The Home Office was compelled to back down from its plan to start forcibly removing people to South Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) on 28 August by the level of opposition.
Now thousands of Iraqi Kurds across Europe are waiting anxmake another attempt to remove some of the five thou sand or so living here who have been refused protection. If Britain can succeed other European states will soon follow.
Lawyers say that further legal challenges are likely only when people get removal directions. But preparation of up to date medical reports, including on mental health issues and Recently five couples have announced that
they will be campaigning publicly for the right to stay together in Britain,
under the banner
Brides without
Borders - and appealed for other
people in similar
situations to join
them. evidence of past or prospective torture, as well as of family ties here should be prepared now in readiness for that moment.
Up to date assessments will also be needed of the situation in Iraq, though both the Home Office and the courts determinedly ignored the political and human rights problems in South Kurdistan - which is why so many people were refused asylum in the first place.
UNHCR issued a new report on September 27 which urged countries to suspend removals to South and Central Iraq but equivocates on the question of returns to South Kurdistan. A close reading indicates that it accepts that even forced returns may be OK, though with caveats and leaving room for exceptions. This will undoubtedly be used by the Home Office.
The British authorities have been using ever more brutal to try and crush the spirits of asylum seekers and make it easier to deport them. Two measures are currently being particularly targeted at Iraqi Kurds.
People receiving Section 4 hard case support are being pressurised to sign letters agreeing that they will return voluntarily to South Kurdistan. They are told they will lose this support and hence their accommodation if they don't.
But if they do sign it will seriously undermine any legal objection to deportation, even if they say they did so under duress. It is not thought that many people have given in so far, but if they are going to continue to resist they will need broad support
The other pressure is the threat of detention. Recently two or three hundred Iraqi Kurds were detained (though most have now been released), mainly when they went to sign at police stations.
It seems that since, hundreds if not thousands have stopped signing, terrified of being detained and deported to at best a highly dangerous fate.
But failure to sign makes it significantly harder to win legal challenges, as the Home Office immediately classifies people as ausconders , crimilaising them to make them seem less worthy of protection.
However the fightback continues. Recently five couples (in three cases the men are Kurdish) supported by National Coalition Against Deportation Campaigns have announced that they will be campaigning publicly for the right to stay together in Britain, under the banner Brides without Borders - and appealed for other people in similar situations to join them.
The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees has also started approaching trade union leaders for support for its campaign to stop removals to Iraq, and Committee To Defend Asylum Seekers is producing a briefing and model resolution • For further information contact: Brides without Borders c/o [email protected] 07951 583353
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