Don't Deport Subramanium Alosius Jude Christie
John O | 28.08.2007 15:01 | Migration | Social Struggles | Workers' Movements
Jude arrived at Gatwick on June 15th 2007 and asked for political asylum as he feared for his life if he went back to his native country, Sri Lanka. He has been in various detention centres for the last 2 months. He has been physically put on planes on three occasions (15th, 24th, and 30th July 2007) to be forcefully removed. Fortunately, on all three occasions his lawyer managed to get the removals stopped.
Model fax to Jacqui Smith
- application/msword 23K
Model fax to Sri Lanka Airlunes
- application/msword 25K
Jude Christie
There will be another attempt to deport Jude on Tuesday 4th September 2007 on Sri Lankan Airlines flight UL506 to Sri Lanka at 15:00 and he urgently needs your help to stop this.
Jude does not speak good English and has had little formal education - he has been a manual labourer all his life. He gave a confused account when he arrived in London and made his asylum claim ; as a result, he faces removal with the likelihood of physical violence or worse if returned to Sri Lanka.
Jude fled Sri Lanka in July 2005 after he was severely beaten by the police and army there.
Having collecting all the money he could from his family, he managed to get to Bermuda to work as a labourer. Unfortunately the other labourers in the workers dorm were Sinhalese. As the only Tamil, they harassed him. He put up with this until one day he suffered physical injuries and decided it was time to leave.
Because his visa prevented him from finding other work, and desperate about how things would develop if he stayed in the shared accommodation, he left Bermuda hoping to find security in Britain. With a Sri Lankan passport, the only way to get out was to buy a ticket to Sri Lanka, break the journey in Britain and seek asylum here.
In his statement to immigration officials, confused by the questions and speaking via an interpreter, Jude spoke more about his most recent problems in Bermuda than why he had fled Sri Lanka in the first place. The Home Office concluded he was a "bogus asylum seeker".
Because he was so worried about being sent back to Sri Lanka, he went on hunger strike for 20 days (8 days of which he had no water or food). Other inmates joined the protest, so at one time, almost 70 others were on hunger strike.
News of this hunger strike has been published (along with Jude's name) in various media including BBC Sri Lanka (Sinhalese) service, local Sri Lankan newspapers and on the Internet. Thus, if returned, he is almost certain to be detained by the authorities. We know from other such cases that interrogations, beatings and even disappearances are common to those detained. Even if he gets past the authorities he could become a prime target for paramilitary groups.
547 persons killed - 396 disappearances in Six months
Three Human Rights groups in Sri Lanka, the Law & Society Trust, Civil Monitoring Commission and the Free Media Movement, have compiled a working document listing 547 persons killed and 396 persons disappeared during the period January to June 2007. The largest proportion of people killed in the first six months of 2007 were Tamil - 70.7% across the island, as compared with 9.1 % Sinhalese and 5.9% Muslims. The gravity of this situation becomes even more pronounced when considered against the fact that the Tamil people make up only 16% of the total population. Men were killed in much larger numbers 89.9% than women 9.7%. As with killings, Tamils suffered disproportionately from abductions - 64.6%, compared with 3% Sinhalese and 3% Muslims. Men represented nearly 98% of all missing persons.
From December 1984 to May 1985 Jude was imprisoned in the infamous 'Boosa' Army Camp under the Sri Lanka Prevention of Terrorism Act. While working in the capital, Colombo, in 2003 he was severely beaten on the head with an iron bar and was hospitalized.
Friends of Jude
We are a group of Sri Lankan exiles in the UK, most of us still seeking asylum. Please help us keep Jude in the UK.
What you can do to help!
1.) Please send urgent faxes immediately to Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith, Secretary of State for the Home Office asking that Jude be given the right to stay in the UK. Please use the attached "model fax" /JudeMLJacquiSmith.doc/you can copy/amend/write your own version (if you do so, please remember to include Jude's Home Office Reference Number S1380590.
Fax : 020 7035 3262 (00 44 20 7035 3262 if you are faxing from outside UK)
2.) Please wait till Monday to fax Sri Lankan Airlines. Please fax J. Wijesinghe
Manager UK & Ireland, Sri Lankan Airlines using the attached "model fax" /JudeChristieSLair .docc/ copy/amend/write your own version (if you do so, please remember to include Judes's removal flight details : Tuesday 4th September 2007 on Sri Lankan Airlines flight UL506 to Sri Lanka at 15:00hrs.
Fax : 020 8572 0808 (00 44 20 8572 0808 if you are faxing from outside UK)
Please let the 'Friends of Jude Campaign' know of any faxes you have sent:
FriendsofJude@ncadc.org.uk
End of Bulletin:
Source for this Message:
Friends of Jude
Jude does not speak good English and has had little formal education - he has been a manual labourer all his life. He gave a confused account when he arrived in London and made his asylum claim ; as a result, he faces removal with the likelihood of physical violence or worse if returned to Sri Lanka.
Jude fled Sri Lanka in July 2005 after he was severely beaten by the police and army there.
Having collecting all the money he could from his family, he managed to get to Bermuda to work as a labourer. Unfortunately the other labourers in the workers dorm were Sinhalese. As the only Tamil, they harassed him. He put up with this until one day he suffered physical injuries and decided it was time to leave.
Because his visa prevented him from finding other work, and desperate about how things would develop if he stayed in the shared accommodation, he left Bermuda hoping to find security in Britain. With a Sri Lankan passport, the only way to get out was to buy a ticket to Sri Lanka, break the journey in Britain and seek asylum here.
In his statement to immigration officials, confused by the questions and speaking via an interpreter, Jude spoke more about his most recent problems in Bermuda than why he had fled Sri Lanka in the first place. The Home Office concluded he was a "bogus asylum seeker".
Because he was so worried about being sent back to Sri Lanka, he went on hunger strike for 20 days (8 days of which he had no water or food). Other inmates joined the protest, so at one time, almost 70 others were on hunger strike.
News of this hunger strike has been published (along with Jude's name) in various media including BBC Sri Lanka (Sinhalese) service, local Sri Lankan newspapers and on the Internet. Thus, if returned, he is almost certain to be detained by the authorities. We know from other such cases that interrogations, beatings and even disappearances are common to those detained. Even if he gets past the authorities he could become a prime target for paramilitary groups.
547 persons killed - 396 disappearances in Six months
Three Human Rights groups in Sri Lanka, the Law & Society Trust, Civil Monitoring Commission and the Free Media Movement, have compiled a working document listing 547 persons killed and 396 persons disappeared during the period January to June 2007. The largest proportion of people killed in the first six months of 2007 were Tamil - 70.7% across the island, as compared with 9.1 % Sinhalese and 5.9% Muslims. The gravity of this situation becomes even more pronounced when considered against the fact that the Tamil people make up only 16% of the total population. Men were killed in much larger numbers 89.9% than women 9.7%. As with killings, Tamils suffered disproportionately from abductions - 64.6%, compared with 3% Sinhalese and 3% Muslims. Men represented nearly 98% of all missing persons.
From December 1984 to May 1985 Jude was imprisoned in the infamous 'Boosa' Army Camp under the Sri Lanka Prevention of Terrorism Act. While working in the capital, Colombo, in 2003 he was severely beaten on the head with an iron bar and was hospitalized.
Friends of Jude
We are a group of Sri Lankan exiles in the UK, most of us still seeking asylum. Please help us keep Jude in the UK.
What you can do to help!
1.) Please send urgent faxes immediately to Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith, Secretary of State for the Home Office asking that Jude be given the right to stay in the UK. Please use the attached "model fax" /JudeMLJacquiSmith.doc/you can copy/amend/write your own version (if you do so, please remember to include Jude's Home Office Reference Number S1380590.
Fax : 020 7035 3262 (00 44 20 7035 3262 if you are faxing from outside UK)
2.) Please wait till Monday to fax Sri Lankan Airlines. Please fax J. Wijesinghe
Manager UK & Ireland, Sri Lankan Airlines using the attached "model fax" /JudeChristieSLair .docc/ copy/amend/write your own version (if you do so, please remember to include Judes's removal flight details : Tuesday 4th September 2007 on Sri Lankan Airlines flight UL506 to Sri Lanka at 15:00hrs.
Fax : 020 8572 0808 (00 44 20 8572 0808 if you are faxing from outside UK)
Please let the 'Friends of Jude Campaign' know of any faxes you have sent:
FriendsofJude@ncadc.org.uk End of Bulletin:
Source for this Message:
Friends of Jude
John O
e-mail:
ncadc@ncadc.org.uk
Homepage:
http://www.ncadc.org.uk
