Looking forward to your holiday or business trip?

Yes indeed, why not. However, some of your fellow travellers won’t. In January 2001, 3745 asylum seekers have been deported from Great Britain, 814 of who were forcibly removed. Who can forget the case of Joy Gardiner who died when immigration officials bound her so tight she suffocated. Forced deportations lead to appalling tragedies.

A lot of asylum seekers are deported by plane and British Airways(BA) is the main deportation company for the UK, especially since Lufthansa has pulled out after campaigners exposed two cases of manslaughter of refugees on deportation flights. We want BA to also end its collaboration and profiteering from this inhuman practice.

These asylum seekers have committed no crime other than fleeing persecution, dictatorship, torture and war. According to the Home Office’s January statistics the vast majority of applicants are arriving from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Kosavo and Somalia. They have the human right to live as we all do. One of them may be travelling with you!

How to recognise him or her on your flight?

A deported asylum seeker comes on the plane separately (often before the passengers or at the last moment before take-off). He or she tends to look very small between 2 immigration officers and are handcuffed. If they don’t appear to be handcuffed they very often have a jumper or blanket covering their hands and forearms. They may look frightened, dizzy or sleepy as they are sedated if they struggle (successful prosecutions have been brought against Belgian Home Office recently for this practice). If he or she tries to speak the officers try to stop them doing so.

How can you help him or her?

· Being a good “first-aider”, get someone to ask for the pilot to come.
· Get the attention of the other passengers – “someone doesn’t seem to be alright here, can you help”?
· Try to speak to the refugee. “Are you alright? Can you understand me? Can you talk?” (use body language and hold their hands to reassure them).
· Find out if the refugee speaks English. If not, find out which language he or she can understand. Ask for someone on board who can understand that language.
· If the refugee is not in a position to speak, ask the pilot for him or her to be taken off the plane for health and safety reasons.
· If the refugee can speak and expresses a desire for something to be done to help him or her, call on the other passengers to unfasten their seatbelts in protest as long as the refugee remains on board the plane. Ask the pilot for him or her to be taken off.
· If not, try to find out about their nationality and contact the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns on 0121 554 6947 so that they can help them in their destination country (often the first port of entry in Europe).
· Visit the refugee often during the journey to be a good support to them.

If you or a passenger has a mobile phone that can be used, call the regional branches of UK National Defend Asylum Seekers Campaign for help:

Bristol: 0117 965 1803
London: 0958 478 628
Manchester: 0161 881 7352

You may just save someone’s life!