Emergency protest this Friday: Protect vulnerable children! Stop the Deportation of Hassanat and her daughters!

Update: Nick Brown MP, the MP for Newcastle East, has acted on all the emails and phone calls people have made asking him to raise Hassanat's case. He has Nick made representations to the Home Office today regarding the case and is awaiting a response. But we cannot stop here, below are details of a protest to stop the deportation, and any more pressure which can be put on other MP's could be crucial. Keep up the emails and calls!

Emergency protest this Friday: Protect vulnerable children! Stop the Deportation of Hassanat Omeneke Aliyu and her three daughters! (Home Office ref: A1432864/5).

What: protest to stop the deportation of Hassanat and her daughters

When: Friday 1^st February, 12noon

Where: North Shields Immigration reporting centre, Northumbria House, Norfolk Street, North Shields NE30 1LN (2 mins from North Shields Metro station)

Press contact: Danny 07944442923

Hassanat's second asylum claim was rejected this week, and she is due to be deported with her daughters (7 and a half, 5 and 3 years old) this Friday 1st February. Hassanat fled Nigeria in 2006 with her one year old daughter, who was threatened with Female Genital Cutting (FGC). They were trafficked to Britain and have been living here for 6 and a half years, and are currently living in Newcastle. Hassanat now has three young daughters who have grown up here and become part of the community, attending Byker Primary School.

A parliamentary enquiry revealed today (Wednesday 30^th January) that thousands of children and their families seeking asylum in Britain are being forced into severe poverty and destitution because of extremely low levels of support.

Sarah Teather MP said: ‘The evidence we have heard is shocking and appalling. It is an affront to this country’s proud tradition of giving sanctuary to those fleeing danger and violence. We have to ask ourselves, what sort of country do we want to be? One that protects vulnerable children, or one that allows them to go destitute, scared and hungry?' 

Matthew Reed, Chief Executive of The Children’s Society said: 'Thousands of children and families are being abandoned and literally left destitute because the system is failing them...No child, no matter who they are or where they’re from, should be treated with such a complete lack of human dignity'.

Despite this enquiry detailing the appalling treatment of child refugees, whose welfare UKBA and the Home Office have a responsibility to protect, and which they could easily do so by granting Hassanat and her three young daughters the right to remain in Britain, UKBA are still seeking to deport them to a situation where there is a very real danger that they will be subject to Female Genital Cutting and human trafficking – the very situation they fled from in the first place. This is just another example of the contempt the British government has for the children of asylum seekers.

In June this year Hassanat’s eldest daughter will have lived in this country for 7 years. Under the European Convention to protect Human Rights (ECHR) if an applicant is under the age of 18 and has lived continuously in Britain for at least 7 years then they should be granted leave to remain. She has lived here for nearly 7 years and spent all of her formative life here, to deport her now would be a breach of her human rights, and consequently the Home Secretary would be in breach of her obligations under the ECHR.

The Head Teacher of their school, Linda Bradley, said in a letter to the Home Office: ‘Since Ms Aliyu’s daughters...joined our school... they have made many friends and have formed good relationships with adults...They not only attend school eagerly but also attend many of the after school clubs...As they no longer know their home language and think of themselves as British, I would urge you to reconsider your decision.’

The UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) and other agencies of the United Nations have stated that refugee and asylum status should be granted to women and girls fleeing their country to escape genital mutilation. The actions of the British government are directly contradicting this. The British government committed to opt into the EU’s directive on human trafficking in July 2011. The directive is focused on 'prevention and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims'. Their attempts to deport Hassanat and her children prove this to be a lie. We only ask them to live up to their promises on human trafficking, and comply with the UNHCR's statement on FGC.

What you can do

1. Contact the airline - British Airways
2. Contact the Home Secretary
3. Contact your MP/Hassanat's local MP/Other MPs

4. Spread this email and information as widely as possible

1. Contact British Airways and ask them not to carry Hassanat Omeneke Aliyu (Home Office ref: A1432864/5) and her children against their will. .

The flight details are flight BA75 (to Lagos, Nigeria) at 10.30am on 1st February 2013.

You can phone, fax or email:

Telephone: 0844 493 0787
Fax: 01787883195
Web form: https://www.britishairways.com/travel/custrelform/public/en_gb

2. Write to the Home Secretary

You can fax or email. A template is attached and pasted at the end of this email - state your own organisation or name or write on behalf of TCAR.
Include: 'In light of the risk of harm Hassanat Omeneke Aliyu and her children face in Nigeria, and the settled life they have made in the UK over the last 6 years , I urge you to use your powers as Home Secretary to cancel Hassanat's removal directions and grant her leave to remain.'

The email addresses to use are:

mayt@parliament.uk
UKBApublicenquiries@UKBA.gsi. gov.uk
CITTO@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Privateoffice.external@ homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
pscorrespondence@cabinet- office.gsi.gov.uk

The fax number is: 0207 0354745 (when faxing from outside the UK, use 00 44 2070354745).

3. Email your MP, or other MP's

We need to raise Hassanat's case with as many MP's as possible - especially those who have spoken out against trafficking and FGM or in support of refugees. The attached letter can be adapted for an email to any/all of the details below:

Mark Harper MP, minister of state for immigration and chair of the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group (IDMG)

Tel: 01452 371630 / Fax: 0845 0090109
Email: fod@gloucestershireconservatives.com / mark.harper.mp@parliament.uk

Nick Brown MP, Labour Party, Newcastle upon Tyne East

Tel: 0191 261 1408/Fax: 0191 261 1409  -  E-mail: nickbrownmp@parliament.uk

Chi Onwurah MP, Labour Party, Newcastle upon Tyne Central

Tel: 0191 232 5838 - Email: chi.onwurah.mp@parliament.uk

Catherine McKinnell MP, Labour Party, Newcastle upon Tyne North

Tel: 0191 229 0352 - Email: catherine.mckinnell.mp@parliament.uk

John McDonnell MP, Labour Party, Hayes and Harlington - has supported anti-deportation campaigns

Tel: 020 8569 0010/Fax: 020 8569 0109 - Email: mcdonnellj@parliament.uk 

All these MP's signed a statement opposing FGM in Oct 2012:

Jeremy Browne MP (Minister of State for Crime Prevention, Home Office)

Tel: 01823 337874 - Email: brownej@parliament.uk

Helen Grant MP (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Minister for Victims and the Courts, Ministry of Justice)

Tel: 02072197107 - Email: helen.grant.mp@parliament.uk

Anna Soubry MP Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of Health)

Tel: 0115 9436507 - Email: anna.soubry.mp@parliament.uk

Edward Timpson MP (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Children and Families))

Tel: 020 7219 8027 - Email: timpsone@parliament.uk

Template Email text

Dear [MP/Home Secretary etc],

I am writing from to ask for your help in stopping the deportation of Hassanat Omeneke Aliyu (Home Office ref: A1432864/5) and her three young daughters who are 7 and a half years old, 5 years old and 3 years old.

Action needs to be taken urgently: the Home Office have refused her second asylum claim and intend to deport the family to Nigeria this Friday 1^st February. We need your support in building the campaign to stop her deportation. Please take up the case by formally supporting the campaign and raising it with the Home Secretary and UKBA. 

Hassanat fled Nigeria in 2006 with her one year old daughter, who was threatened with Female Genital Cutting (FGC). They were trafficked to Britain and have been living here for 6 and a half years, and are currently living in Newcastle. Hassanat now has three young daughters who have grown up in Britain and become part of the community, all currently attending Byker primary school.

The British government committed to opt into the EU’s directive on human trafficking in July 2011. The directive is focused on 'prevention and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims'.

The Labour party has consistently spoken out against trafficking, with Shadow farming Minister Huw Irranca-Davies MP stating in October: 'There is no place for human trafficking in any part of our economy.' Action is needed to back up these words.

Despite the Coalition government’s promise to tackle human trafficking and their commitment to better protect the victims, realising that in many instances those who are exploited never fully recover from their traumatic experience, the Home Office claims Hassanat to be a liar and is in effect punishing Hassanat, a victim of human trafficking, and her children, forcing them to endure even more traumatic experiences. 

Her daughters have grown up here, two of them were born here, uprooting them from this will undoubtedly cause stress and psychological damage and if they are deported then all of her daughters will be under serious threat of FGC. The UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) and other agencies of the United Nations have stated that refugee and asylum status should be granted to women and girls fleeing their country to escape genital cutting. The actions of the British government are directly contradicting this.

 

The government has some very fine words to say about protecting victims. We only ask that they put these words into practice and give Hassanat and her daughters indefinite leave to remain in Britain.

We would greatly appreciate your help in this matter and urgently request a response.

Kind regards

[Your name]