Manchester No Borders have compiled the second No Borders newsletter, available for downloading [PDF format]:
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Continue reading No Borders newsletter #2 December 2007-January 2008
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Small World Kitchen – event by Nottm&Notts refugee forum Women’s Group (Friday 7 Dec at Sumac Centre)
Traditional African Vegan Food will be provided by the Women’s Group of the Nottingham & Notts Refugee Forum, on Friday 7th December, from 7pm (until 8pm) at the Sumac Centre, Forest Fields. Come and try it!
Full details plus flyers/posters in Sumac/Veggies online events diary. Cost will be a recommended donation.
Continue reading Small World Kitchen – event by Nottm&Notts refugee forum Women’s Group (Friday 7 Dec at Sumac Centre)
Direct action against Campsfield detention centre’s private operator
How many activists does it take to shut down the UK head offices of a multinational corporation? On 30th November it was done with just four, when activists visited the national head offices of GEO, the company which manages Campsfield detention centre in Oxfordshire.
Despite the poor publicity (the demo was not announced on any websites) the company had clearly heard that a noise demo was planned outside their Reading offices. The company had hired private security who informed protesters that GEO?s workers had been told not to come in for the day. Only the boss was in. Result! The campaign against GEO is only in its early stages, and they can now look forward to a large noise demo planned for February!
Continue reading Direct action against Campsfield detention centre’s private operator
Nottingham asylum seeker housing scandal – with video evidence
As reported on BBC East Midlands Today television news earlier this month (see video clip), frustrated asylum seekers along with the local charity, Refugee Action, have exposed an example of how a housing association “Refugee Support” is taking vast amounts of public money whilst providing worse than ‘sub-standard’ accommodation through private landlords.
Refugee Support is one of the Metropolitan Support Trust’s (MST) refugee ‘services’ that provides housing for many asylum seekers in Britain. MST in turn is part of the of the vast Metropolitan Housing Partnership. According to the Refugee support website, “MST was created in April 2007 from four organizations (Refugee Housing Association, StepForward, Threshold Support and Walbrook Support) coming together to provide a wide range of specialist services to vulnerable people.”
Well, this news report shows not only how some of these ‘vulnerable people’ spoken of by MST were forced to shame them by getting Refugee Action and the local BBC involved to make public just what a terrible state their house was in, but also how one of them was threatened with being made homeless for complaining when offered it. The ceiling was leaking and falling in and the heating did not work.
Typically, the BBC also concentrates on ‘cost to the taxpayer’, although at least they remember to say that government policy won’t let asylum seekers work, so their housing has to be provided by the state. The report also explains that this is not an isolated case, mentioning other complaints in Leicester (with 12 people sharing one shower). So next time someone goes on how asylum seekers are costing the taxpayer, remind them that it’s rip-off merchants like Metropolitan, and the private landlords they deal with, that are taking the piss here.
YouTube video clip: http://www.youtube.com/v/Nm9Hk0YYg9A.
Continue reading Nottingham asylum seeker housing scandal – with video evidence
Defend the Harmondsworth 4! – London support meeting is announced
Defend the Harmondsworth 4!
Come to a meeting on Tuesday Nov 27th 7pm at
Transport House
128 Theobald’s Road
Holborn
London WC1X 8TN
Background:
In November 2006 detainees at Harmondsworth immigration detention centre (close to Heathrow airport) protested against conditions inside the centre and their treatment by the guards. The centre was damaged and the detainees were moved to other detention centres and prisons. Three detainees were charged with criminal damage and a further detainee was charged with conspiracy to cause criminal damage.
The trial of these “Harmondsworth 4” is due to start in January and we are inviting people to a public meeting to discuss how we can support them before, during and after the trial. In previous years there have been defence campaigns following similar incidences at Campsfield (Kidlington, Oxfordshire) and Yarl’s Wood (Clapham, Bedfordshire).
Please come to help building a powerful campaign.
No Borders No Nations!
For more detail e-mail: harmondsworth4 [at] riseup.net / noborderslondon [at] riseup.net
Continue reading Defend the Harmondsworth 4! – London support meeting is announced
Dignity not detention – report from march to Lindholme prison in October
Dignity Not Detention!
Full report on Indymedia (follow link for background, more reports and photographs): http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/10/384688.html
Asylum seekers, refugees, trade unionists and supporters from all over the North marched from the Home Office in Sheffield to Lindholme Detention centre near Doncaster between 26-28th October. The marchers were demanding “The right to work for asylum seekers” and stating that “Seeking asylum is not a crime.” They finished at Lindholme immigration removals centre, the nearest such centre to Nottinghamshire, where asylum seekers are often held without having committed any criminal offence. The demonstration there on Sunday 28th was joined by supporters from Nottingham.
A rally was held at the fence of Lindholme and the marchers could hear detainees inside chanting in response to them. A candlelit vigil for those who’d died in detention centres was held and speakers from many countries, including the Congo, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Iran, Iraq and South Africa spoke. The demonstration is the latest in a series of protests at Lindholme making the demand to “Shut Down Lindholme!”
Continue reading Dignity not detention – report from march to Lindholme prison in October
No Borders Nottingham at Sumac Centre, Thursday 25 October, 7.00pm
No Borders Nottingham presents an evening to discuss the idea of a world without borders and how we might get there. We hope to make you angry & inspired! We’ll be showing an amazing video about tearing down fences at detention centres around the world. We’ll also give a brief report-back from the recent transnational No Borders camp near Gatwick, which opposed the building of a new detention centre there. You can find out about local campaigns, including against our nearest detention centre, Lindholme, and also The Friends of Amdani Juma, which is opposing the Home Office’s vindictive attempts to deport a local activist. And there’ll be great vegan food provided by the Women’s Group of the Nottingham & Notts Refugee Forum and the Sumac bar will be open too.
Date & time: Thursday 25 October, 7.00pm start.
Venue: The Sumac Centre, 245 Gladstone Street, Forest Fields, Nottingham.
Directions to the venue (with map) can be found in the Sumac Centre events diary.
For any other info please contact us using our web form.
See you there!
Continue reading No Borders Nottingham at Sumac Centre, Thursday 25 October, 7.00pm
Fatma Navruz deportation flight set for Tues 23rd Oct – URGENT
FATMA NAVRUZ MUST STAY!
Ms Navruz is a 54 year old woman who is suffering from considerable problems of ill health. She has no less than three different appointments scheduled for this week at the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham – one for an endoscopy, another in the department of Thoracic medicine, and another with her psychiatrist. She has further appointments pending because she is suffering severe pain requiring treatment for pain relief and physiotherapy. Ms Navruz’s consultant states that she is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety and depression, which they say is in keeping with her accounts of torture, rape and imprisonment in her country. She is also suffering from psychosis. The fact that Ms Navruz has not been able to prove torture and rape at the hands of the Turkish authorities for her political actions in support of working people in Turkey and the Kurds in particular is not a surprise to anyone who has worked with survivors of both torture and rape – two of the most heinous and hidden acts of terror to the individual.
Fatma is due to be deported to Turkey
Details of flight:
Flight on Turkish Airways, Flight Number: TK1982
Departure Date: Tuesday 23rd October 2007 06.55 a.m.
Flying from Heathrow Airport ,Terminal 3
Recommended arrival time at Heathrow: 4.30 a.m. Boarding 45 minutes before flight
Recommended vaccinations for travellers to Turkey : Polio and Typhoid ( neither of which Fatma has been given)
**************************************************************************
Please fax the following using the attached letters or in your own words.
Jacqui Smith Fax: 020 7035 3262
Turkish Airlines Fax numbers: Head Office:( UK ) 0207-976 17 38/33
Terminal 3 Turkish Airlines at Heathrow/Fax: ) 0208-759 58 14
UK address of Head Office: 125 Pall Mall, SW1Y 5EA, LONDON
UK office address at Heathrow Airport: Heathrow Airport Office Block Room 226 Hounslow Middlesex TW6 1RW
Turkish Airlines email: info-uk@thy.com LONTZTK E-Mail: info-uk@thy.com
customer concerns and opinions email address: customer@thy.com
Heathrow Airport ( Heathrows own terminal fax number) terminal 3 zone: fax number +44-178-4421726
Please click on Read more for information about Fatma’s case.
Continue reading Fatma Navruz deportation flight set for Tues 23rd Oct – URGENT
3 demos against asylum seeker detention – Sheffield, Doncaster & at Lindholme Detention Centre, 26-28 October
Join us as we march on Sunday 28th October from the Home Office in Sheffield to the Detention Centre at Lindholme to protest against the treatment of asylum seekers in this country. Additional demonstrations in Sheffield and Doncaster during the weekend.
Friday 26th 12 noon: Demonstrate @ Milton House, Home Office (Charter Row, Sheffield S1 3FZ). Rally: 1.45pm @ Ellesmere Green, Burngreave, Sheffield.
Saturday 27th 9am @ Eastwood Methodist Church, Rotherham. Rally & social in Doncaster town centre from 6.30pm.
Sunday 28th 3pm: Demonstrate @ Lindholme Detention Centre (A614, Doncaster DN7 6EE)
Accommodation in Rotherham and Doncaster & refreshment stops. For info contact: dignitynotdetention [at] yahoo.co.uk or call: 07931 900167. See also: Lindholme Appeal/Close Lindholme group.
Download leaflet [attachment=7] produced by South Yorkshire Migrant and Asylum Action Group (SYMAAG). SYMAAG unites refugee, asylum and migrant organisations with campaign groups, trade unions, charities, political parties and supportive individuals. SYMAAG campaigns both for the rights of those seeking asylum and of those coming to work in this country. Contact via 0114 241 2780.
The detention centre is adjacent to Lindholme prison and was formerly part of RAF Lindholme. It has been used to incarcerate immigration detainees since 2000.
Read reports and see photos of previous action at Lindholme: Aug 2007 & Jan 2004.
Continue reading 3 demos against asylum seeker detention – Sheffield, Doncaster & at Lindholme Detention Centre, 26-28 October
Campaigners strike blow against deportation flights – XL Airways pull out
After sustained pressure by anti-deportation campaigners, one of the airline carriers XL Airways has announced its pull out from further deportation flights. XL was identified for its carrying out of a deportation from UK to the Democratic Republic of Congo in February 2007. It was later subject to a direct action during the Camp for Climate Action at Heathrow when it seemed likely that XL would be the carrier for a further deportation to DR Congo in August. This action was followed by demonstrations across Britain by the Congolese community and its supporters. XL Airways was at pains to convince opponents it would not be the carrier for the latter deportation (which was in any case halted in the courts), pending a Country Guidance Tribunal for DR Congo. Now it has been forced to announce its pull out altogether.
Other airlines are now facing direct action for their involvement in deportations including British Airways and Virgin Airlines.This follows a recent expose (in the Independent newpaper) of racism and assault at asylum seeker removal centres, especially by private prison ‘escort teams’ who are paid to take people back to their home countries.
Sustained pressure is needed to get these flights stopped and to against detention of asylum seekers altogether.
It’s not just DR Congo either… read more.
Continue reading Campaigners strike blow against deportation flights – XL Airways pull out