HOME | IMC UK | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

Oxford Indymedia

Urgent campaign against deportation of Oxford University student

Owen (posted by richarddirecttv) | 19.11.2004 09:23 | Migration | Repression | Oxford

Azim Ansari is an Afghan refugee studying at St Johns. The Home Office is trying to deport him and his brother back to Afghanistan, claiming it is now safe for them to return.

They want to stay here, to work and build a secure life for themselves. They fear further persecution in Afghanistan and since the disappearance of their family they have nobody and nothing to go back to.

More details of their case here:
 http://www.ncadc.org.uk/archives/filed%20newszines/newszine50/waliazim.html

What can I do?
--------------

1. Write a letter asking that they be allowed to stay:

Des Browne
Minister for Immigration
Home Office
50 Queen Anne's Gate
London SW1H 9AT

2. If you're a OU student, propose/second a JCR/MCR motion in support of Azim in your college. Text below or do your own.

3. Join the campaign email list and get involved:
 http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/ou_wali_azim/

4. Print off a petition and gather signatures. A general petition is
on their website and the text of an oxford specific one is in the
archives of the email list (url in no 3).

Cheers :)

Owen


************************************************************

This MCR notes:

- The case of Azim Ansari, an undergraduate at St Johns College, who
claimed asylum in the UK in 2001 and was granted exceptional leave to remain in July 2002.

- The fact that, despite having gained admission to St Johns College in 2004, the Home Office is refusing to extend this exceptional leave to remain. They claim that Afghanistan is now a safe country.

- The fact that tens of thousands of the ethnic group to which Azim
belongs have been slaughtered in the last decade in Afghanistan.

- The fact that Medecins San Frontiers, known for working in some of
the most dangerous countries in the world, have pulled their entire medical staff out from Afghanistan. They had previously been working in the country for 24 years without a break.

- That Azim and his brother have nothing and nobody to return to in
Afghanistan, and that returning would destroy Azim's hopes for an
Oxford degree.

This MCR believes:

- That Azim Ansari is a valued part of the Oxford community, and that
he would be far better able to contribute to the rebuilding of Afghanistan once he has gained an engineering degree from Oxford.

- That the definition of Afghanistan as a 'safe country' is, at best,
dubious.

- That people applying for asylum should be treated with compassion as human beings, and not as numbers in a quota.

- That Azim Ansari and his brother, Wali, should be allowed to stay in the UK to pursue their studies.

This MCR resolves:

- To mandate the JCR President to write to Des Browne, the Immigration Minister, asking him to allow Azim and his brother to stay in the UK, and expressing the JCR's support for him in his case.

- To write to both of Oxford's MPs, asking them to arrange to meet with Azim, and requesting that they take up his case with the Home Office.

************************************************************

Owen (posted by richarddirecttv)

Comments

Hide the following comment

hope and support from Kent

20.11.2004 14:24

The home office seems to target increasingly young people from Afghanistan. Last week in East Kent, an 18 year old Afghan boy was arrested and locked into the Dover removal centre. He was supposed to be deported today. But with the support from his school mates in Canterbury (who organised two demonstrations), and due to the interest of the local and national press, our Conservative MP was forced to speak out against the deportation. The boy was released on Wednesday.

Maybe this gives you some hope for your campaign in Oxford.

Solidarity from the University of Kent.

Uni Kent


Publish your news
-->

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Oxford Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech