We are angry to convey the news that after the brave stopping of a charter plane before it was able to leave on 15th September, 52 Iraqi Kurdish asylum seekers (including those assaulted and injured in the earlier revolt) were forcibly removed from British immigration detention centres to Erbil International Airport, Northern Iraq, on 17/18th September. They were met by two hundred Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) troops. From a report to the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees-IFIR & Coalition to Stop Deportation to Iraq-CSDIRAQ by one of those removed, at least one was separated off from the other asylum seekers and escorted away by the troops. Iraq is safe, our warmongering politicians lie, yet again. We lost this one, but resistance has worked before, and will no doubt continue.
Continue reading 52 Iraqi Kurdish asylum seekers removed 17/18th September following brave airline revolt of the 15th.
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Manchester Roma Solidarity demo on 19th Sept 2008 well attended
Between 50 and 60 protesters. including Nottingham anarchists, picketed the Italian consulate in Manchester on Friday 19th Sept from 11.30am until 1.30pm, in a demonstration against the worst persecution of Roma people in Italy since the fascist era. The protest, called by the Anarchist Federation and No Borders, saw both sides of the Ducie Street entrance to the consulate at 111 Picadilly picketed, with the picket extending down the street and onto Picadilly, where both sides of the pavement were lined with demonstrators. 1000 leaflets detailing the persecution were distributed to interested passersby. The side street to the consulate was temporarily renamed Il Duce Street after the nickname of Italian fascist leader, Benito Mussolini. Consulate staff came down to investigate. More photos: Manchester Indymedia
Continue reading Manchester Roma Solidarity demo on 19th Sept 2008 well attended
200 strong ‘Freedom of movement’ block on Stop the War march in Manchester, 20th September 2008
No Borders activists and anarchists marched together as part of a ‘Freedom of movement’ block on the Stop the War Coalition march in Manchester on 20th September 2008. Police surveillance and harassment was considerable, as reported on Indymedia UK. Around 200, some from No Borders Nottingham, supported the block.
Continue reading 200 strong ‘Freedom of movement’ block on Stop the War march in Manchester, 20th September 2008
Crossing Borders no. 6 – transnational newsletter, out now
Find the 6th issue of transnational newsletter ‘Crossing Borders’ entitled “where is
the world migrating?” at http://www.noborder.org/crossing_borders/
Continue reading Crossing Borders no. 6 – transnational newsletter, out now
No Borders ‘Self-educational’ at Sumac Centre – Friday 26th Sept 7.30pm & food by Small World Kitchen at 9pm
For the second of No Borders Nottingham ‘self-educationals’ (the first looked at immigration camps and border control in and around European Union) we’ll be discussing the situation in the Caucasus and south-Central Asia’s Russian borders. This is the area where warfare has taken place in recent weeks, following bombing by the Georgian military of South Ossetia and reprisals by Russia and South Ossetian militias. This has resulted in huge numbers of ‘internally displaced’ persons (refugees). It is also the region to which Babi Badalov was deported to from Cardiff by the British Government on Sunday, to Baku/Baki in Azerbaijan. All are welcome to turn up to this informal meeting at 7.30pm on Friday 26th September at The Sumac Centre in Forest Fields (follow link for directions). The meeting will be followed by followed by vegan African food cooked by Small World Kitchen at 9pm (suggested donation £3). Members or guests of Forest Fields Social Club may also buy drinks from the Sumac bar.
Continue reading No Borders ‘Self-educational’ at Sumac Centre – Friday 26th Sept 7.30pm & food by Small World Kitchen at 9pm
Asylum seekers and fellow passengers resist airline deportations. Resistance is not futile!
How can 60 men vanish? Yesterday morning at Tinsley House immigration removal centre (IRC) near Gatwick airport, 15-20 men (Kurdish Iraqis) were being hurried to get ready to board a coach. Several were still waiting for responses from their solicitors, but their phones were quickly removed. At Colnbrook, another IRC at Heathrow airport, detainees had just received the news to get ready, and half an hour later all their phones were off too. Meanwhile at Dover there were about 20-30 men being hurried to board the coaches at about 11.30am, again phones off. When they asked where they were going to be taken so that they could let their families know, they were told, “Thats a Home Office Secret”. No departure time, flight number, airline, destination. So that’s around 60 Kurdish Iraqis being rounded up to be whisked away by the British state with maximum efficiency, minimum information, maximum fear. But this Iraqi Charter Flight never left the UK. Early reports suggest that detainees were forcibly put on to a Hamburg International plane. The plane sat on runway for four/five hours (probably because Erbil was unapproachable due to poor visibility caused by a sand storm). Then a ‘disturbance’ broke out, one detainee sustaining injuries, and a plane window was broken. The pilot said the plane was not air worthy and all detainees were removed from plane. All detainees are now back in removal centres. Dozens of Iraqi Kurds have been forcibly removed into an extremely dangerous and very often deadly environment – is it any surprise that they are resisting? These removals must end now.
Important update by International Federation of Iraqi Refugees-IFIR : Forcible Deportation of Iraqi asylum seekers ended in violence
Earlier this year, in a press release by the Respect Nigerians Coalition, it was explained how a man Ayodeji Omotade had been charged with threatening/abusive/insulting/disorderly behaviour towards British Airways (BA) crew, as a result of intervening in a violent deportation flight to Lagos on March 27, 2008, from Heathrow, London. Despite widespread public protest, including internationally, the case against Mr Omotade is going ahead, although his trial (due to take place Tomorrow Thursday 18th September at Uxbridge Magistrates Court) has been adjourned ? no new date yet. He sends his heartfelt thanks everyone who wrote messages of support.
Join a peaceful protest the day before at 12 noon, WEDNESDAY 17 SEPTEMBER, 2008, at British Airways PLC, Waterside (HAA3), Harmondworth, UB7 0GB.
Mr Omotade asks: “What would you do if someone on your flight was
distressed and crying out for help? Would you stay silent or would you
speak? I spoke and B A didn’t like it. This type of corporate tyranny
must be challenged and stopped.”
More details: Respect Nigerians Coalition: http://www.respectnigerians.com/BoycottBA.pdf
Note: the recently failed charter airline & tour operator XL Airways was previously forced by activist pressure to pull out from deportation flights. More pressure can and must be put on airlines not to participate in forced removals and deportations.
Continue reading Asylum seekers and fellow passengers resist airline deportations. Resistance is not futile!
Judge describes Nottingham ‘illegal’ worker “a perfectly respectable man who fled from Zimbabwe.”
At last, some recognition of the crazy way the British state treats asylum seekers, whilst allowing the populist press and racist troublemakers to call them scroungers. Even though he’d had to obtain fake documents to work and earn a living, Nottingham Evening Post reported that, Judge Dudley Bennett described a Zimbawean man Weldone Javangwe as a “perfectly respectable man” who has contributed to the Nottingham community. “You have been paying your taxes and you have not been a drain on our society in any way.” […] The decision was welcomed by Regis Manyanya, chairman of the Nottingham Zimbabwean Community Network, which campaigns for Zimbabweans refused asylum to be given the right to work. He said: “There are a lot of people in the same situation. Because they are living in destitution some of them feel they have no option but to work illegally. Some are being pushed into prostitution. “They are hard-working and want to make a living, but because of the system they are forced into committing these types of crime.”
Until the day when people are able to escape war and torture freely without borders, all asylum seekers should be able to work so they can try and avoid destitution while they concentrate on their cases and appeals, without this unnecessary additional hassle from vehicle licensing snoopers, immigration officials, police and the so-called justice system.
Continue reading Judge describes Nottingham ‘illegal’ worker “a perfectly respectable man who fled from Zimbabwe.”
Cardiff Gay Radical Artist Asylum Seeker Snatched! Protest Wednesday.
Babakhan Badalov, (Babi) the openly gay, internationally renowned radical artist and poet from Azerbaijan was arrested on the morning of 16th September during a reporting session in Cardiff. There will be a protest on Wednesday 17th September against Babi?s incarceration outside of the place where he was grabbed; the UK Border Agency offices at 31-33 Newport Road, Cardiff at 12 noon. All are welcome. This protest will only last one hour so people can come along in their lunch-breaks, and show your support with any banners or placards that you are able to make. Details and complains to Home Office from No Borders Wales. Friend and activist Hywel Bishop said: ?I?ve never seen anyone so scared. If Babi gets sent home he faces persecution from the state for his art, beatings from the local community, as well as the threat of honour killing from his family because they can?t live with the fact that he?s gay.?
On the same day, in Nottingham, a Zimbabwean women was detained at The Bridewell police station. There are many more signing detentions and dawn raids we don’t hear about. The inhuman harassment of asylum seekers in Britain is continuous. How much clearer can it be that nation states are the enemy of any freedom-loving person?
Continue reading Cardiff Gay Radical Artist Asylum Seeker Snatched! Protest Wednesday.
‘Operation Protector’ harasses foreign workers prior to Labour Party conference (plus repression of ‘Poor People’s March’ in USA)
In an outrageous act of media manipulation, Greater Manchester Police announced a couple of weeks ago that “A major operation to police the 2008 Labour Party Annual Conference has resulted in the arrest of three more people on suspicion of immigration offences.”
http://www.citylocal.co.uk/cities/Manchest…/article/24583/
The news follows removal of one Manchester resident with expired work permit that has already resulted from GMP’s proudly proclaimed ‘Operation Protector’. This major (and presumably expensive) security operation to protect the Labour Party against the most dangerous kind of terrorist mastermind in Manchester, that is, someone working their butt off in a hotel or other city centre venue (allegedly) without 100% correct visa/passport, seems to be geared for maximum publicity effect. Time and time again, migrant workers get criminalised just for surviving, in a world of uncertainty and war created by the same nation states with their armies and police forces. That these authorities can go round making out that harassing a few immigrants, most likely a result of stop & searching anyone with a dark skin, will keep warmongering politicians safe from terrorist threats inside their cosy conference centres, is a slur on all of the hardworking and exploited people that modern capitalist economies depend on.
Read earlier article or go to http://www.nobordersmanchester.blogspot.com/ to read about about No Borders action at the Labour Party Conference (from 19th Sept).
Click on ‘Read more’ for a report about police repression outside Republican National Convention in USA on Labor Day earlier this week.
Continue reading ‘Operation Protector’ harasses foreign workers prior to Labour Party conference (plus repression of ‘Poor People’s March’ in USA)
AMDANI JUMA: SHORT FILMS ON YOUTUBE
Set the Precedent – Let Amdani Juma Stay; Amdani Juma ? Meet The Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xyHu3GeNYkA
Vital Link To Vulnerable And At Risk Groups – Amdani Juma ? Meet The Man 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5dHbreFshA
Support Amdani?s campaign to remain in the UK by signing the following petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/amdani/petition.html
Continue reading AMDANI JUMA: SHORT FILMS ON YOUTUBE