| Please help Sangwa Kayumba Remy - to remain in Leeds! |
Please help Sangwa Remy Kayumba - to remain in Leeds! On Thursday, 3rd August, Sangwa Remy Kayumba was detained when he went to sign at Waterside in Leeds. He is currently being held at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre, near Heathrow, and has been told that he will be deported to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) tomorrow Thursday 10th August. Remy claimed asylum in the UK the day that he arrived here, 18th August 2001. In the DRC he was a member of an opposition party, the UDPS and as a result was detained in prison where he was tortured. After three months, he managed to escape with the help of a priest who also helped him to flee to the UK. Remy suffers from a number of serious medical conditions, which he says resulted from ill treatment and torture in prison in DRC. He suffers from deafness, headaches, lung and liver problems, heart problems and swollen legs. Only last week, he was receiving treatment in hospital in Leeds. There has been a terrible war in DRC which various sources estimate has cost over four million lives. And though there is now supposed to be peace the situation is still unsettled and in parts of the country there is still widespread fighting and lack of security. The party to which Remy belonged is still in opposition. Despite recent elections (Sunday 30th July 2006) the situation in DR Congo is still very volatile. Six days after the election 'Alert Net' reported, "Thousands flee clash between Congo army and rebels: The Financial Times reporting on the election on the 4th August said: "But the vote is not the culmination of the peace process, nor does it alone guarantee a stable democracy. The elections will mean little unless state institutions become far more functional. The final vote count itself still has the potential to create a new class of disenfranchised politicians eager to use any means to regain power. If he is forced to return to DRC, Remy is afraid that he will be in danger again. He will not be able to access treatment for his illnesses, which were caused by the torture he went through in prison. The Home Office has refused his claim to asylum in the UK and all his appeals were turned down, as was his fresh claim. Yet his life will be in danger if he is forced to return to DR Congo. What you can do to help Or write to: 2. Fax, phone and email Sangwa's MP (download
the model letter: SangwaHB.doc Please notify the campaign of any faxes sent: We do not yet know the full flight details of the planned removal of Remy to DRC, when this is known information will be emailed out for people to contact the airline, Air France. Friends of Remy End of Bulletin: Source for this Message: |