Dear All,
Very sorry, but the model letters were missing from my last post. They now
appear at the bottom of the email.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Higgins" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, July 24, 2009 3:38 PM
Subject: Please help us stop Abbas being deported
Please forward this email on to anyone whom you think might be willing to
help stop our friend's deportation.
Below (and where circulation lists permit attached) are two model letters.
One is to the UK Home Secretary
and the other is to the Managing Director of Hamburg International Airlines.
Both model letters explain the reasons why Abbas Sharifi should NOT be
forcibly removed from the UK and should be granted Permanent Leave to Remain
here.
When he reported to Vulcan House in Sheffield on 21/07/2009, Mr Sharifi was
detained and taken to Lindholme Immigration and Removal Centre in Doncaster.
He was not permitted to take with him the medication he has been prescribed
for his mental health condition. Mr Sharifi, who was already unwell has, as
a consequence of this treatment by Group 4 acting on behalf of the UK
Borders
Agency, become ill and is unfit to fly. He would be unable to receive or pay
for the treatment he needs to survive if he is deported to Afghanistan.
What you can do:
* Please use the two model letters, amending them as you wish. Please send a
personal letter yourself to Alan Johnson, the UK Home Secretary and to Mr.
Christoph Von Saldern, Managing Director of Hamburg International Airlines.
If possible, please fax and/ or email your letters as Mr Sharifi has been
booked on to a chartered flight to Afghanistan for Tuesday 28th July 2009.
The UK Government needs to charter such flights as commercial airlines will
not fly routinely to Afghanistan from the UK.
* Contact Abbas's MP and ask her to intervene on his behalf with the Home
secretary.
a.. PHONE Meg's Constituency Office on (0114) 258 2010
b.. FAX Meg's Constituency Office on (0114) 258 6622
c.. WRITE to Meg's Constituency Office at .
PO BOX 4333,
SHEFFIELD, S8 2EY
d.. EMAIL Meg at [log in to unmask]
*Forward and circulate this email to others whom you feel may be able to
support Mr Sharifi's campaign to remain with his friends in Sheffield.
*Send copies of any replies you get to me at this email address, so that his
campaign can keep a record of such responses.
*Contact Lindholme Immigration and Removal Centre on: 01302 524 700/ 603 to
urge them not to remove him from the UK on Tuesday as he is unfit to fly.
* Urge the Home Secretary to arrange for Mr Sharifi to be granted immediate
bail, pending any decision to grant him Permanent Leave to Remain. This will
enable Mr Sharifi to return to the community in Sheffield where he will be
able to continue to receive the support and treatment that he needs.
*Also contact The Home Office Public Enquiry desk
([log in to unmask]) and Immigration enquiries
([log in to unmask]) and E-mail Paul Scriven,
leader of Sheffield City Council (where the slogan is: Where Everyone
Matters) and ask him to intervene with the Home Secretary on Abbas's behalf
[log in to unmask]
*Visit the National Coalition of Anti-deportation Campaigns www.ncadc.org.uk
for more information on campaigning and up-dates.
Linda
***********************************************************
The Right Hon. Mr Alan Johnson, MP
Secretary of State at the Home Office
The Home Office
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF
Fax: 0208 760 3132
Email: [log in to unmask]
Re: Mr Abbas Sharifi
HO Ref: S1313202
Dear Mr Johnson
Abbas Sharifi, a 49 year old disabled Afghani man is due to be forcibly
removed from the UK, on a Hamburg International Airlines flight, 'Ethnic
charter flight', under the UK Home Office operation 'Ravel' programme on
Tuesday July 28th 2009 at 21:30 from the UK, flight PVT008 to Baku for
onward transit to Kabul/Afghanistan. Mr. Sharifi is unfit to fly. He has a
physical impairment for which he is receiving outpatient treatment at the
Northern General Hospital in Sheffield. Mr. Sharifi has been diagnosed as
having an acute mental health condition for which he is in receipt of
ongoing therapeutic treatment and prescribed medication.
The letter refusing his claim for asylum states that he will be able
to obtain the prescription drugs and other treatment he needs if he is in
Afghanistan. This is not the case. Even if this were true, which it is
not, he could only obtain the medication he needs to survive and the
treatment he needs for his physical impairment, were he to pay for it. His
background is that of a labourer and his physical impairment is such that he
will be unable to obtain suitable work if he is removed to Afghanistan. He
will be destitute and as such will be unable to afford any medical treatment
even if it is available.
We implore you to cancel, on humanitarian grounds, Mr. Sharifi's
planned removal from the UK. We ask that you arrange for Mr Sharifi to be
granted immediate bail. This will enable Mr Sharifi to return to the
community in Sheffield where he will be able to continue to receive the
support and treatment that he needs. We urge you to reopen his case with a
view to granting him exceptional indefinite leave to remain on compassionate
grounds.
Mr Sharifi has lived in Sheffield since 2006. He has well established
links within the community and is involved in a number of community
organisations. He is an active member of the Mosque and is involved with a
number of community groups, including The Sheffield Assist Conversation Club
and the Sheffield- Based Disabled Asylum Seekers and Refugee Network.
He is in receipt of National Assistance Act Support. He has established
good community support networks to assist him with daily living. He has been
assessed as requiring community care support on the grounds of both his
physical and mental health conditions, having been assessed as being in
critical and substantial needs by Sheffield's City Council Neighbourhoods
and Community Care Directorate.
According to Washington-based Brookings Institute and the Centre for
Global Development, Afghanistan is rated the second weakest state in the
world, lacking the capacity to establish and maintain political
institutions, secure their population from violent conflict, control their
territories and meet the basic needs of their population. Average life span
for men and women hovers at around 45 years. According to the United
Nations, nearly a third of all Afghans, some 6.5 million people, suffer from
chronic food insecurity.
Yours Sincerely,
Name:
Address:
City:
Postcode:
Country:
Date:
Email:
Phone:
*********************************************
Mr. Christoph Von Saldern, Managing Director
Hamburg International Airlines
Falkenbergpark
Paradiesstraße 206b
D-12526 Berlin/Schönefeld
Head Office Fax: 00 4940 5005 0111
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
Abbas Sharifi, a 49 year old disabled Afghani man is due to be
forcibly removed from the UK, on a Hamburg International Airlines, 'Ethnic
charter flight', under the UK Home Office operation 'Ravel' programme on
Tuesday July 28th 2009 at 21:30 from the UK, flight PVT008 to Baku for
onward transit to Kabul/Afghanistan. Mr. Sharifi is unfit to fly. He has a
physical impairment for which he is receiving outpatient treatment at the
Northern General Hospital in Sheffield. Mr. Sharifi has also been diagnosed
as having an acute mental health condition, for which he is in receipt of
ongoing therapeutic treatment and prescribed medication.
The letter refusing his claim for asylum states that he will be
able to obtain the prescription drugs and other treatment he needs if he is
in Afghanistan. This is not the case. Even if this were true, which it is
not, he could only obtain the medication he needs to survive and the
treatment he needs for his physical impairment, were he to pay for it. His
background is that of a labourer and his physical impairment is now such
that he will be unable to obtain suitable work if he is removed to
Afghanistan. He will be destitute and as such will be unable to afford any
medical treatment even if it is available.
We call upon Hamburg International Airlines to refuse to take Mr. Sharifi as
he is unfit to fly and will be unable to survive safely the gruelling
journey to Afghanistan.
According to Washington-based Brookings Institute and the Centre
for Global Development, Afghanistan is rated the second weakest state in the
world, lacking the capacity to establish and maintain political
institutions, secure their population from violent conflict, control their
territories and meet the basic needs of their population. Average life span
for men and women hovers at around 45 years. According to the United
Nations, nearly a third of all Afghans, some 6.5 million people, suffer from
chronic food insecurity.
I sincerely hope that a reputable airline such as Hamburg International
Airlines will not see fit to forcibly carry Mr. Sharifi when he is clearly
unfit to fly and would be unable to survive were he removed to Afghanistan
in the manner proposed. Please cancel his place on the flight for Tuesday
28th July. Were his forcible removal to be carried out, it would seriously
harm the reputation of Hamburg International Airlines.
Yours Sincerely,
Name:
Address:
City:
Postcode:
Country:
Date:
Email:
Phone:
________________End of message________________
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