Stop deportations to Iraq!
NCADC | 16.06.2011 23:21 | Migration
The UK government is planning a mass expulsion of mostly Kurdish refugees to Baghdad on Tuesday 21 June, at 23:00 hours. Campaigners, lawyers and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees have all raised serious concerns over the safety of the deportees in Iraq.
troops in Baqubah
You can join the campaign against deportations to Iraq - see below for details.
The United Nations refugee agency issued statements of concern in January this year, and in September 2010, ahead of similar expulsions of Iraqis, calling for European states to grant protection, not deportation, particularly for refugees originating from the most violent areas of Iraq.
The UNHCR said their position "reflects the volatile security situation and the still high level of prevailing violence, security incidents, and human rights violations. UNHCR considers that serious – including indiscriminate – threats to life, physical integrity or freedom resulting from violence or events seriously disturbing public order are valid reasons for international protection."
According to media reports and evidence collected by UNHCR and the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees
http://www.federationifir.com, many of those who have been deported to Iraq in the past are now living in hiding, in fear of the persecution they originally left Iraq to flee. Some have been assassinated. Others have committed suicide only days after being deported or have been kidnapped and killed, while others have had mental breakdowns. Many more have had to leave the country and become refugees again.
Adam Aziz Ali is from the Diyala governate, one of the areas singled out by UNHCR as too dangerous to return people to. He has been living in the UK for almost four years, and had plans to marry his fiancee, Joanne. He is now in detention, and has been told he will be on the June 21 charter flight. Only this week, on Tuesday in Adam's home town of Baqubah, at least eight people were killed and dozens were injured in two car bombs when a government building was stormed. The attack, claimed by an al-Qaeda group, is just one of many such events all across Iraq.
You can support Adam and Joanne's campaign here: http://www.ncadc.org.uk/campaigns/adam_aziz_ali.html
Adam and Ali are just two of the many refugees scheduled for this charter flight who are terrified not only being returned to a warzone, but of what may happen on arrival in Baghdad. Speaking to NCADC by phone today, Ali Ako told of Kurdish friends who had been dragged off the last flight to Baghdad, being kicked and punched by Iraqi army guards, and held in detention for days. And then on release there is problem of travelling hundreds of miles acros hostile territory to reach their home towns.
STOP DEPORTATIONS TO IRAQ!
Please take a few minutes to send an email or fax or letter to the UK Home Secretary, copied to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, appealing for an end to forced removals to Iraq.
For more info, and model letters to send to the UK Home Secretary and the UNHCR, see the NCADC blog: http://ncadc.wordpress.com/2011/06/16/act-now-support-the-campaign-against-mass-expulsion-to-iraq/
If letter-writing isn't your thing, we hope you can come up with other ways to challenge this mass expulsion - do let us know. Contact
ncadc@ncadc.org.uk
The United Nations refugee agency issued statements of concern in January this year, and in September 2010, ahead of similar expulsions of Iraqis, calling for European states to grant protection, not deportation, particularly for refugees originating from the most violent areas of Iraq.
The UNHCR said their position "reflects the volatile security situation and the still high level of prevailing violence, security incidents, and human rights violations. UNHCR considers that serious – including indiscriminate – threats to life, physical integrity or freedom resulting from violence or events seriously disturbing public order are valid reasons for international protection."
According to media reports and evidence collected by UNHCR and the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees
http://www.federationifir.com, many of those who have been deported to Iraq in the past are now living in hiding, in fear of the persecution they originally left Iraq to flee. Some have been assassinated. Others have committed suicide only days after being deported or have been kidnapped and killed, while others have had mental breakdowns. Many more have had to leave the country and become refugees again. Adam Aziz Ali is from the Diyala governate, one of the areas singled out by UNHCR as too dangerous to return people to. He has been living in the UK for almost four years, and had plans to marry his fiancee, Joanne. He is now in detention, and has been told he will be on the June 21 charter flight. Only this week, on Tuesday in Adam's home town of Baqubah, at least eight people were killed and dozens were injured in two car bombs when a government building was stormed. The attack, claimed by an al-Qaeda group, is just one of many such events all across Iraq.
You can support Adam and Joanne's campaign here:
http://www.ncadc.org.uk/campaigns/adam_aziz_ali.html Adam and Ali are just two of the many refugees scheduled for this charter flight who are terrified not only being returned to a warzone, but of what may happen on arrival in Baghdad. Speaking to NCADC by phone today, Ali Ako told of Kurdish friends who had been dragged off the last flight to Baghdad, being kicked and punched by Iraqi army guards, and held in detention for days. And then on release there is problem of travelling hundreds of miles acros hostile territory to reach their home towns.
STOP DEPORTATIONS TO IRAQ!
Please take a few minutes to send an email or fax or letter to the UK Home Secretary, copied to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, appealing for an end to forced removals to Iraq.
For more info, and model letters to send to the UK Home Secretary and the UNHCR, see the NCADC blog:
http://ncadc.wordpress.com/2011/06/16/act-now-support-the-campaign-against-mass-expulsion-to-iraq/ If letter-writing isn't your thing, we hope you can come up with other ways to challenge this mass expulsion - do let us know. Contact
ncadc@ncadc.org.uk
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