Raul denied medical attention and visitors but still determined to fight. Nine ways you can help.

‘I really appreciate all of the support and hopefully soon I will be back in the Toon. I’m positive that everything is going to be alright – losing is not an option – we are going to continue to fight them. The support I am getting is giving me courage and massive hope. I know there are a lot of soldiers out there fighting for me. Most of the people don’t know me but they are willing to fight for me, I salute them.’ Raul Ally

Raul has been on hunger strike since Wednesday 10th April – from the first day he was put back into immigration detention. The only time a doctor has examined Raul was on Wednesday 17th April. Raul said ‘when the doctor saw me he told me to stop the hunger strike. I told him that I’m not here to eat.  I got food at home that is cooked everyday.’  The healthcare workers in the immigration prison work for UKBA. The racist doctor signed Raul off saying he was fit to fly – to be deported. This was after Raul had been on hunger strike for a week. He is now in his thirteenth day of hunger strike, his blood sugar levels are very low at 2.9 mmol/l. He is in desperate need of proper medical attention by independent doctors in a hospital – by people who do not carry out the bidding of UKBA and lie about a person’s health in order for them to be deported. He needs to be seen not only because of his hunger strike but also because of the injuries he incurred at the hands of private security firm Tascor when they violently dragged Raul to the plane, choking and handcuffing him, leaving him with cuts to his hands and arms, his hands numb and his legs soar and bruised. He has received no treatment for this.

On Sunday 21st April a friend of Raul’s tried to visit him at the prison, because of the hunger strike the nurses said Raul was too weak to go to the visiting room but UKBA would not allow his friend to come to the room, where hunger-strikers are held, to see him. In their eyes he is fit to be deported but not fit enough to see a friendly face and get emotional support. This is another breach of Raul’s human rights and needs to be challenged. There are another three men on this unit, one of whom has been on hunger strike for 20 days. Sadly Raul’s is not an isolated incident but occurs frequently within ‘democratic’ and ‘civilised’ Britain, with one person being deported every 8 minutes and subject to racist oppression at the hands of the Home Office and UKBA and the private companies they hire to carry out their dirty work.

  

Raul has been receiving messages of solidarity from all over the country: Glasgow, Dundee, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, London…

He said ‘I really appreciate all of the support and hopefully soon I will be back in the Toon. I’m positive that everything is going to be alright – losing is not an option – we are going to continue to fight them. The support I am getting is giving me courage and massive hope. I know there are a lot of soldiers out there fighting for me. Most of the people don’t know me but they are willing to fight for me, I salute them.’

Nine ways you can help:

1. Come to the protest: Kick a football at immigration prisons! Free! Free! Raul Ally!

Wednesday 24^th April, 4pm 
Grey’s Monument, Newcastle upon Tyne

Children welcome

We are protesting in solidarity with his struggle to get him free and stop any future deportation.

Raul is a big Newcastle United fan and has played for lots of local teams. Most recently he played in midfield for Gatheshead FC youth team before being snatched by UKBA, and has also played for Gateshead Redheugh, Ashington FC and Stocksfield.

Come to the protest where we will have a five-a-side goal set-up, footballs, a PA system for music and speeches and pictures of Raul.

His team mates will be coming to support him - wear football shirts, kick a football at immigration prisons and speak-out against racism!

2. Please continue to contact Colnbrook to demand he is seen by an external doctor and complain that he is being denied the right to see visitors:

You will need to quote Raul's Home Office reference number A1359895 and his detainee number 6139202 as they may have him in the system under a different name

Tel: 020 86075200

Then press option 1

Then press 310 (healthcare) Or 354 (UKBA staff in Colnbrook)

Fax: 020 87597996

3. Call Medical Justice who will take a complaint regarding the health of a refugee. 

Tel: 02075617498

4. Write letters of support to Raul

(Raul Ally, Home Office ref: A1359895)
Colnbrook immigration removal centre
Colnbrook Bypass
Harmondsworth
West Drayton
Middlesex
UB7 0FX

5. Contact Theresa May to urge her to use her powers as Home Secretary to release Raul, stop any future deportation and give him indefinite leave to remain.

Constituency phone number: 0118 934 5433

Twitter: @ukhomeoffice

Email: 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

Fax: 0207 0354745

6. Contact the immigration minister Mark Harper

Constituency Office: 01594 823 482

Westminster Office: 020 7219 5056

Email: mark.harper.mp@parliament.uk

7. Contact your MPs and councillors. Ask them to formally support the campaign, send us a quote and get them to put pressure on the Home Secretary. Even if they are not based in the northeast anything they can do will be helpful. For a list of all MPs see: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/ Please let us know what response you get: tynesidecarn@yahoo.co.uk, 07858346276

8. Mention the story below when speaking to the people above about Raul’s campaign. Colnbrook already has blood on its hands.

From the Guardian 14 April: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/14/asylum-seeker-death-investigated Asylum seeker death investigated by Home Office amid healthcare concerns. By Eric Allison

Khalid Shahzad, 52, died alone on train hours after release from Colnbrook removal centre after being deemed unfit for detention. The Home Office has launched an investigation into the case of an asylum seeker who died within hours of being discharged from an immigration removal centre (IRC) where he had been held for three months.

9. Contact national press and local press to urge them to cover the story

National Newspapers
The Daily Mirror

Phone:         0800 282 591

    Email:        mirrornews@mirror.co.uk
The Guardian

Phone:         020 3353 2000

    Email:         national@guardian.co.uk
The Observer

Phone:        (same as for The Guardian)

    Email:         news@observer.co.uk
The Independent

Phone:         020 7005 2000

    Email:        newseditor@independent.co.uk
The Telegraph

Phone:         020 7931 2000

    Email:        dtnews@telegraph.co.uk    stnews@telegraph.co.uk
Metro

Phone:         020 3615 0600

    Email:        news.london@ukmetro.co.uk   

Raul Ally has NOT been deported!

The pilot refused to take Raul on the flight tonight, the plane has now left without him on it. We are currently waiting for more information to see where he is going to be taken, and will keep the blog updated.

Thank you to everyone who has helped over the last few days. Raul has stated that he will remain on hunger strike until he is released and back in Newcastle.

The fight against the racist British state continues. Together we are stronger!

End all deportations! Shut down all immigration prisons! FREE! FREE! RAUL ALLY!

PRESS RELEASE

TCAR has just sent out this press release:

Incident at Heathrow

'Raul Ally, an 18 year old Somali refugee from Tyneside, is currently being physically manhandled in Heathrow airport, in a forced deportation to Tanzania, a country he has never even been to before. Raul is due to be deported on Kenya Airways flight KQ101 at 8pm this evening. Raul is obviously in a distressed state and is causing a scene.

Raul (Home office reference number A1359895 detainee number 6139202) has been on hunger strike in Colnbrook immigration prison for nearly a week. He is not in a fit state to travel. Colnbrook immigration prison has been at the heart of another immigration scandal this week in a report in the Guardian on Sunday. Khalid Shahzad was deemed unfit to be detained and hours after been released he died. This happened just two weeks ago in Colnbrook.

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/14/asylum-seeker-death-investigated for more information

The following numbers may have up to date information 

Heathrow airport policing unit 0203 276 1235

Kenya Airlines: Central Office: 020 8283 1800 Heathrow Office: 020 8759 7366 

Or Home office (Immigration) 020 7035 4848'

If you have any time to phone press to flag up the incident below are some numbers.

National press:

Daily Mirror 0800282591 mirrornews@mirror.co.uk
Guardian 02033532000 national@guardian.co.uk and helen.pidd@guardian.co.uk (IMPORTANT to email her)
Observer news@observer.co.uk
Independent 02070052000 newseditor@independent.co.uk
Telegraph 02079312000 dtnews@telegraph.co.uk

Local press:

Northern Echo 01325505065
Journal 01912016446
Chronicle 01912016446 and 01912327500
Sunday Sun 01912016299
Gazette 01642234255
Sunderland Echo 01915015800
Metro Radio 01914883188
Capital FM 01133085150
Real Radio 01914407555
NE1FM 01912401025
Spark 01915152200
Spice FM 01912739888
Tyne Tees 08448815156 

Metro 02036150600 news.london@ukmetro.co.uk
North News 01912330223

PHONE CAMPAIGN against Raul's deportation today!

1) Continue to bombard Colnbrook and complain! Mention the death of Khalid Shahzad murdered at the hands of Colnbrook just 2 weeks ago!  

You will need to quote Raul's Home Office reference number A1359895 and his detainee number 6139202 as they may have him in the system under a different name 

Raul has been on hunger strike for nearly a week had has not had any medical attention in the last 2 days! Colnbrook have informed us that all detainees see a doctor each day, but Raul informed us this lunchtime that he last saw a nurse on Monday, has never seen a doctor during his stay and certainly hasn't seen any medical assistants in the last 2 days. Colnbrook are lying to us on this and we must expose them!  In addition, Colnbrook has been at the centre of a controversy in a report in the Guardian on Sunday. Khalid Shahzad was deemed unfit to be detained and hours after been released he died. This happened just two weeks ago in Colnbrook. Their treatment of asylum seekers is inhumane and deadly, Raul must be released into proper medical attention! Not detained or deported! Make sure you reference the article and the death of Khalid Shahzad when phoning Colnbrook. This treatment and torture is happening on a day to day basis and the previous Labour government boasted of deporting one person every 8 minutes!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/14/asylum-seeker-death-investigated

Colnbrook contact numbers:

Tel: 020 86075200

Then press option 1

Then press 310 (healthcare)

Or try: 020 86075200

Then press option 1

Then press 354 (UKBA staff in Colnbrook)

Fax: 020 87597996

We have been informed that Medical Justice 02075617498 will take a complaint regarding the health of a refugee. 

2) Continue to bombard Kenya Airlines with this information and mention the death of Khalid Shahzad. Raul has been on hunger strike for a week and is in no fit state to travel. Below is a draft text for an airline fax and complaints form which people can use and add to if necessary. 

Kenya Airlines:

complaints form: http://www.kenya- airways.com/Home/Customer_ Care/Feedback_Form/

The Kenya Airlines phone desk is refused to speak to anyone about Raul's case currently. So one idea is to fill out the customer complaints form first (you could use the information from the model fax below) then phone up to see if they have got it and request to speak to someone about the formal complaint you have just made. 

Central Office: 020 8283 1800

Heathrow Office: 020 8759 7366 

Passenger reservations: 020 8283 1818

Email: UKres@kenya-airways.com
Fax: 020 82831880

Model Fax:

Re: flight KQ101 from Heathrow Wednesday 17th, 8pm.

 

Dear Sir or Madam

 

I am writing to ask that you do not accept the commission from UKBA to deport Raul Ally (Home office reference number A1359895 Detainee number 6139202) on tonight's flight KQ101 8pm from Heathrow, Wednesday 17th April.

 

Raul is 18 years old and has lived in the north east of England since he came here from Somalia, when he was 12.  UKBA is trying to deport him against his will to Tanzania– a country he has never been to and has no connection to.  He is currently in Colnbrook immigration removal centre, where he is on hunger strike in protest against his detention and this planned deportation.

 

I believe that deporting Raul breaches both his right to family life (ECHR Article 8) and right to a fair trial (Article 6), as he still has an outstanding legal challenge to his deportation. Raul has been on hunger strike for nearly a week and is unfit to travel. I would like to draw your attention to the Guardian article 'Asylum seeker death investigated by Home Office amid healthcare concerns' published on 14 April 2013. It details the case of Khalid Shahzad who was deemed unfit to be detained and hours after been released he died. This happened just two weeks ago in Colnbrook, the same immigration prison that has been holding Raul Ally. I am concerned that Raul Ally's life is similarly under threat following his incarceration in Colnbrook. I am sure that Kenya Airlines do not want a controversy such as this to undermine their public image.

 

Please confirm that you will refuse to carry Raul on this flight.

 

Yours sincerely

3) Share the press coverage:

From the Chronicle 16 April 2013

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/north-east-teen-faces-deportation-2635916

North East teen faces deportation

A teenage refugee who has made the North East his home for six years fears he could be deported tomorrow  to a country he’s never been to.

Raul Ally moved to Newcastle with his mum when he was 12, fleeing war-torn Somalia following the death of his dad in a political protest.

He built a new life in Benton – attending schools in Gateshead, where he achieved a clutch of GCSEs and A-levels, and playing for local football teams. 

Raul had even successfully applied to start a degree in sports coaching at Sunderland University this September.

However, now aged 18, he is currently being held at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre  in Berkshire and has been told he could be deported as early as tomorrow.

Raul, who has begun a hunger strike, has also been informed he could be sent to Tanzania – a country he has never lived in and where he has no friends, no family and no prospects.

Yesterday, members of Tyneside Community Action Against Racism (TCAR) staged a protest at Grey’s Monument in Newcastle to raise awareness of Raul’s plight.

TCAR claims a judicial review into Raul’s case is yet to be concluded, which would make deportation at this stage illegal. Spokeswoman for the campaign group, Dionne Smith, said: “Raul came here when he was just a boy; he’s still a boy and he’s scared.

“Sending him to Tanzania, which has a completely different culture and language than Somalia, and where he knows no one, means he would have no way of any hope. The North East is his home. He has friends here, he has a life and he has a chance of a positive future.”

TCAR has written to Newcastle Central MP and shadow cabinet office minister Chi Onwurah, asking for her assistance.

A spokesman for Ms Onwurah said the MP has personally written to the Home Office to find out more about Raul’s situation.

Raul was detained by the UK Border Agency on April 10. Last summer, he was held for two months at Morton Hall IRC in Lincolnshire, but was released.

Since then, he had been attending the Immigration Reporting Centre in North Shields every week and  never missed an appointment.

In a written statement, Raul said: “There are people who are locked up who end up in a bad mental state because of all of the stress and not knowing what is going to happen to them. We need to continue fighting; we can’t let them get away with this.”

A press officer for the Home Office said it “could not comment on ongoing cases”

From the Guardian 14 April

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/14/asylum-seeker-death-investigated

Asylum seeker death investigated by Home Office amid  healthcare concerns- by Eric Allison 
Khalid Shahzad, 52, died alone on train hours after release from Colnbrook removal centre after being deemed unfit for detention. The Home Office has launched an investigation into the case of an asylum seeker who died within hours of being discharged from an immigration removal centre (IRC) where he had been held for three months.Colnbrook, near Heathrow airport, London. Photograph: Tim Ockenden/PA

The day before Khalid Shahzad, 52, was released he had collapsed and was judged unfit to be detained because of his poor health, but officials at Colnbrook IRC decided to let him travel unaccompanied. He died en route from Euston station to Manchester on 30 March.

The Pakistani national had been held at the centre, which is near Heathrow airport and operated by Serco. He had been issued with removal directions to Pakistan.

The Guardian has learned Shahzad suffered cardiac problems and had an artificial heart valve fitted prior to his arrest. He collapsed twice at the centre and was taken to hospital. Detainees at Colnbrook say he was told he did not have long to live.

On the day of his death he was discharged from custody after being deemed unfit for detention. He was given a travel warrant and travelled alone to Euston station where he boarded a train for Manchester. British transport police were called to the train at Wilmslow, Cheshire, where he was pronounced dead.

The Guardian has spoken to detainees at Colnbrook. One said Shahzad suffered from constant breathing difficulties during his time at the centre.

Deborah Coles, co-director of the Inquest campaign group said the death of a critically ill man, alone on a train, only hours after being discharged as unfit to be detained, suggested an abdication of Serco's responsibility for his welfare.

"The circumstances of this death and the wider concerns about the quality and standards of healthcare for immigration detainees at Colnbrook – criticised by an inquest jury only last year – must be thoroughly scrutinised, both by the prisons and probation ombudsman and an inquest jury," she said.

The Home Office said: "We will provide specialist support to individuals being released from detention if recommended by healthcare professionals. An investigation into this case is under way and it would be inappropriate to comment further."

Serco said: "Mr Shahzad was discharged on Saturday March 30 from Colnbrook immigration removal centre. Tragically, he was found dead later that day on a train to Manchester and our thoughts are with his family. An investigation is being carried out and there will be an inquest into his death."

Urgent: your help needed to stop tomorrows deportation of Raul Ally on hunger strike for 1 week, plus report of protest

LETTER FROM RAUL EXPLAINING WHY HE IS ON HUNGER STRIKE

Stop the deportation of Raul Ally on hunger strike since Wednesday 10th April.

Raul is currently being held in Colnbrook immigration prison to be deported to Tanzania TOMORROW Wednesday 17th April.

Take action:

Call Colnbrook to demand his release. Tell them you know he is on hunger strike (for almost a week now) they need to release him so he can get proper medical attention and he is in no fit state to fly.

Tel: 020 86075200

Then press option 1

Then press 310 (healthcare)

Or try: 020 86075200

Then press option 1

Then press 354 (UKBA staff in Colnbrook)

Fax: 020 87597996

Ring Kenya Airlines, flight KQ101 from Heathrow Wednesday 17th, 8pm. Demand that they do not take Raul. He is from Somalia and they are trying to deport him to Tanzania against his will.

Central Office: 020 8283 1800 

Heathrow Office: 020 8759 7366 

Passenger reservations: 020 8283 1818

Email: UKres@kenya-airways.com

Fax: 020 82831880

See below for more information.

Monday 15th April Tyneside Community Action Against Racism (TCAR) organised a protest with Raul’s family and friends to demand his release from Colnbrook immigration prison and to halt the deportation set for this Wednesday 17th April.

Over 30 people attended the protest, with banners, placards and speeches and chants on the megaphone linking the racist treatment of asylum seekers and migrants to Britain’s imperialist plunder and pillage around the world, not least in Somalia.

Somalia has been carved up so that its energy resources can be exploited. In a conference on Somalia hosted in London in December 2011 Britain talked of its intention to secure ‘British interests’ in the oil-rich and strategically important region. Now another conference is to be held in London on 7 May 2013. Ugandan, Burundian, Kenyan, Ethiopian, US, British and French troops have entered Somalia.

Activists also protested outside Virgin Money, with several people occupying offices demanding to speak to a manager, highlighting Virgin's role, with Virgin Atlantic, in deporting asylum seekers.

Raul, 18 years old, fled Somalia when he was 12 and has been living in the north east ever since. This is the second time he has been criminlaised and locked up in an immigration prison. The Home Office are trying to deport him to Tanzania – a country he has never been to and has no connection to. Raul has went on hunger strike because he is making a protest and stated he would 'rather starve than be treated like this'.

TCAR asks the question: who are the real criminals? The British government and companies who force war and poverty onto millions of people around the world? Or the people who are forced to flee such situations?

Free Raul Ally! End the criminalisation of asylum seekers and migrants!

Justice for Immigrants! Freedom for Refugees!

EMERGENCY PROTEST for Raul Ally - Monday 15th April, 12pm, Grey's Monument

A previous demonstration against deportation at Grey's Monument

Following Saturday's meeting to organise a response to the detention of Raul Ally, an emergency demonstration has been called to draw attention to Raul's hunger strike and impending deportation on Wednesday.

Monday 15th April - 12pm, Greys Monument, Newcastle

Come down to show your opposition to Britain's racist immigration system and to call upon the UKBA to release Raul. Please spread the word.


Freedom for Raul Ally! Shut down Britain's immigration prisons!

Raul Ally back in UKBA detention and on Hunger Strike

On Wednesday April 10th, Raul Ally was taken by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and interned in Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) for the second time. Despite having a pending judicial review of his case, he is due to be deported to Tanzania next Wednesday 17th April at 8pm. He has declared a hunger strike to halt this and draw attention to his plight and that of other refugees. Raul is an active member of Tyneside Community Action against Racism  (TCAR) and Somali refugee who has lived in the north east of England, since he was 12.

Raul went to sign at North Shields reporting centre at 11:45 as he has done every week since his release from Morton Hall IRC in November. This time however, he was detained and taken to a cell in North Shields Police Station. He was locked up until 1am, when he was transported back to Morton Hall, arriving at 4am. He has since been transferred to Colnbrook IRC in Middlesex.

Due to the instability of Somalia, caused in no small part by the actions of the British state and the hunger for resources and profits of its rapacious corporations, Raul is due to be sent to Tanzania, a country in which he has no links or family. First they destroy his country forcing refugees to flee, and then they deny his identity, rip him from his roots and send him to a country he does not even know.  The British state has adopted this 'policy' precisely as a means to keep refugees from making a claim to a state and to ensure that they are stripped of the rights enshrined in the Convention for Human Rights and the 1967 Protocol. 

TCAR has been in contact with Raul and he explained: ' I am very angry and not happy being held the second time, being sent back to a country I have never lived in. I am on hunger strike until I am listened to. We need to continue fighting.'

It is essential that we show the British state and its racist institutions that they cannot snatch refugees away from their communities without resistance. We must organise and put pressure on all those involved in this barbaric process and expose this far and wide.

Below, we have reposted the speech Raul gave at TCAR's public meeting in January. He movingly talks of the conditions inside Morton Hall, and the psychological torture these places, and the wider immigration system inflict upon refugees in Britain. It is a call to action, to resist the racist immigration system and to close down immigration prisons. Freedom for Raul Ally!

Take Action!

Contact Theresa May to urge her to use her powers as Home Secretary to stop the deportation and give Raul indefinite leave to remain.

Constituency phone number: 0118 934 5433

Ring the Home Office (immigration) to report a hunger strike protest.

Telephone: 020 7035 4848

Twitter: @ukhomeoffice

Email: 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

Fax: 0207 0354745
Write letters of support to Raul Ally and contact Colnbrook to enquire about Raul's health and demand his release:

(Raul Ally, Home Office ref: A1359895)
Colnbrook immigration removal centre
Colnbrook Bypass
Harmondsworth
West Drayton
Middlesex
UB7 0FX

Tel: 020 8607 5200
Fax: 020 8759 7996
 
Full statement from Raul Ally following his release from Morton Hall in November:

'I’m glad I’m out but the two months I had inside were the worst experience I’ve had in Britain, I want to say the worst in my life, but the situation in Somalia is so bad too. Now I am out but I am still unsure about my situation. I am still under threat of being deported; I have to sign on at the Immigration Reporting Centre in North Shields every week. I am scared of what they will say, if they will try and take me again.

I had very, very threatening and stressful experiences. There are people who are locked up who end up in a bad mental state because of all of the stress and not knowing what is going to happen to them. I feel a lot of sympathy for the people still inside and what the government is doing to them. Everyone is worried about getting deported. There are a lot of people still locked up, people being held for 5 years, blind people, people with diseases, missing limbs and illnesses. The nurses lie and say people are in good health. There is one man who cannot walk, he has to get his meals brought to him and the nurses say he is fine and fit to travel. When they come for you if you refuse to move the guards cuff your hands behind your back, they put their hands around your throat and pull your head up and two more pull you forward, people are treated like animals.

My situation is still uncertain, I could still get deported, there are many more people still locked up and they have mistreated me and others and continue to do so even though we have done nothing wrong. I am asking you to come to our meetings and protests. We need to continue fighting; we can’t let them get away with this.'