Dear friends,

Abdullah Rahmatullah is an asylum seeker from Afghanistan living in Salford. He is a community leader and interpreter for the Afghan refugees here, and has brought people to Salford Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers meetings and represented people in numerous meetings with professional bodies.

On Friday 22 March 2002 he was detained when signing at Dallas Court Reporting Centre and taken to the detention centre at Manchester Airport. At 8.00am on Monday morning (25 March) before he had chance to see his solicitor, he was moved to Harmondsworth. He is due to be deported to Austria from Heathrow Airport on Thursday morning, 28 March. This is because he passed through Austria and spent 3 hours in detention there on his way to Britain.

A couple of weeks ago another Afghan asylum seeker living in Salford was deported to Austria and was put on the streets there on arrival. Please fax the Home Secretary urgently. There is a model letter below, which you can alter and personalise if you want to. We want him to stay with us in Salford - he suffered the loss of 4 of his brothers in Afghanistan and now he is suffering imprisonment and further upheaval in his life. It’s outrageous and we want to get it stopped. Please forward this email to your own lists.

Thanks,

Mary (for Salford Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers)



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Model letter to be faxed to Home Secretary David Blunkett:

Fax: 0207 273 3965

Rt. Hon. David Blunkett MP
Home Secretary
Home Office
50 Queen Anne’s Gate
London SW1H 9AT

Dear Home Secretary,

Re: Abdullah Rahmatullah - Home Office Ref. R1056632

I am writing regarding the immediate threat of deportation to Abdullah Rahmatullah.

He is an asylum seeker from Afghanistan who passed through Austria, where he spent 3 hours in a hostel, on his way to Britain. He is due to be deported to Austria on 28 March 2002. However he has settled in Salford now where he has been for 7 months. He is one of the few interpreters in Salford for members of the Afghan community, and has acted as a community leader. He has represented the Afghan community at many meetings and has helped individuals with their daily struggles to communicate with those that they need to - such as dentists, health visitors, landlords, and teachers.

He has lost all his family in Afghanistan but has found a new “family” amongst his fellow Afghan people, and also amongst Salford people who greatly value his contribution to the area. The last Afghan asylum seeker deported to Austria from Salford was told on arrival that there was no help for him, and was placed on the streets.

I would like to ask you to reconsider the decision to Abdullah Rahmatullah to Austria. Please allow him to remain in safety in the UK amongst his new friends, where his ability to speak English is invaluable to many people who rely on him for help. I would appeal to you to exercise your powers of discretion in this case and allow him to remain on compassionate grounds, outside the Immigration Rules.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Name:

Address:

Post code:

Email:



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Please send copies of letters faxed to NCADC on 0161 740 7113 or by email to  ncadc-nw@ncadc.org.uk.

Important: on fax or email your full names and address must be there or we cannot forward it to Home Office, same apply’s to copies sent to NCADC for confirmation..

Copies will be passed to the solicitor and will form further representations to the Home Office.