This will be the second attempt to remove Yousuf. He was originally due to go on the 'Ethnic Charter Flight' to Iraq on Thursday 27th March, but at the last moment he was judged too ill to fly.

Yousuf Ibrahim is a musician from central Iraq who has been in the UK for some years. He was drafted into the Iraqi army during the Gulf war and deafened by the constant onslaught of Allied bombs. He has suffered depression and confusion ever since.

When he first came to Swansea, in late 2006, Yousuf was very shy, lacking in confidence and socially withdrawn. With the support of local people over the past 18 months, he has regained his self-confidence and a zest for life.

Anyone who has met Yousuf is impressed by his warm personality and can tell that he is a genuinely caring and sincere person. He is a talented musician who has been involved in a whole range of community and voluntary activities in Swansea. His enthusiasm for music is infectious and he became part of an international choir in Swansea and was teaching violin and piano to children on a voluntary basis through the Swansea Bay Asylum Seekers Support Group. Many people can testify to his contribution to the life of the community and the arts.

Yousuf was picked up on 17th March when reporting to Cockett Police Station in Swansea. He was taken into custody and kept for 32 hours in a police cell, before being held in Oakington IRC for 5 days, and then transferred to Campsfield House IRC. On 27th March he was again transferred, this time to Dover IRC.

When he was picked up, Yousuf was not allowed to return home, and was taken into detention with no money, no change of clothes and without medication. His health has deteriorated severely since being in detention, yet he has received no medication for the recurrence of depression and panic attacks, from which he is now suffering.

We are concerned that he will not be safe if he is returned to Iraq. He is extremely distressed and terrified at the prospect of removal to a country where his future is extremely uncertain.

To return Yousuf to Iraq at this time would be to condemn him to extreme danger. He will arrive penniless, without anything to live on, and disoriented. It would be a clear breach of his human rights to return him to a country that was considered dangerous in the extreme even before the latest flare up of violence in Basra and Baghdad.

What you can do:

1) Send faxes, letters and/or e-mails to the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, asking that Yousuf be released and granted discretionary leave to remain in the UK. You can download the attached model letter YousufJS.doc or copy/amend/write your own version (if you do so, please remember to include the Home Office Reference: J1102407).

To: Rt Hon Jacqui Smith, MP
Secretary of State for the Home Department
3rd Floor, Peel Buildings
2 Marsham Street
London, SW1P 4DF
Fax: 020 8760 3132 (00 44 20 8760 3132 if you are faxing from outside UK)
E-mail:  jacqui.smith@homeoffice.gov.uk

2) Send faxes and/or letters to Suhair Beidas, London Office Supervisor, Royal Jordanian Airways and urge them not to carry out the forced removal - you can download the attached model letter YousufRJA.doc copy/amend /write your own version (if you do so please quote Royal Jordanian Flight RJ112 at 17:05 on Wednesday 23rd April)

Fax: 020 8748 5251 (00 44 20 8748 5251 if you are faxing from outside UK)

Please let the campaign know of any faxes or letters sent:
Campaign for Asylum Justice
C/o Flat 4 Brockley Court
103 St Helen's Avenue
Swansea SA1 4NW
Tel: 0845 345 5768
E-mail:  campaignforasylumjustice@ntlworld.com

End of Bulletin:

Source for this Message:
Campaign for Asylum Justice