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Stop the charter flight of death: action details for tomorrow

Get yer arses down there | 22.10.2012 10:49 | Migration | Repression

Protest @ 10am, Tuesday 23rd October, outside Harmondsworth & Colnbrook detention centres near Heathrow.

(Nearest stations West Drayton, Hatton Cross, Uxbridge; call 07512 516926 for directions on the day.)





On Tuesday, the British government will try to deport up to 60 people to Sri Lanka, where many of them are at serious risk of arrest, torture and even death.

Despite overwhelming evidence of torture, mass deportations to Sri Lanka were resumed last year at the height of the genocide against the Tamils in the country.

Since then, three attempts to deport people to Sri Lanka have been disrupted by a combination of legal action and direct action at the detention centres. We have physically stopped the coaches from leaving while lawyers won final-hour injunctions in court. During the last charter on 19 September, a person locked themselves to the coach surrounded by supporters, holding it up for hours while 35 people gained injunctions stopping their deportations throughout the afternoon.

Together we have the power to stop deportations. If we keep up the pressure we can stop the charters to Sri Lanka. Join us on Tuesday to show solidarity to the deportees and fight the deportation machine.

- Britian and the genocide in Sri Lanka

* The genocide against the Tamils in Sri Lanka claimed the lives of over 100, 000 people in 2009 alone and continues to this day.

* Many Tamil returnees to Sri Lanka have been detained and tortured to silence potential dissenters and to scare witnesses to war crimes

* While the military occupation of Tamil lands is accelerating into a mass land grab, deportations from the UK are serving to mask this deadly situation.

* The driving force behind the deportation of Tamil people are investment opportunities such as oil and gas exploration in the Tamil seas and the economic potential of the land. See for example interests pursued by
greedy UK politicians and businesses like the Sri Lankan Development Trust set up by disgraced former Defence Minister Liam Fox.

* There is clear evidence that the resumption of charter flights to Sri Lanka were arranged in a deal by Liam Fox, Adam Werritty and other fixers close to the Tory government.

* Tamils who have fled the genocide in Sri Lanka have only found themselves terrorised again by the British government is working hand in glove with commercial interests.

Get yer arses down there