Skip Nav | Home | Mobile | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Security | Support Us

World

[Name removed] Belongs to Leicester

John O | 28.04.2009 14:41 | Birmingham | World

[Name removed as requested by subject], a national of Afghanistan, has been living in Leicester since 2004. He is an honest, caring, peaceful and law-abiding man who needs help and protection from the UK government because of the dangers to practising Christians in Afghanistan.

Friends of [name removed]
Friends of [name removed]


[Name removed] is currently preparing his appeal to stay in Britain. His court appearance for the Full Hearing will be on 12th May 2009.

[Name removed] was orphaned at the age of 10, in Kabul, when a bomb killed his parents and his sister, and blew up their house. An aunt took him to Iran to escape the fighting, where they lived as illegal refugees. The aunt and uncle gave him the last of the money from his father’s house plot, and left him to make his own way in the world.

USA: 2008 Human Rights Report: Afghanistan
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, published February 25, 2009
The country's human rights record remained poor. Human rights problems included extrajudicial killings; torture; poor prison conditions; official impunity; prolonged pretrial detention; restrictions on freedom of the press; restrictions on freedom of religion; violence and societal discrimination against women; restrictions on religious conversions; abuses against minorities; sexual abuse of children; trafficking in persons; abuse of worker rights; and child labor. During the year more than 6,340 persons died as a result of the insurgency, including deaths by suicide attacks and roadside bombs, in contrast to 2007, when more than 6,500 persons died. Taliban and anti-government elements continued to threaten, rob, attack, and kill villagers, government officials, foreigners, and nongovernmental organization (NGO) workers. UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported 2,118 civilian casualties during the year, an increase of 39 percent compared to 2007, when there were 1,523 reported civilian conflict-related deaths. There were numerous reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. In addition, there were killings of civilians during conflict, high-profile killings by unknown actors, and politically motivated killings by insurgent groups during the year in connection with the ongoing insurgency.

With no prospect of help in either Iran or Afghanistan he used the money to make his way to the UK in 2002, claimed asylum, and hoped that Britain might allow a bright, fit 17 year old a future that seemed denied to him elsewhere. There has followed over six years of limbo as far as the authorities are concerned.

In that time [name removed] has taught himself spoken and written English to a very high level, has learnt how to fit in to British society and culture, and has embraced Christianity. In January 2005 he was baptised and made a member of Bishop Street Methodist Church, and for nearly 5 years he has been an active and enthusiastic part of our Church life, attending worship, joining in with bible studies, and social events and training to be part of the City Centre Street Pastors team.


[Name removed] now has a wide circle of friends in the UK, from the Methodist Church at Bishop Street and a range of other churches where he has met people, from his gym activities in Leicester and around the Midlands, from the many people he has got to know who have helped him to learn English, develop computer skills, and from 5 years of sociable living.

In April 2009, his last-ditch asylum claim was refused, but was given a right to appeal – apparently quite unusual at this stage in such a case. His preliminary hearing for this is on April 29th 2009, and if allowed, he will get a full hearing on May 12th 2009. It is for these hearings that we want as much support from this petition as possible.

It would be a grossly unreasonable act to return [name removed] to Afghanistan, a place he had to leave when he was 10 years old, where he has no immediate relatives, no friends, and no one who would be disposed to help him, in a country where assistance from outside is all but impossible. As a Christian he would find it impossible to work or express his religion in any form. It is not safe for any Christians to practise their faith even in Kabul currently, as shown by the gunning down of a Western Christian in Kabul since the Human Rights report above, and certainly not for Afghan Christians who are considered apostates.

Leicester is clearly his home. He has a wide circle of friends, contacts and opportunities, and would love the chance to fully contribute to society.

If you agree that [name removed] should not be returned to Afghanistan, please print of the attached model letter & petition, sign them and get as many others as you can to sign and return to below as soon as possible.

Thank you,

Revd Jill Marsh on behalf of the Campaign
 jill.marsh51@btinternet.com

Petitions/model letters should be returned to:
Friends of [name removed]
C/o Bishop Street Methodist Church
10A BishopStreet
Leicester,
LE16AF
 http://www.bishopstreetchurch.org.uk/index.html
by Monday May 11th, so that we can present them at [name removed]’s hearing.


End of Bulletin:

Source for this Message:
Friends of [name removed]

John O
- e-mail: JohnO@ncadc.org.uk
- Homepage: http://www.ncadc.org.uk

Comments

Display the following comment

  1. "belongs to" — tony

Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

/regional publish include --> /regional search include -->

World Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Server Appeal Radio Page Video Page Indymedia Cinema Offline Newsheet

secure Encrypted Page

You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.

If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech