Dear Supporters
There is a second summer deportation charter flight to Zimbabwe on 25th August, only 1 month after the last. This also follows mass deportations to Vietnam in July and Jamaica last week where of 90 people targeted only 7 were deported but still 7 people torn from their homes and families. Our thoughts are with them and their loved ones.
But the low numbers actually deported on these flights demonstrate they should never have been targeted in the first place.
Last week following the flight to Jamaica which was operated by Spanish airline Wamos Air, BARAC UK, Black and Asian Lawyers for Justice together with the organisations which co-organised the Zimbabwe petition met along with community groups also campaigning against deportations and detention and agreed some actions to campaign against this deepening hostile and racist environment faced by migrant communities in the UK and we will update you with actions to get involved in.
Apologies for cross posting but I am sharing an update below already shared on our stop deportations to Zimbabwe petition.
Please read on for some actions you can take and be involved in.
17 AUG 2021 —
Dear Supporters
Since the deportation flight to Zimbabwe last month there has also been a mass deportation flight to Vietnam and just last week to Jamaica. Of 90 people targeted for the deportation flight to Jamaica, just 7 were deported.
Only 14 of the targeted 150 were on the plane to Zimbabwe in July but we are concerned about the safety of those who were deported which included a man with mental ill health and disability who was dependent on the care of his mother and family in the UK.
Now the UK government have organised another charter flight mass deportation next week on 25th August.
Some of those booked on the flight will include people not deported on the July flight due to successful legal challenges, including in relation to covid outbreaks in detention centres.
In previous updates we told you about the case of aspiring footballer Christopher Arundell who was amongst those taken off the plane.
Background here:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-57917683.amp
I am glad to report that Christopher has recently been granted bail.
Amongst those with a removal notice for the forthcoming flight is a young man I spoke with today who was detained recently when signing in with the Home Office so it there is a mixture of people targeted including those who were taken off the previous flight and those newly detained.
This young man told me he came to the UK aged 8 years old. His father died when he was aged just 4 years old and two years later his mother fled Zimbabwe due to the political situation, but had to leave him and 1 of his siblings in the care of friends forc2 years as she was unable to bring all 5 of her children with her when she fled.
He came to the UK as a refugee and completed all his education in England attending primary and secondary school, college and university where he studied English literature, here.
Whilst at university he went home for the holidays and was arrested under now defunct joint enterprise law for something he had no involvement in and was placed in prison on remand. On his release he was electronically tagged and made to stay in his home town preventing him from returning to university in London.
This led to other issues and a further custodial sentenceof 2.5 years. As a result his refugee status was revoked.
Despite these issues and his immigration status being on limbo he sought to turn his life around and is a talented songwriter and rapper , respected within the music industry and his colleagues within it supporting his campaign to remain in the UK alongside his local MP who immediately took action when I contacted them.
His mother and 4 siblings are all live in the UK and he has nobody in Zimbabwe. He has spent the vast majority of his life in the UK from a young child.
In addition he has a partner who is 7 months pregnant and they are expecting their baby in October, a baby he fears he may never see if deported.
I was concerned to learn from him that at Colnbrook detention centre an entire wing of some 50 to 60 people are believed to have contracted coronavirus.
Whilst he is on a different wing, the outbreak of covid has meant that he is also isolated on another wing and not allowed out apart from a short period each day for exercise. It also means he has not been able to access the computer room and only has the basic phone, limited to calls and texts only, issued to him in detention.
Actions you can take now to help:
1. We need your support again to stand in solidarity with the #Zimbabwe150 and to take action to #stoptheplane. Please tweet @UKHomeOffice and ask them to stop these deportations.
Those who fled Zimbabwe due to the political situation face persecution if returned as well as isolation and destitution plus the trauma for them and their family in the UK of being torn apart.
2. You can also adapt our template letter we drafted regarding the July flight here, just remember to change the date from 21st July to 25th August.
Please also add your address so your MP can see you are a constituent.
3. We also have a template letter referring to all the deportation flights here:
4. On 21st August the Zimbabwe Human Rights Organisation have organised a #walkforfreedom, details here: https://www.zhro.org.uk/15-105km-walks/65-walk-for-freedom-update-2
5. On 28th of August there will be a UK wide day of action against TUI who are responsible for the majority of charter flight deportations with simultaneous actions in several locations. Follow the hashtag #TUIDropDeportations for details.
Thank you for your support.
Please use the hashtags:
#Zimbabwe150
#stoptheplane
#ZimbabweanLivesMatter
#TUIDropDeportations
#walkforfreedom
Regards
Zita
Zita Holbourne
National Chair BARAC UK
Link to the update here:
https://www.change.org/p/uk-home-office-stop-the-charter-flight-deportations-to-zimbabwe/u/29471785
Update regarding the young man mentioned above whose name is Tawanda. We both were interviewed on BBC Leicester last night and our thanks go to Tawanda's local MP Claudia Webbe for her support also. This morning Tawanda tested positive for covid-19. It is very worrying that coronavirus is spreading fast through Colnbrook detention centre. But we would not expect him to be put on a flight with coronavirus either.
Here are some news updates:
https://www.zimeye.net/2021/08/19/second-uk-deportation-confirmed/
https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20210813/deportation-fight-not-over
https://www.cvmtv.com/news/major-stories/uk-deportation-flight-arrives-in-jamaica-with-7-people/
Thanks to everyone who has forwarded copies of replies from.their MPs and for writing to them.
Please follow us on twitter @baracuk for updates and actions.
Kind Regards
Zita
Zita Holbourne
National Chair BARAC UK