Nottingham Anti-deportation News

Stop detaining asylum seekers - no more forced removals

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The lack of justice inherent in the UK's immigration system means that many asylum seekers are vulnerable to detention and are threatened with deportation to unsafe areas. When people from Nottingham have previously been detained, the difficult work of supporting them has been carried out either on an ad hoc basis or the task has fallen to a handful of individuals.

NNRF has always been at the forefront of campaigning for and on behalf of asylum seekers and the current group hopes to add to all the work that has gone on here previously and provide another area of support to asylum seekers in Nottingham.

For more information, contact nodeportations(at)riseup.net.

This is stasi HQ - oops, sorry! stasi HQ was a place in East Berlin to which people were sometimes taken and their relatives and friends never saw them again, whereas the East Midlands immigration reporting centre shown above is... um... in Loughborough.

The old jokes are best! Of more use perhaps is the following list of 'current switchboard numbers for IRCs and STHCs:

• Campsfield House IRC: 01865 233600.
• Yarl's Wood IRC: 01234 821300.
• Colnbrook IRC: 020 8607 5200.
• Harmondsworth: 020 8283 3850.
• Dover IRC: 01304 246400.
• Haslar IRC: 02392 604000.
• Lindholme IRC: 01302 524700.
• Dungavel House IRC: 01698 395000.
• Tinsley House IRC: 01293 434800.
• Penine House Manchester STHC: 0161 489 5702.
• Oakington IRC: 01954 783000.
• Harwich STHC: 01255 252106.
• Gatwick Airport STHC - North: 01293 507803, South: 01293 502640.
• Queens buildings STHC: 020-8564-9726 or 020-8564-9727.

On this page you'll find usefull information for campaigning to prevent deportation and get people out of detention. Also, the progress of current deportation campaigns, links to petitions, links to other sites with useful information, some useful documents for down load, etc. This sort of info gets out of date quickly; we'll do our best to keep it current - but you should consider this page as permanently under construction! If you know of something you think should be on here, or spot stuff that's no longer relevant, please e-mail the Boiler Room 6 team on board rms.titanic(at)hotmail.co.uk.

Resources

Organizations

BID(Bail for Immigration Detainees) have a booklet on how to get out of detention that can be sent to people in detention and is useful for their supporters. Copies in Arabic, Farsi, French and English can be downloaded from this page - www.biduk.org/obtaining/notebook.htm.

• Email: enquiries(at)biduk.org.
• BID London office: for all general queries and detainees (except those held at the centres listed below) Tel: 020 7247 3590 (please call between 10 a.m.to 12 p.m, Monday to Thursday - outside of these times leave a message) Fax: 020 7247 3550.
• BID South office: for detainees at Colnbrook, Dover and Haslar, Tel: 023 9281 6633 Fax: 023 9282 1529.
• BID Oxford office: for detainees at Campsfield House and Lindhome Tel: 0845 3304 536 (phones are open on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday - please call between 1.30 and 4.30 p.m.) Fax: 0845 3304 537.

Medical Justice: if an asylum seeker has been tortured, and has not had a medical report, so has not presented evidence of torture to the Home Office, Medical Justice may be able to do a visit and a report. A supporter will need to fill in a detailed form, which will involve reading the papers in detail. (If the person in detention is ill, a visit from Medical Justice may delay deportation on grounds of illness.)

• General inquiries: info(at)medicaljustice.org.uk.
• Medical inquiries: med(at)medicaljustice.org.uk.
• Postal address: 86 Durham Road, London, N7 7DT.
• Medical Justice contact : Emma Ginn, e-mail: emma.ginn(at)medicaljustice.org.uk, phone: 07904778365.

Refugee and Asylum Seeking Children: The Refugee and Asylum Seeking Children's Project aims to help non-immigration specialist professionals working with asylum seeking and refugee children find out about children's rights and entitlements. Click here for their page of useful information. If you have any queries or feedback about the information provided on the website, please contact Kamena at kadorl(at)essex.ac.uk or follow the links on the Children's Legal Centre page.

Fighting deportation

Download "Campaigning Against Deportation or Removal: Building An Anti-Deportation Campaign", a practical and political guide to fighting to remain in this country, from the "No One Is Illegall" web site. Click here for the NOII home page.

Download "Advice on putting in a fresh claim", a guide from Women Asylum Seekers Together.

Country reports

What follows comes from the NCADC News Service, March, 2009. Country reports are important tools for campaigners opposing removals/deportations from the UK and extracts from these reports should always be part of your campaign materials. Reports from "authoritative" sources means reports from reliable sources; organisations that the Home Office would likely deem credible, including 'UNHCR', 'USA Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor', 'Amnesty International', 'Human Rights Watch', and UKBA Home Office country reports.

The Failed States Index: 'Fund for Peace' produces a failed states index. In the fourth annual failed states index, they rank the countries where state collapse may be just one disaster away. See The Failed States Index 2008 on the Foreign Policy web site. In the Failed States Index 2008 top 20 are Somalia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Chad, Iraq, DR Congo, Afghanistan, Cote d'Ivoire, Pakistan, CAR, Guinea, Bangladesh, Burma, Haiti, North Korea, Uganda, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Nigeria, Sri Lanka.

US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, March 25^th, 2009. See 2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on the US Department of State (Democracy in Action) web site for reports on individual countries. These reports contain a wealth of material on the inhumane treatment/position of women/ethnic/religious and political minorities.

Detention guide for people in danger of detention/deportation and their supporters

The following is based on advice from Congo Action Group, Manchester, and is meant for people in danger of deportation to the DRC, but generally seems applicable to all other countries. We cannot guarantee that all this advice and information is correct, but hope it will be helpful to people threatened with deportation and their supporters. There are many out there with extensive experience of helping people through the labyrinthine nightmare that is the UK asylum system - we would welcome any comments, corrections and additional advice.

What to do if in danger of detention

If you are liable to detention and deportation, you must at all times carry the following information on your person:

• full name,
• date of birth,
• Home Office reference number,
• Home Office port reference number,
• same details for any family members,
• phone number of your:
  • solicitor including their emergency number,
  • your MP including their emergency number,
  • your doctor (if there are any persistent medical problems with yourself or any member of your family),
  • numbers of any friends, support group or campaign group,
• a mobile phone that doesn't take photos or give access to the internet. Phones that take photos or give access to the internet will be confiscated if you are detained.

You must have a file containing all your legal documents and left next to your front door if in stable accommodation. (If a 'snatch squad' invades your home, you will be able to insist that they let you take the file with you). "Legal documents" includes documents issued by the Home Office regarding your case; these are your property and you are entitled to have them. If the Home Office send documents to your solicitor, they are still your property; insist that the solicitor gives you copies of all correspondence from the Home Office, do not take "no" for an answer.

If you are reporting, you must inform someone that you are going to sign, and give them a deadline for a return call saying you have not been detained. (Best practice: someone should accompany you.) This person should have all your details and if they don't hear from you, they should contact reporting centre/police station to find out if you have been detained. If detained, at the first opportunity ring your solicitor if you have one, or your friend/supporters.

Legal case

Work on your legal case, get a lawyer, get evidence. Understand your "Reasons for Refusal" and "Determination", which are important documents in your papers, and consider the possibility of doing fresh claim yourself - but it's MUCH better to have a lawyer. Reading the "Reasons for Refusal" and "Determination" in detail will help to show what fresh evidence may be needed - for example, if they did not believe that you were a member of a political party, try to get proof that you were. Consider if your lawyer is helping. If it is really necessary to change lawyers, it is best not to leave it until you are in detention. Think carefully before changing lawyers, as your new lawyer will not know anything about your case. If you have legal aid, don't change to a lawyer you have to pay, as you may not be able to afford it.

What to do if in detention

Contact your lawyer urgently. If you have no lawyer, it is urgent that you try to get a lawyer. Change lawyers only if absolutely necessary - it causes delay at a time when quick action is necessary.

Other advice

Don't sign anything you don't understand and agree with, even if pressure is put on you to do so.

Don't lose control. However angry or distressed you feel, do not use violence, do not hit out even if you are handled roughly by guards or others, for example when being snatched for deportation. This could result in a criminal record, which will be a huge problem for your immigration status. If you are treated with violence, make a formal complaint - don't take matters into your own hands.

Campaigning

Consider having a campaign and work on your campaign, producing petitions, model letters, lists of supporters, building up a group of supporters, contacting media. Even if your do not have a public campaign, make sure you have supporters who will do what they can if you're detained - friends, church, contact MP &c. It is important that you are happy that there is a campaign. It reduces risk of deportation, but may increase risk if deported.

On the aeroplane before take-off

It has been known for people who fear torture or death if deported to refuse to get on the plane. A family with young children were so distressed and noisy, calling out to other people on the plane of their danger, so that the other passengers refused to travel with them, and the family were removed from the plane. It has also been known for pilots to refuse to take off with people on board who are so obviously distressed.

Supporters of persons in detention threatened with deportation

If someone you are supporting is detained either at a reporting centre or police station, it is unlikely that you will be able to speak to him or her. However those detained at reporting centres or police stations are usually transferred to detention centres before removal and you can ring them there. Addresses for Immigration Removal Centres are given above.

If the person you're supporting is taken into detention, try first to call their mobile phone. If that fails, and you know where they are detained, see phone numbers of detention centres above. quickly put credit on their phone, by buying a voucher, or using a cashpoint. It may help to put credit on the phone of a friend in detention if they don't have their own phone. If their phone has been confiscated, quickly send them a cheap phone that doesn't take photos or give access to Internet, by special delivery. Supporters should not only have the detainee's mobile phone number, but also their room number so they can be rung if their mobile isn't working. Also the mobile phone number of someone else in detention with the detainee if possible.

Get a copy of the detainee's papers as soon as possible - the detainee may be able to fax from detention. Get the basic information together - name, Home Office number, where detained, flight details (date, time, number and airline). Quickly make contact with their lawyer.

Friendly phone call - people in detention need friendly support. A friendly visit would be better. Send a greetings card or a letter. Most detention centres have voluntary visitors who visit detainees who request a visit. Give relevant phone nubmers to detainees. Consider offering to be a volunteer visitor yourself.