It is a matter of guessing what sense does it make to keep in handcuffs somebody who is sedated. He arrived very drowsy, dazed and confused, and in a lot of pain because of the handcuffs. He was detained and questioned on arrival but eventually they let him go. A friend of ours went to collect him from the airport and took pictures of the handcuff injuries. As he did not go to the hospital we have no way to prove he was sedated.
Luckily Ibrahim is recovering now and he is been looked after, but the
people looking after him are 'failed' asylum seekers themselves who were
deported before him and really cannot afford to keep him, as they are in a very
vulnerable position themselves.
They wrote:
''... We are well, Ibrahim is settling in OK. Like you said his a good boy and
our heart goes out to him. [...]
''We are going to the salon after this. He wants to plate his hair as it was too
shabby. We took him to church yesterday and he loved it. He said those were too many people attending one service.''

Ibrahim arrived unaccompanied in the UK when he was 14, lived with a foster family for a while, was detained at 15 and spent over a year in a detention centre, while his solicitor was trying in vain to prove his age. A late asylum claim was also unsuccessful. Ibrahim looks and behaves more mature than his age, as Social Services said, but that can be due to the fact that he lived on the streets since he was 6 years old and had to fend for himself, in fact he has an experience of life that many adults won't have a clue. His mother left him in the care of a neighbour, and went to visit her family in another village. She never returned and nothing is known about her, but it is believed she was killed by rebels, together with other family members. The neighbour looked after the little boy for a short while, but than could not afford to keep him, so Ibrahim ended up in the streets of Kampala. His entire body is covered in small scars, as the police used to round up these street children, bring them to the police station and beat them up with no mercy – there is a doctor's report to verify the scars.
Ibrahim is an extraordinarily brave and resilient teenager, very bright and very gifted in sports. After a year in detention he was still capable of smiling, in fact he is very funny and I had great conversations with him.
Not only Ibrahim survived spending over a year in detention while still a minor, he was also helping other detainees in every way he could, he was a great friend to everybody in the same situation and referred some detainees who were ill to the Medical Justice network.
I visited him one last time in the detention centre, we were laughing and joking and hoping they don't come and collect him, but suddenly they arrived and told him to go...we hugged one last time and had to part, and that's the last I saw of him. I miss him and I'm so angry at the way he was treated!
I last spoke to him over the phone, he is recovering from the violent deportation but he is very worried about his future, with no prospects, no home, no family, no friends. He misses us, his friends in the UK. We miss him very, very much too, he is like family to us. Things in his country are not easy.

Help of all kinds is needed – especially in terms of money he can use to pay for accommodation. We really don't want to see him back on the streets!

For more information:
 detaineesupport@riesup.net

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Detainee Support Group c/o LARC
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Whitechapel,
London E1 1ES

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Detainee Support Group
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