Halil and Songul are Kurds from Turkey, they fled to the UK six years ago because they were persecuted by their government and have lived here ever since. The family have lived in Glasgow for six years and have settled very well in the local community The Turkish government issued a warrant for Halil's arrest on the 28th of February 2007 accusing him of being a member of the PKK, a Kurdish independence group. It is not safe for this family to return to Turkey.

According to Human Rights Watch, "Denied political, and cultural rights, Kurds have been the principal victims of the Turkish state's excesses since the military coup of 1980"( http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/turkey/kurd.htm. The Turkish Government's treatment of the Kurds is internationally recognised as some of the worst human rights abuses in the world. The Turkish Government is particularly harsh on those they perceive as activists and Halil because of his association with the PKK, at least, if not his whole family, will face imprisonment, torture and even death if they are returned to Turkey.

The EU Progress Report on Turkey published in November referred to the "significant political influence" exercised by the military and suggested that military leaders should confine public statements to military and defence matters. The report criticized continuing violations of freedom of expression and concluded that Turkey had made little progress in ensuring the rights of minorities. In September the Council of Europe‚s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) reported on its December 2005 visit to Turkey. It noted expressed concern about continued cases of abuse, which included beatings and squeezing of testicles, in some police stations. During 2006 the European Court of Human Rights issued approximately 200 judgments against Turkey for torture, unfair trial, violations of free expression, extrajudicial execution, and other violations.( http://hrw.org/englishwr2k7/docs/2007/01/11/turkey14845.htm)

We're asking people to Fax Liam Byrne Minister of State for immigration and asylum and Turkish Airlines to protest against this family's removal. Children should not be locked up like criminals nor should families be returned to countries where they will face persecution.

Let the Demirci's Stay!

What you can do to help - Your letters and faxes do make a difference!
1) - Fax Liam Byrne, Minister for Immigration,model letter DemirciML_liambyrne.doc attached, copy/amend/write your own version, please include the Halil and Songul Demirci's full names and Home Office Reference number: D1052128

Fax: 0207 035 4745 (+ 44 207 035 4745 from outside the UK)


2) - Fax Turkish Airlines (model letter DemirciML_airline.doc copy/amend/write your own version) and ask them not to aid the Border & Immigration Agency in removing the Demirci family on Turkish Airlines flight TK 1982 leaving @ 7:00am Friday the 8th June

Turkish Airlines
Fax: 0208-759 58 14 Or 01784 421726
Phone: 0208-897 17 31 or 0208 745 64 01 or 01784 421717

The Unity Centre
30 Ibrox Street
Glasgow G51 1AQ

0141 427 7992

 theunitycentre@btconnect.com
www.unitycentreglasgow.org

End of Bulletin:

Source for this Message:
The Unity Centre