Stop the Deportation of Paramjit Singh and Mukhtiar SinghSingh

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Sikh Refugees Are Not Criminals

Over the last 15 years, thousands of Sikhs have fled from persecution in India to seek asylum. They are frightened and confused, often having suffered torture and witnessed killings of families and loved ones. However, having reached states like the UK, which have signed the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, genuine Sikh asylum seekers are often detained and treated as criminals, and their basic human rights are denied.

Sikh refugees Paramjit Singh and Mukhtiar Singh, both in their early twenties, have been held in detention since November 1998 as threats to the national security of the UK.

Paramjit Singh is a missionary who is currently being detained at Blakenhurst Prison in the Midlands, while Mukhtiar Singh is a community worker with elderly people and is being held at Woodhill Prison in Milton Keynes. Both have campaigned in India against atrocities committed against Sikhs by the Indian authorities. As a result they were unlawfully detained in India and tortured. Having fled to the UK they continued to protest against the human rights abuses of Sikhs in India.

The UK authorities have detained these two men as well as other refugees in order to keep good trade relations with India. As a result justice has been abandoned in favour of trade.

Urgent Appeal

We appeal to you to intervene against the detention and deportation of Mukhtiar Singh and Paramjit Singh. Both men came to the UK seeking political asylum fleeing from torture and persecution by the Indian authorities. Their asylum claims have been refused and they are detained with a view to removal to India on the grounds of being threats to the national security of the UK.

David Burgess, of Winstanley-Burgess solicitors, has filed evidence which shows that there is a risk of torture to these two individuals if returned to India. He has recently visited India to gather evidence in relation to this case and the material obtained is detailed and includes the torture of individuals connected to both these men.

Background

They are currently being detained in the UK under the National Security Act after being arrested at Smethwick train station in November 1998.

Both men came to the UK seeking political asylum fleeing from torture and persecution by the Indian authorities. Whilst living in India in 1991 Paramjit Singh was persecuted because he spoke at political and religious meetings against the continued atrocities being committed against Sikhs. Twice he was arrested, unlawfully detained, tortured and only released after payments of bribes.

Mukhtiar Singh is a political activist who is against the oppressive rule of the Indian Authorities over minority groups in India e.g. Sikhs, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians etc. Whilst living in India Mukhtiar Singh was a member of the All India Sikh Students Federation. Due to his membership of this organisation the Indian police has subjected his entire family to persecution.

On 23rd September 1992, the Indian police went to Gosal village in Punjab to arrest Mukhtiar Singh. However, not being able to locate him they abducted his sister's husband, Bakshish Singh, and this was the last the family saw of him as he was murdered by the police. Furthermore the police came again to the village in search of Mukhtiar Singh and, failing to locate him, they abducted his father, Ajit Singh, and took him to Bangi Police station. Ajit Singh was tortured by the police and was only released from police custody after the family paid a substantial amount of money.

Even today Mukhtiar Singh's family has suffered from police harassment. For instance, in November 1998, his father was again abducted by the Punjab police from Gosal village and taken to Makandpur police station where he was asked about the whereabouts of Mukhtiar Singh. He was only released from police custody after community leaders from the village went to the police station and refused to leave.

Both these men are committed supporters of the establishment, by peaceful means, of Khalistan - an independent Sikh state in India. In India anybody who supports the establishment of Khalistan has been persecuted by the Indian regime and gross abuses of human rights have been committed. Human rights organisations like Amnesty International have not been allowed by the Indian Authorities to investigate allegations of torture, rape and extrajudicial killings of Sikhs by the Indian police. Human rights defenders in Punjab have regularly been subjected to harassment and direct human rights violations.

Several lawyers who have taken up human rights issues in the courts have 'disappeared' after being arrested by the Punjab police and are believed to have been killed in custody. For instance Jaswant Singh Khalra and Kashmir Singh, both human rights workers, were abducted from outside their homes and killed by the Indian police.

The evidence against Paramjit Singh and Mukhtiar Singh is totally fabricated and manufactured in an attempt to silence their voices so that they do not speak out against the Indian authorities human rights abuses.

Their asylum claims have been refused and we believe that if they are returned to India they will suffer persecution and torture and may be killed. They will not receive a fair trial and they will not be able to challenge the evidence against them. Furthermore their detention under the National Security Act puts them at a high risk of persecution and torture. Many have 'disappeared' and been killed in India and Kashmir in similar circumstances.

What you can do

We urge you, on behalf of these men, to join our campaign to ensure that Paramjit Singh and Mukhtiar Singh get asylum in the UK under the United Nations Convention. Contact us for more details.

Paramjit Singh and Mukhtiar Singh Anti-Deportation Campaign

74 Dudley Road West

Tividale

West Midlands B69 2PJ

Tel : (0121) 520 6542 Fax : (0121) 520 9107

Email : sikhrefugee@yahoo.com

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