2 public meetings this Saturday in Manchester
Friends Meeting House
Mount Street
Manchester
M2 5NS

2pm to 3.30pm : The right to work for all migrants, people seeking asylum
Organised by Manchester Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers

Speakers will include ;
* Rhian Beynon, Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants
* Farhat Khan, community worker & campaigner
* Mick Cashman, Senior Organiser TGWU
* Spokesperson, migrant workers from new EU countries
* Open-mic session for migrant workers
* Updates from campaigns around the UK

All should be granted the 'right to work' under the UN Charter, but for increasing numbers this right is under threat or denied. As the anniversary of the abolition of slavery approaches, some people even today are forced to work 'in slave like situations'. For migrant workers, for people seeking asylum, for those made destitute and rejected, all under international law should be give the right to work. Too many forbidden are from working legally, others work in modern slave like conditions due to immigration laws. Hear speakers, join in the debate. Support refugees and migrant workers. THE RIGHT TO WORK ! IT IS A HUMAN RIGHT !

Purpose of the campaigning meeting is to:
*** Highlight the plight of those refused the right to work, or forced to work, destitution, and homelessness. *** Bring together those campaigning in these areas to emphasise our common struggles. *** Identify how we can support existing campaign efforts, share experience and resources. *** Identify and prioritise what new campaign efforts we might most effectively be able to do. *** Build upon and strengthen the calls for an 'amnesty' or regularisation of work.
Contact : Mark Krantz on 07765 122829 /  krantz.mail@googlemail.com


3.30pm to 5pm : Campaign To Stop Deportations to DR Congo

Speakers will include ;
* Liz Atherton, Congo Support Project
* Congolese asylum seekers from Manchester, Bolton and beyond
* Update on the DR Congo Country Guidance case coming up

The Home Office deports DR-Congo "refused" asylum seekers despite evidence indicating that they may face imprisonment and torture on return.

An Immigration Appeal Tribunal case coming up will challenge the current DR Congo Country Guidance in which the Home Office claims there is no risk on return to "refused" asylum seekers.

The Tribunal previously established that asylum seekers with a "political or military profile" deported to the DRC face a "real risk" of persecution (1). Most DRC asylum seekers we know should fit that profile, but their claims are largely disbelieved by immigration judges and solicitors drop their cases without making any further legal challenge.

Even if a deportee had no history of persecution in the DRC, they may be branded a political dissident simply because they claimed asylum in Europe (2), and as such, could face imprisonment and torture on return. The DRC authorities know which passengers are deportees because a UK officer personally hands them over in the airport (3).
ALL DRC deportees are in danger because they risk being interrogated at the airport to see if there is a political "charge" against them, or just to extort a "fine". Some don't have any means to pay a "fine" and may be imprisoned (4), possibly indefinitely. The Home Office admits that DRC prison conditions are "life threatening", synonymous with disease, hunger, abuse, torture and death (5), and, are "likely to reach the Article 3 threshold" (6).

Purpose of the campaigning meeting is to:
* Explain the significance of the Country Guidance case * Ensure the legal team is provided with as much of the appropriate type of evidence as possible from the Congolese community * Presentation of an info pack including a petition that has been organised by the solicitors and barristers involved in the case, a campaign letter to all MPs, Lords, trade unions (in particular those with members working in detention centres and airlines), NGO's etc. * To plan build for the demonstrations at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in Manchester and Dallas Court Enforcement Unit, and other awareness raising activities.

2 Demonstrations in Manchester Against Deportations to DR Congo

Wednesday 7th March - 10am to 12.30pm
Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in Manchester
2 Piccadilly Plaza
Mosley Street
Manchester
M1 4AH

Tuesday 13th March - 12.00 noon to 2pm
Dallas Court Enforcement Unit in Salford
South Longworthy Road
Salford Quays
Salford
M50 2GF

Congo Support Project North West calls all Congolese people and their supporters to attend the two demonstrations to challenge this position and demand the Home Office and the UK Government ;
1. Immediately stop all deportations to DRC
2. Stop subjecting DRC asylum seekers to the "Fast Track" asylum determination process.
3. To produce evidence of fulfilling their responsibility of monitoring returns to DRC !

Background / sources
(1) Immigration Appeal Tribunal, 25/02/05, AB and DM DRC CG [2005] UKIAT 00118 - "there continues to be a real risk for those with a political or military profile"
(2) IAS Research Analysis, DRC (May 2006) - "According to the Independent Race and Refugee News Network returnees to the DRC are "handed over to the offices of the Director-General of Migration (DGM), ostensibly the Congolese immigration service but, in reality, an arm of the government's security services." The source goes on to state that returnees who have claimed asylum in Europe are "automatically regarded by the ANR [the National Security Agency] as threats to national security in Congo. Simply because they have claimed asylum in the West is enough for the Congolese authorities consider them political dissidents." Although no figures are available on the numbers of deportees detained it is reported that "even those who are released face insecurity. The DGM records details of all deportees' family members and agents often arrive at their houses weeks later to make arrests."

(3) Home Office, Freedom of Information Act response, 04/12/06 - "the detainee and the Detainee Custody Officers (DCOs) are usually the last people to leave the aircraft. The detainee is personally handed over to the local authorities by the DCOs. The documentation identifying the detainee is passed to the local official accepting the detainee."
(4) The Tribunal concluded that "If someone is identified as a failed asylum seeker but there are no known political charges against him, there is a risk that they may be required to pay a "fine". The country expert giving evidence stated that "failed" asylum seekers arriving with travel documents issued by the Home Office would be "interrogated at the airport" to see "firstly whether they were of interest to the authorities and secondly to extort money. Both the police and immigration services were ruled by arbitrariness. There was a risk that someone might be detained until they could raise money for their release. The going rate used to be about $500 but could be up to $1,000 depending on circumstances."

(5) The Home Office Country of Origin Information Report, DRC, 27/10/06 references the US State Department's 2005 report that conditions in various prisons and detention facilities were "extremely harsh and life threatening", that an "unknown number of persons died", that "There usually were no toilets, mattresses, or medical care, and inmates often received insufficient amounts of light, air, and water ... Prison guards frequently required bribes from family members and NGOs to visit or provide detainees with food and other necessities .... Infectious diseases were widespread ... Prisoners frequently were subjected to torture, beatings, and other abuse with no medical attention." A report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the DRC in March 2004 also noted that there were still small dug out punishment cells (cachots) in a number of locations in the Kivu provinces, where military and civilians were often detained in inhuman conditions and torture was practised.

(6) Home Office Operational Guidance Note, DRC, 05/05/06 concludes, "Prison conditions in DRC Š are likely to reach the Article 3 threshold."

Contact:
Innocent Empi on 07871 676129 /  innocentmuststay@yahoo.co.uk, Honoré Efandje on 07910 668465, or René Manduya on 07944 342049 /  r_lundonga@yahoo.fr

End of Bulletin:

Source for this Message:
Manchester Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers
Innocent Must Stay Campaign
Congo Support Project