Pedro Fernando: 20 Months in detention - 20 months too long
John O | 01.07.2008 13:29 | Migration | Social Struggles | Workers' Movements
Pedro Fernando, originally from Cabinda/Angola, turned 21 and then 22 in an immigration removal centre. I met him just after his 21st birthday which I only realized by looking through some of the papers he had given me.
He was unaware that his coming of age had passed. Pedro is currently detained at Harmondsworth IRC. He has been detained now for more than 20 months following a 3-month prison sentence for using a false document in order to obtain work simply so that he could survive.
There is no end in sight for Pedro's detention.
In a medical assessment made recently Pedro, is described by the physician as 'deeply depressed and a serious suicide risk. He is an extreme case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and needs urgent referral to a psychiatrist and possibly in-patient treatment.
He is not fit to be in detention.
Pedro is on the maximum dose of an anti-depressant drug called Mirtazapine, prescribed when he was in prison, as well as an anti-epileptic drug, an antacid drug and a sleeping tablet. Common side-effects of Mirtazapine are hallucinations, nightmares, feeling unreal or in a dream-like state, dizziness and headaches, which may be aggravating Pedro's very fragile state of mind. I read somewhere that this drug should be used with caution in someone who has a psychotic illness caused by an extreme life event.
Pedro complains of hallucinations and nightmares relating to his experiences in Cabinda. He sees men standing in his room during the daytime whom he believes have come to kill him. He frequently imagines that he is back in Cabinda when he was nine seeing his brothers and sisters being massacred by the Angolan army. His sleep is interrupted by violent nightmares. His fear of being returned to Angola is profound.
Pedro's parents were known activists of the Cabindan separatist group, Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC). In 1990 his mother disappeared. In 1993, his father was assassinated while working at his office as the branch secretary of the FLEC. Then soldiers came to the village where the family lived looking for documents Pedro's father might have kept at home. When they found nothing they killed Pedro's brothers and sisters along with other people in the village.
At this point Pedro had no idea what had happened to his father, but was playing football in a nearby field. He hid when he heard the guns firing. When Pedro emerged from his hiding place he saw with horror how soldiers had shot dead his siblings and remembers there being blood everywhere.
A family friend took Pedro away with him to Luanda. It was only later that Pedro found out what had happened to his father. Pedro stayed with the family friend until 2003 when he started having problems with the Angolan army.
The friend's wife had started a business selling beer at the family home. Many of her customers were soldiers who used to come drinking there every day. They knew that she had a daughter but that the boy living with them was not their child. The soldiers started asking questions about Pedro and where he came from and the wife told them that he was an orphan from Cabinda whose parents had been FLEC activists killed by the army.
From that point the soldiers started suspecting Pedro of being a FLEC activist himself and Pedro sensed that he was in danger. His only choice was to leave the country.
The Home Office wants to return Pedro to Luanda. They have not managed to produce any travel documents in nearly two years and have kept him detained all this time despite knowing his vulnerable mental state. Numerous bail attempts have been refused on purely arbitrary grounds.
However, what is likely to happen if they do send him back? Being from Cabinda, even though he has spent time in Luanda, Pedro has more in common with the Democratic Republic of Congo than he does with Angola. He speaks Lingala and French as well as Portuguese, but more frequently the former. If he is recognised as Cabindan, he will most surely be suspected of belonging to an opposition/separatist movement, especially being returned there as a failed asylum seeker. He would most likely be placed in an Angolan prison in appalling conditions and would suffer degrading and inhumane treatment, perhaps even death.
Given the fact that he has no remaining family members in any part of Angola or Cabinda, combined with the effects of his long detention in the UK and his fragile mental state, the outlook for Pedro would seem very bleak.
Please take time to write to the Home Office for the attention of Liam Byrne, Minister of State for Borders and Immigration to request Pedro's immediate release from detention and that he be allowed to remain in the UK. Model letter attached that you can copy/amend write your own version. Please include the following information; Pedro Fernando, Citizen of Cabinda, date of birth: 2 March 1985, HO ref no: F1056246, arrived in the UK in 2003
Mr Liam Byrne,
Minister of State for Borders and Immigration
Home Office
3rd Floor, Peel Buildings
2 Marsham St
London SW1 4DF
Many thanks for reading,
Liz Atherton on behalf of Pedro Fernando
liz.atherton@freeuk.com
Send a greeting card to Pedro:
Pedro Fernando
DSM 70761
Harmondsworth IRC
Colnbrook by Pass
Harmondsworth
West Drayton
PO BOX 724
UB7 0XN
End of Bulletin:
Source for this Message:
Liz Atherton
There is no end in sight for Pedro's detention.
In a medical assessment made recently Pedro, is described by the physician as 'deeply depressed and a serious suicide risk. He is an extreme case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and needs urgent referral to a psychiatrist and possibly in-patient treatment.
He is not fit to be in detention.
Pedro is on the maximum dose of an anti-depressant drug called Mirtazapine, prescribed when he was in prison, as well as an anti-epileptic drug, an antacid drug and a sleeping tablet. Common side-effects of Mirtazapine are hallucinations, nightmares, feeling unreal or in a dream-like state, dizziness and headaches, which may be aggravating Pedro's very fragile state of mind. I read somewhere that this drug should be used with caution in someone who has a psychotic illness caused by an extreme life event.
Pedro complains of hallucinations and nightmares relating to his experiences in Cabinda. He sees men standing in his room during the daytime whom he believes have come to kill him. He frequently imagines that he is back in Cabinda when he was nine seeing his brothers and sisters being massacred by the Angolan army. His sleep is interrupted by violent nightmares. His fear of being returned to Angola is profound.
Pedro's parents were known activists of the Cabindan separatist group, Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC). In 1990 his mother disappeared. In 1993, his father was assassinated while working at his office as the branch secretary of the FLEC. Then soldiers came to the village where the family lived looking for documents Pedro's father might have kept at home. When they found nothing they killed Pedro's brothers and sisters along with other people in the village.
At this point Pedro had no idea what had happened to his father, but was playing football in a nearby field. He hid when he heard the guns firing. When Pedro emerged from his hiding place he saw with horror how soldiers had shot dead his siblings and remembers there being blood everywhere.
A family friend took Pedro away with him to Luanda. It was only later that Pedro found out what had happened to his father. Pedro stayed with the family friend until 2003 when he started having problems with the Angolan army.
The friend's wife had started a business selling beer at the family home. Many of her customers were soldiers who used to come drinking there every day. They knew that she had a daughter but that the boy living with them was not their child. The soldiers started asking questions about Pedro and where he came from and the wife told them that he was an orphan from Cabinda whose parents had been FLEC activists killed by the army.
From that point the soldiers started suspecting Pedro of being a FLEC activist himself and Pedro sensed that he was in danger. His only choice was to leave the country.
The Home Office wants to return Pedro to Luanda. They have not managed to produce any travel documents in nearly two years and have kept him detained all this time despite knowing his vulnerable mental state. Numerous bail attempts have been refused on purely arbitrary grounds.
However, what is likely to happen if they do send him back? Being from Cabinda, even though he has spent time in Luanda, Pedro has more in common with the Democratic Republic of Congo than he does with Angola. He speaks Lingala and French as well as Portuguese, but more frequently the former. If he is recognised as Cabindan, he will most surely be suspected of belonging to an opposition/separatist movement, especially being returned there as a failed asylum seeker. He would most likely be placed in an Angolan prison in appalling conditions and would suffer degrading and inhumane treatment, perhaps even death.
Given the fact that he has no remaining family members in any part of Angola or Cabinda, combined with the effects of his long detention in the UK and his fragile mental state, the outlook for Pedro would seem very bleak.
Please take time to write to the Home Office for the attention of Liam Byrne, Minister of State for Borders and Immigration to request Pedro's immediate release from detention and that he be allowed to remain in the UK. Model letter attached that you can copy/amend write your own version. Please include the following information; Pedro Fernando, Citizen of Cabinda, date of birth: 2 March 1985, HO ref no: F1056246, arrived in the UK in 2003
Mr Liam Byrne,
Minister of State for Borders and Immigration
Home Office
3rd Floor, Peel Buildings
2 Marsham St
London SW1 4DF
Many thanks for reading,
Liz Atherton on behalf of Pedro Fernando
liz.atherton@freeuk.com Send a greeting card to Pedro:
Pedro Fernando
DSM 70761
Harmondsworth IRC
Colnbrook by Pass
Harmondsworth
West Drayton
PO BOX 724
UB7 0XN
End of Bulletin:
Source for this Message:
Liz Atherton
John O
e-mail:
JohnO@ncadc.org.uk
Homepage:
http://www.ncadc.org.uk