AFGHAN ASYLUM SEEKER RELEASED

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Afghan asylum seeker released

by Adrian Troughton

An Afghan asylum seeker who was due to be deported has been released from detention.

Campaigners yesterday said they were delighted after Abdul Ghafar Rajabali arrived back in Leicester.

The 23-year-old, who feared he would be killed if sent back to Afghanistan, was taken to a detention centre near Gatwick airport 10 days ago.

However, the Home Office yesterday confirmed he had been released temporarily and that his case was being reviewed.

Pam Inder, chairman of the Leicester City of Sanctuary group, which has been working with Mr Rajabali, said all Mr Rajabali’s supporters were “very happy”.

She said: “We understand it is only a temporary release but it is always better not to be in prison than be in prison.

“Abdul’s position is still very precarious. At least he knows he is with friends.

“I have spoken to him on the phone and will see him in the next few days.”

Mr Rajabali’s parents and family were murdered when he was a baby.

He entered Britain illegally as a traumatised 16-year-old in August 2006, after fleeing to escape being forced to fight for the Taliban.

He applied for asylum but was turned down and started living rough in Leicester.

Mr Rajabali was detained on May 10 by the Border Agency. He was released on Wednesday night and arrived back in Leicester early yesterday morning.

Ms Inder said Mr Rajabali has been overwhelmed by the support he has received from people in Leicester.

She said: “He was very emotional when I spoke to him and he said he was very grateful for all the support from everyone in Leicester.

“As I understand it, he will have to have an interview with Home Office officials in the next few days and could even be re-detained.

“I must stress that this is not a solution to this matter and that it could rumble on for years before we get a final decision on whether Abdul can stay in this country.”

Leicester City of Sanctuary has helped Mr Rajabali in his dealings with the Border Agency. The group started an e-petition calling on Home Secretary Teresa May to stop his deportation, which has so far been backed by more than 3,500 people.

Leicester South MP Jon Ashworth, who took up Mr Rajabali’s case with the Home Office, welcomed the news he had been released from detention.

He said: “I am pleased that Mr Rajabali has been released from the detention centre and is back in Leicester with friends and supporters.

“We shall carry on supporting him in his fight to stay in the UK.”

A Home Office spokesman confirmed Mr Rajabali had been released on Wednesday.

He said: “Mr Rajabali was released from detention after providing further information in relation to his case, which is now being considered.”

ASYLUM SEEKER'S FRIENDS HOPING FOR LATE REPRIEVE

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Asylum seeker's friends hoping for late reprieve

by Tom Mack

Supporters of a failed asylum seeker from Afghanistan are hoping for a last minute victory as he prepares to be deported.

Yesterday, Abdul Ghafar Rajabali, 23, was moved to a detention centre near Gatwick Airport ready to be flown out of the UK.

The news came as a shock to his friends in Leicester.

At the same time on Sunday afternoon, about 60 of his supporters gathered in Victoria Park, Leicester, where they had planned to sing to Abdul down the telephone to show their support.

Colleen Molloy, who helped organised Sunday’s event, said: “It was quite traumatic.

“We had all come together to make one final plea for him and we rang him up hoping to sing to him.

“We thought he was still at the detention centre in Lincolnshire.

“We couldn’t get through when we tried his phone and a while later we got a call to say he was being transported to a detention centre at Gatwick Airport, which was why his phone was off.

“He never got to hear the crowds singing for him.”

Orphan Abdul fled to Leicester when he was 16, in August 2006, to escape being forced to fight for the Taliban rebels in his home country.

He fears that he will be killed if he is sent back because he has converted to Christianity.

He went through the usual channels to apply for asylum but after missing an important appointment he went on the run from the authorities and lived rough, eventually ending up in Leicester.

He was detained on May 10 by the Borders Agency.

Speaking to the Leicester Mercury from the Lincolnshire detention centre last week, Abdul said: “I am scared. I cannot go back to Afghanistan, I will be killed because I am now a Christian.

“I love England and I love Leicester.”

Colleen said lawyers were still hoping to stop Abdul being put on a plane home.

She said: “He has a legal team and they’re still working on his case and they’re hoping to get a reprieve at the last minute.

“Abdul’s only ambition is to be at peace.

“He arrived here alone and terrified and he is the sweetest, kindest, gentlest person you could know and he is feeling not just stressed about what he expects to be his impending death if he’s returned to Afghanistan, but all about all the people he misses so much in Leicester.”

Supporter Dave Jones, 23, of Leicester city centre, who used to play football with Abdul in Victoria Park every weekend, said: “Abdul is really integrated here and he’s one of us.

“He’s been let down by the authorities time and time again and now they want to send him to Afghanistan - it just makes no sense.”

A Home Office spokesperson said the Government and the courts were satisfied there was no reason to allow Abdul to stay in the UK.

ITV FILMS RALLY FOR ABDUL IN VICTORIA PARK

Friends of Abdul at the rally in Victoria Park. Photo by Ambrose Musiyiwa, publishing as Civic Leicester (used with permission)

At Victoria Park this morning, for an open-air protest against the impending deportation to Afghanistan of Abdul Ghafar Rajabali. The rally, organised by Abdul's friends in Leicester City of Sanctuary, takes place on the five-a-side pitches, where Abdul would turn out on a Sunday morning for FC Kolektivo Victoria. His team mates are here supporting it too.

One of his friends places a call to Abdul in IRC Morton Hall, where he's been held, so that he might hear some of our support for him this morning. She's shocked to hear that Abduk has already been removed from the detention centre and is on his way to Gatwick, where he'll be put into a holding area to await his flight to Afghanistan. He's not scheduled to leave till after midnight on Wednesday 22nd. This doesn't mean that all is lost; his friends will keep working for his release till the last possible moment.

A film crew from ITV records the event today. A report was broadcast this afternoon and can be seen on YouTube.

I should say that I'm here in a personal capacity, rather than representing Leicester Council of Faiths. However I'm here, I'm glad to be able to give whatever support I can.

For more information about the ongoing campaign to keep Abdul in the UK and to see what you can do to help, even at this late stage, visit the Facebook page.

IF I'M SENT BACK TO KABUL I WILL BE KILLED

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

If I'm sent back to Kabul I will be killed

by Tim Healy

Campaigners are calling for a 23-year-old failed Afghani asylum-seeker to be allowed to remain in Leicester, saying he will be killed if he is deported.

Abdul Ghafar Rajabali's parents and family were murdered when he was a baby, and he entered Britain illegally as a traumatised 16-year-old in August 2006 after fleeing.

He applied for asylum but was turned down and started living rough.

He was later found destitute by the Red Cross.

Because he has extreme post-traumatic stress syndrome and a medical condition which, say campaigners, could not be treated in Afghanistan, Mr Rajabali was allowed to stay in the UK while his medical case was reviewed.

However, that permission ended last week and when he attended a routine reporting session with the immigration authorities in Loughborough on Friday, he was detained by UK Border Agency staff.

Mr Rajabali, who has converted to Christianity, was taken to Morton Hall Detention Centre, in Lincolnshire, and faces being put on a flight to Kabul at midnight on Tuesday.

The Leicester City of Sanctuary group, which has been working with Mr Rajabali, has launched an e-petition calling on Home Secretary Teresa May to stop his deportation.

It has so far been backed by more than 1,100 people.

The group said he was wrongly treated as an adult when he arrived in the UK, and was put at a disadvantage because the translator used by the UK Border Agency did not understand the dialect he spoke.

He also inadvertently missed an asylum hearing and, fearing he would be deported as a result, went under the radar of the authorities which resulted in him living on the streets.

The group said Mr Rajabali was preparing a claim for asylum "based on new evidence" when he was detained, and wants him released so the application can be heard.

Speaking from the detention centre, Mr Rajabali said: "I am scared. I cannot go back to Afghanistan, I will be killed because I am now a Christian.

"Not only will the Taliban kill me, but other religious groups too. I love England and I love Leicester. The police are very good here. They do not hit you if you ask a question."

Pam Inder, chairman of Leicester City of Sanctuary, said Mr Rajabali had "touched the hearts of everyone who knows him" in Leicester.

She said: "Abdul is an illegal immigrant, but he is a very special person. He is intelligent and kind and would be a very good addition to our society."

She said Mr Rajabali would be killed if he went back to Afghanistan, a country where he has no family does not know anyone who could help him.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Every asylum application is carefully considered on a case by case basis.

"The UK only returns individuals if both the Home Office and the courts are satisfied they do not need our protection and have no legal basis to remain in the country.

"Mr Rajabali's case has been considered and rejected by the courts and he failed to attend an appeal hearing before an independent judge."

LEICESTER CITY OF SANCTUARY AGM

Hotfoot from the Faith Awareness Summer Visit to the Jain Centre, I head for the Annual General Meeting of Leicester City of Sanctuary in St Andrew's Church Hall, Jarrom Street, hardly ten minutes' walk away. Except when I get there, there's a different event entirely going on. Once I get someone to open the door to me, I discover that unintentional double booking; seems I missed an email about the change of venue. An apologetic Canon Barry Naylor first invites me into the warmth and offers food and drink, but I demur (even though it's bloomin' freezing out and I haven't had my tea). He points me in the direction of St Margaret's Church Hall where I'll find the City of Sanctuary AGM. That's a little more than ten minutes' walk but I feel committed now, so off I go.

Just a few hours ago I was asked (via Facebook) to sign an electronic petition through Change.org ("the world's petition platform") to release Abdul Ghafar Rajabali and halt his deportation. I did so and shared it with my Facebook friends. By the time I reach St Margaret's Church Hall, I see that 20 of them have also signed - and I imagine that some of them will have shared the petition with their own friends.

Even though I arrive at the venue just as the meeting is breaking up, I hope it's still worth showing my face. I want to express support not only for City of Sanctuary as an organisation and for what they are doing about Abdul's plight, but also lend personal support to a few friends who have been leading the campaign for Abdul's release.

Photos by Ambrose Musiyiwa, publishing as Civic Leicester. Reproduced by permission. More of Ambrose's photos from this meeting may be seen online.