If forced to return to Turkey , Cafer and Hatice Dagon and their family face persecution because they are Kurdish Alevis and have been involved in the struggle for Kurdish national self-determination. Persecution of Kurds in Turkey is well documented. Since 1990 the Turkish state has been accused of the killing of 37,000 Kurds, the destruction of 3,500 Kurdish villages, and of leaving 2 million Kurds without homes. Danny Matthews, a spokesperson for Tyneside Community Action for Refugees (TCAR) said: ‘The British Labour government stands in full complicity with the fascist regime of Turkey , as it does with any repressive government which is seen to serve British interests. We demand that human lives be placed above profits for Britain ’s rich.’

Aysun has explained to members of TCAR what will happen if they are forced to return. “If we go back to Turkey then my father and mothers life would be in danger. Before we left the police hit my dad’s back with a baseball bat. And now his back is broken. They also hit his ear and now he can’t hear properly out of his left ear. After my father came to England , when we were still in Turkey , the police took my mum somewhere and did something to her – she won’t talk about it. After that she kept crying and she was screaming in her dreams. It was horrible”.

Both parents now suffer from mental health problems, which have becaome worse while in detention and with the fear of imminent removal. Cafer suffers from depression since being tortured in Turkey . He takes paracetamol for the back pain, sleeping tablets and antidepressants. He has attempted suicide three times in the last 4 years and now Aysun is worried that he might try again. “Now my dad can’t live without the depression tablets, he gets angry without them and doesn’t know what he is doing. At night my mum can’t sleep because my dad screams in his sleep and then wakes up. He used to better at home but since we got a letter and had to come here he is much worse”.

Hatice is also dependant on sleeping tablets and anti-depressants and is unable to go out by herself due to fear. She also relies on Tramadol to ease the pain in her leg caused by a car accident in England four years ago. She has got metal plates in
her knees and hips and the accident also affected her short term memory.

Hatice is in particular pain now because on 7th March, when they were due to be deported, the family were taken off the plane by the pilot and Hatice was thrown back into the van in a way that caused injury.

Aysun described her own fears about returning to Turkey . “I’m not feeling well because of the things that happened in Turky and if we go back there then we would be killed and our life would be in danger. I’ve been studying in the UK for 6 years and I have adapted to England and the way of life here. I want to carry on studying for my GCSEs at my school. If I go back to Turkey then I won’t be able to study or work because we’ll have to keep changing where we live so the police won’t find us. Newcastle is my home, I want to stay here”.

What can you do?

Please send this fax to Liam Byrne and British Airways and phone to check it has been received. Feel free to adapt the fax as you like.

British Airway, customer relations - 0870 850 9 850
Home Office Ministerial correspondence - 020 7035 4145

Come to the demonstration this afternoon outside the Government Offices North East
4.30pm - 6pm.

Pass on this message

If you have any other ideas - e.g time to contact the MP then please feel free Please let us know what you have done. thank you for your support.

House of Commons:  douglas@hendersond.fsbusiness.co.uk
Websites:
Home Page: Doug Henderson: Constituency
Telephone numbers:
House of Commons Phone number: 020 7219 5017
Constituency Phone number: 0191 286 2024