Latest news roundup

 

A summary of the leading stories on asylum and refugee issues that have appeared in the press.

 

 

Charles Atangana’s flight deporting him from the UK has apparently been stopped. His case is to be subject to judicial review. Atangana is a Cameroonian journalist who sought asylum in the UK. He specialised in exposing financial corruption in his own country, and, as a result, attracted threats from those he wrote about. He claims that a return to Cameroon would be equivalent to a ‘death sentence. For the past 6 years he has been living in Glasgow, during which time he received death threats from people he claims are acting for the Cameroonian Government. He has been the victim of imprisonment without trial and torture, a fate which he considers routine for journalists in Cameroon.

 

 

 

Detainees at Campsfield House have gone on hunger strike to protest against their prolonged detention. Bob Hughes from the pressure group Close Campsfield down claims some detainees have been kept here for as long as 3 years. This corroborates concerns raised by former Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers who reported on the ‘excessive periods’ for which people were detained. Those on strike insist they have been subjected to violence and mistreatment. The Home Office denies any malpractice and refuses to comment on a reported instance of attempted suicide.

 

 

 

On the 25 July Osman Rasul committed suicide by jumping off the tower block where he lived in Nottingham. At the root of this personal tragedy was his inability to contest his anticipated deportation. Osman had been represented by Refugee and Migrant Justice who went into administration as a result of the government’s alteration of the Legal Aid rules, which they claimed, left them unable to operate. Asylum lawyers had voiced concerns over the potential consequences of the Legal Aid Reforms, which seem to have been vindicated by Osman’s death. It was thought that the collapse of RMJ would leave vulnerable people without recourse to legal representation, which is what prompted his act of suicide.      

 

 

 

 

 

On July 21 Nick Clegg announced the forthcoming closure of the family wing at Yarl’s Wood. The move applauded by organisations such as Outcry marks the beginning of the government’s initiative to bring an end to child detention. Over the coming weeks the implementation procedure will be outlined by Home Secretary Theresa May. Yarl’s Wood will continue to exist but will no longer play host to hundreds of detained children. Outcry commended the move as ‘a step in the right direction.’

 

 

Iran has rebuffed Brazil’s offer of asylum to one of its citizens Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. Sakineh is to be stoned to death after being convicted of “adultery while being married.” She was in fact initially given 99 lashes for the crime of conducting “illicit relationships” with men but a court later altered to capital punishment. The Iranian government’s intransigent stance has outraged human rights groups worldwide. Tehran has dismissed Brazilian President Lula’s offer describing his motives as well intended but misguided.