six children, must leave by Wednesday or 
face forced deportation.
Authorities call him a threat to national security, a label he said might 
cause him much harm once he returns to his native Syria, where he may be 
tried for fighting in a foreign country.
Human rights groups called on Bosnia last year not to deport ex-fighters if 
they may face rights abuses. The European Court for Human Rights issued a 
ban this week on Hamza's deportation until the Constitutional Court can rule 
on his new appeal. (Writing by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Michael Winfrey) 