Today in seven UK cities including Nottingham and Leicester, the Congolese community and their supporters held demonstrations to focus attention on government plans to categorise the ‘Democratic’ Republic of Congo as a ‘safe’ country to return people who have been fleeing the violence to the UK in search of security. In Nottingham people rallied and marched, highlighting that the Congolese who have already been deported face a very uncertain fate.
Between 60 and 80 people, including other asylum seekers (showing wonderful and much appreciated solidarity) & supporters from the host community, joined our vibrant Congolese community. We were-well received by people in the Market Square, who took the leaflet and asked for more information, and many signed our petition. We also learned more about the hundreds of people killed in Congo in recent weeks. Several Congolese did excellent interviews with the BBC locally too, and the coverage they gave on the local news tonight was postive and accurate (See the video! – Leicester then Nottingham then Congo [attachment=4]) . We then marched to the Bridewell Magistrates Court and sang and even danced for sanctuary (See the photos from Nottingham demo!- click to see full size images). More photos expected on Notts indymedia. Continue reading Congolese demonstrate in Nottingham and Leicester→
Come to ‘A NIGHT FOR ZIMBABWE’ at Nottingham’s Sumac Centre on Friday 28th March! The evening will start at 6.30pm with speakers against deportations of asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe, followed by (optional, for £3 donation) meal from the popular ‘Small World Kitchen’ at 7.30pm and NGOMA Zimbabwean roots ‘n’ reggae from 8.30pm (recommended £3 donation). You’ll also have a chance to talk to members of No Borders Nottingham and find out more us.
Next day, No Borders Nottingham and our friends in the Zimbabwean community will be DEMOSTRATING in favour of asylum rights and against the Mugabe regime on Saturday 29th March, the day of the Zimbabwean election. We will meet at Speaker’s Corner in the Market Square, Nottingham, at 2.00pm to show our solidarity and to talk to the people of Nottingham about the situation for Zimbabwean asylum seekers. Please join us! Continue reading Reminder about Zimbabwe event (Fri 28th March) and demo (Sat 29th)→
The IAC report warned that a “culture of disbelief” was leading to “perverse and unjust decisions”, and concluded overall that the treatment of asylum seekers fell “seriously below the standards to be expected of a humane and civilised society”. Proving that this culture of disbelief is alive and well, the Border and Immigration Agency rejected the report, claiming it operates a “firm but humane” system. Download IAC ‘interim findings’ report: [attachment=13] Continue reading Hundreds of asylum seekers give testimony about UK’s inhumane system→
The Human Rights Law Centre at the University of Nottingham presents the last in their series: Film: “In This World”. Screening: Wed 26th March, Broadway Cinema @ 5.30pm Winner of the Golden Bear, the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the Peace Film Prize at the 2003 Berlin International Film Festival, Michael Winterbottom’s ‘In This World’ tells the story of two Afghan cousins who embark on a refugee’s clandestine odyssey from Pakistan to London during the American bombings in Afghanistan. Armed with a script informed by the actual experiences of refugees and shot on location in 6 countries with digital video and a non-professional cast, ‘In This World’ harnesses the immediacy of non-fiction techniques to create an urgent, intimate account of human beings driven by the fundamental urge to create a better life.The film will be introduced by human rights lawyer and practitioner Deirdre Sheahan (Paragon Law) who works almost exclusively on migrations issues. Continue reading Human Rights Film “In This World” @ Broadway Cinema, Nottingham, 26th March→
Manchester No Borders are mobilising for a demonstration in Manchester for Saturday, April 12, for FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT FOR ALL and IN DEFENCE OF AUTONOMOUS SPACES. Check http://www.april-12.blogspot.com/ for details. Free spaces are important venues for our activities – a new squatted Social Centre in Hackney, London recently held a No Borders info-night.
Since 2004, most failed asylum seekers and other undocumented migrants have been unable to access free NHS secondary care (like non-emergency hospital treatments). Now the government is considering doing the same with primary care (preventing them seeing an NHS doctor, for example). How low can you go? This barbaric decision would put the health some of the most vulnerable people in UK at great risk. Many asylum seekers suffer from physical or mental illness resulting from the persecution they were fleeing from in the first place. The uncertainty of going through the asylum process in UK is very stressful. Losing their case, along with housing support and money for food, contributes greatly to illness. West Midlands Anti Racist Campaign, ARC, has called for a protest at the surgery of Liam Byrne MP, Minister for Immigration at the Home Office, on Saturday 5th April 2008. For details, please see Birmingham Indymedia article. * See also: Asylum seekers in Coventry are already being turned away by some GPs. Continue reading Call for ‘picket’ in Birmingham over threat to deny primary healthcare to unwanted asylum seekers→
No Borders Nottingham and our friends in the Zimbabwean community will be demonstrating in favour of asylum rights and against the Mugabe regime on Saturday 29th March, the day of the Zimbabwean election. We will meet at Speaker’s Corner in the Market Square, Nottingham, at 2.00pm to show our solidarity and to talk to the people of Nottingham about the situation for Zimbabwean asylum seekers. Please join us! This protest follows ‘A NIGHT FOR ZIMBABWE’ taking place at Nottingham’s Sumac Centre on Friday 28th March. Continue reading Demonstrate with Zimbabweans in Nottingham 29th March→
Come to ‘A NIGHT FOR ZIMBABWE’ at Nottingham’s Sumac Centre on Friday 28th March! The evening will start at 6.30pm with speakers against deportations of asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe, followed by (optional, for £3 donation) meal from the popular ‘Small World Kitchen’ at 7.30pm and NGOMA Zimbabwean roots ‘n’ reggae from 8.30pm (recommended £3 donation). You’ll also have a chance to talk to members of No Borders Nottingham and find out more us. Full venue details (map, disabled access etc.) can be found in the Veggies/Sumac events diary. A leaflet for the event can be downloaded here: [attachment=12]
Many (but certainly not all) Iraqi asylum seekers were receiving some support while our warmongering state continues to try and disentangle itself from the hellhole it has created in Iraq. While the killing still continues, the Home Office thinks now is good time to pull support and force hundreds of people to make a life or death decision – go back or starve. We can’t let this happen.
From Guardian newspaper March 13th 2008: More than 1,400 rejected Iraqi asylum seekers are to be told they must go home or face destitution in Britain as the government considers Iraq safe enough to return them, according to leaked Home Office correspondence seen by the Guardian [newspaper]. The Iraqis involved are to be told that unless they sign up for a voluntary return programme to Iraq within three weeks, they face being made homeless and losing state support. They will also be asked to sign a waiver agreeing the government will take no responsibility for what happens to them or their families once they return to Iraqi territory. […] The decision by the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, to declare that it is safe to send asylum seekers back to Iraq comes after more than 78 people have been killed in incidents across Iraq since last Sunday. Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “It is a nasty policy, and a failed one, that doesn’t achieve its stated aim of encouraging return. Iraq is still patently unsafe and people from there are terrified of going back. Removing support in such cases only results in one thing: more hungry and homeless people living in constant fear.” She added that most Iraqis wanted to go home when it was safe but until then the government should be offering them the chance to live decently in the UK (extracts from Guardian story). Continue reading Home office threatens Iraqi asylum seekers – return or face destitution→
For freedom of movement, Against nationhood and prevention of migration by nation states, Welcoming asylum seekers and migrant workers, Against capitalist exploitation
