Support Frank Mulami

On top of Precious Mhango case and the terrible deaths of Serge Serykh’s family – focus has been concentrated on the British States asylum and immigration policies. Now a new case of Frank Mulami is the latest to expose the brutality of a system that degrades us all.

“This has exposed how barbaric the system is,” says Robina Qureshi, director of the Glasgow charity Positive Action in Housing. “The Home Office has tried to skew this story by putting the blame on a dead family. We don’t believe for a moment that psychological issues were the only reason for this. We believe they were driven to the brink by asylum policy.”

Frank Mulami arrived in the UK from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2004, to seek sanctuary from persecution. His case has been rejected, and Frank is due to be forcibly removed this Thursday 18 March at 7pm. Frank desperately needs time to submit new evidence that he is in real danger if returned.

Please read Frank’s appeal and act now to put pressure on the Airline and Home Secretary to stop this flight and look again at his case in light of his new evidence of the risk of return. His anti-regime activism in the UK puts Frank at further risk, and the current situation in DRC is dire – a failing state where violence and brutal human rights abuses have dramatically increased since he fled the country. (http://bit.ly/ncadc-drc)

An Immigration Judge has confirmed that all refused asylum seekers are arrested and interrogated on arrival in DR Congo, but says Frank will not be in danger because the security services will accept the UK Border Agency’s opinion that he is not an opponent of the regime.  The judge’s belief in the worldwide respect for the UK justice system would be laughable, if it weren’t for the fact that he is putting a man’s life at risk.

Frank is an activist with the APARECO organisation, which campaigns against the DRC regime of President Kabila. The persecution of APARECO members in DRC is well documented, and recent case law in the UK has established that the regime “pays close attention to the political activities of DRC nationals in the UK ”, and that deported activists are in very real danger of being identified.

In common with all people fleeing persecution, Frank did not escape carrying the documentary evidence that would see him imprisoned and tortured if searched at the airport. Frank may not have been able to gather the evidence to convince the UKBA of his political activism in DRC, but there is a real danger that the spies of the Kabila regime have been gathering evidence of his ongoing activism in the UK .

Flight 101

Frank’s removal flight is on the notorious flight KQ101 from Heathrow. This Kenya Airways flight has been used by the Home Office to forcibly deport ‘failed’ asylum seekers to Nairobi, from where they are flown all over Africa and handed over to the local authorities.

According to human rights groups, this flight carries out the most Africa-bound removals of unsuccessful asylum applicants to the UK . It has also become a flight that has attracted allegations of abuse by guards.

Kenya Airways’ slogan is “The Pride of Africa” and like all large corporations they like to maintain a positive public image. Other airlines have in the past been persuaded not to carry passengers back to persecution, and sometimes the pressure has led to them canceling their deportation contracts with UKBA altogether.

More here:

http://ncadcworld.wordpress.com/category/dr-congo/
http://www.closedungavelnow.com/
http://unitycentreglasgow.org/
http://www.revolutionarycommunist.org/index.php/fight-racism/1612-racist-europe-tightens-screw-on-migrants–frfi-211-oct–nov-2009.html

Comments (2)

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  1. Scunnert says:

    My understanding is that Serge Serykh and his family had been offered asylum in Canada but after living there for some time had decided to reapply in the UK. So was he arguing that he was a refugee from Canada? Apparently he was!

    “Frank Mulami arrived in the UK from the Democratic Republic of Congo.” How many safe havens did Frank pass through before he reached the UK? I have visions of a camp full of “asylum seekers” in France just waiting for the opportunity to get to the UK and claim refugee status.

    When does empathy cross the line and become stupidity?

    1. bellacaledonia says:

      Surely a long time after stupidity becomes racism. I’m proud to have empathy to other human beings in difficult circumstances, and ashamed of the British States treatment of asylum seekers and Scotlands (apparent) inability to mark out a more just policy in line with our traditions of compassion.

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