It's great news for Sherko, who won his appeal against deportation and who now has gained right to remain in the UK. After 20 yeras living with the fear of deportation hanging over him, Sherko is now able to get on and build a future in the UK.

Many many thanks to tens of thousands of you who signed the petition to help the campaign.

https://www.change.org/AmmarMustStay

But now another refugee who like Sherko had made Chesterfield his home is facing deportation to Rawanda.

Ammar Allodatallah fled the horrors of his war-torn homeland Syria and came to Britain seeking asylum, and lived for over a year in Chesterfield. On April 31st, at 5.am, Immigration Officers entered Ammar’s home, took him from his bed and forcibly transported him to a detention centre near Heathrow Airport, to await deportation to Rwanda. His mental health is  rapidly deteriorating as he is being treated like a criminal, locked in a cell for 12 hours each night, fearful that his sanctuary in the UK is being ended. 

The Home Office filmed and broadcast his detention on national TV, to  demonstrate their power and to try frighten all asylum seekers. Friends and family of Ammar are shocked and devastated and are now seeking your  support.

Ammar arrived in Chesterfield in July 2022. He was very eager to learn English, joined informal English Language classes, before enrolling at Chesterfield College. All his teachers testify to his good character. He is an active, keen and able student, always willing to help others, always polite and respectful.

Syria was designated an ‘unsafe’ country under the Government’s ‘fast track’ asylum system, so Ammar was hopeful he would be granted Leave to Remain, like many of his peers. However, in November 2023 he was moved to Coventry. This meant leaving his studies and his friends, and waiting for his claim to be heard has impacted on his mental health.

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION:                                                                            

Ammar has wide support from his family, friends and volunteers he has met. His teachers are providing character references for his appeal against deportation. We urge you to sign in order to keep up Ammar’s morale and to show the Home Office that they cannot treat asylum seekers in this way. International Law requires that asylum seekers have the right to claim refugee status. 

You signing and sharing the #SherkoMustStay petition played a key role in helping him and the most difficult point in his life.

Please follow the link  to https://www.change.org/AmmarMustStay to reach out to Ammar and take a stand against the government's cruel Rwanda policy.