Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
                                                  *Shaker hymn late 18th century

     113 plus are 'Here to Stay'
     113 adults and their children, members of the Visaginas Church fled Lithuania in 1999 after suffering religious persecution. They went to Poland, Germany and Sweden but were not permitted to stay in any of those countries and began to arrive in England in early 2000. They all applied for asylum but were turned down, undaunted by the refusal they set up a campaign to highlight their predicament.

Now they will all be able to remain in the UK, some are beneficiaries of the recent Amnesty and the rest will be able to live here as nationals of Lithuania one of the accession countries which join the EU on May 1st 2004.

England has a long history of providing refuge for those fleeing religious persecution. This history can be traced back over 400 years to when Huguenots (French Protestants) began to arrive in England fleeing persecution by the king of France.

Most of the migration movements from Europe from 1500 onwards were fueled by religious persecution.

*The 'Shakers' were founded in Manchester around 1740, they had split from the larger Quaker community but suffered religious persecution and fled to America in 1774.

Asylum for Visaginas Church Congregation

Cyber action required, model letter at end of message

113 adults and their children, members of the Visaginas Church are facing deportation form the UK, to Lithuania and Russia. One family resident in Liverpool, were arrested and taken into custody on Saturday morning, even though they have a judicial review pending, prompt intervention by their solicitor, secured their release.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Visaginas is a small and closely-knit Protestant evangelical Church. Founded in Lithuania in 1993 by its pastor Teimuraz Edzhibya, a Arialn national. The Church was duly registered in accordance with Lithuanian law in 1994.

From 1995 onwards the Church became the object of widespread suspicion and hostility within Lithuania. Articles in the press and T.V programmes accused the Church of seeking to bring about the end of the world.

As a result of this atmosphere of fear and panic engendered by these representations of the Church, the Pastor, Teimuraz Edzhibya, the Arialn national who had been resident in Lithuania since 1993, was refused a further residence permit in Lithuania on public order grounds and was constructively deported to Russia in November 1999.

The effect of this order was to prevent the Church from continuing its existence in Lithuania. This is because of the members' need for their Pastor and their belief that he is sent from God to lead them. The Church members would cross into Latvia to hold services with the Pastor in a forest clearing and they would visit him individually in his home in Latvia. Such was their loss.

In November 1999 members of the Church left Lithuania in an attempt to re-establish the Church with the Pastor wherever they could. They went to Poland, Germany and Sweden but were not permitted to stay in any of those countries.

From March 2000 members of the Church and their Pastor arrived in the UK and sought asylum. Members of the Church, a total of 117 have been dispersed (through the asylum support system) to predominantly Liverpool, Newcastle, Gateshead, and Bradford.

The applications of the Church members were refused by the Home Office on the basis that neither the condemnation of the Church by the politicians, press and T.V in Lithuania nor the effect of constructive deportation of their Pastor constituted persecution of the Church. That the religious intolerance and harassment they had suffered in Lithuania did not amount to persecution and there was sufficient protection against this by the Lithuania state.

There is no other country where the members of the Church can be united as a Church with their Pastor except in the United Kingdom. The Members of the Church can return to Lithuania but cannot function as a Church there without their leader.

Collectively the legal remedies for the Church members to remain in the United Kingdom have been exhausted. Whiles individually members of the Church are dealt with procedurally differently - the Immigration Appeal Courts have now effectively heard and dismissed both asylum and human rights appeals.

Compassionate Grounds

But most importantly Mr Franklin - a special adjudicator who heard the asylum appeals in the lead case thinks there are compelling Compassionate Grounds for the congregation to remain in the UK.

"The situation to the appellants can be compared to the pilgrim fathers who arrived in Virginia in 1620 in a simpler, less sophisticated, but in some ways more enlightened age. The pilgrim fathers were not faced by immigration officers on arrival and they were not subjected to interrogation in respect of claims for asylum. Whether or not the appellants should be admitted for settlement outside the immigration rules requires of course a political as opposed to judicial decision. Clearly they are honest, decent and God-fearing people . . . . . . .

. . . . . . .Their appeals emanate from the Renaissance of Christianity in Russia and the Eastern European countries which ten years or so ago emerged from under the Russian yoke. In other times and in other places they would be made welcome."

Another adjudicator Mr Nicholson who heard most of the Liverpool congregation's human rights appeals himself acknowledged the following:

"The evidence indicates that their motives for coming here are genuine - in as much as they have come here to be with their Pastor. They are not here for economic purposes."

Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion and that includes the freedom to manifest one's religion in worship, teaching, practise and observance. It is Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights that protects the right to respect for one's private life.

Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects one's rights to peaceful assembly and to freely associate with others.

Although the courts have rejected that there would be breaches of these articles of the European Convention on Human Rights because the UK Government's response to returning Church members is 'proportionate' to the need for 'prevention of disorder through immigration control' - all that these people want, as acknowledged by the court, is to be together so that they can practise their religion with their Pastor who is an integral part of their collective being.

All Church members now face the daunting prospect of arrest, detention and removal to Lithuania.

The Church members are seeking your support in asking the British Government to consider their cases as a Church, as an entity, and be allowed to stay in this country so that they can practise their religion.

They are asking you to send a letter to Home Secretary, David Blunkett asking him to allow them to remain on Compassionate Ground and to that effect have drafted a model letter, which you can copy, amend or write your own.

Model letter:

Write to:

Home Secretary David Blunkett
Home Office
Queen Annes Gate
London
SW1H 9AT

Or you can fax him on 020 7273 3965
From outside the UK + 44 20 7273 3965

Please fax a copy of anything sent to: 0161- 740 7113
From outside the UK + 44 161- 740 7113

Explanatory letter from Peter Simm's, solicitor for many of the congregation

Support letter from Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches

Lithanian Law Project Forbidding Religious Sects

Appeal letter from Visaginas congregation to David Blunkett

Model letter PDF, download and distribute

Leaflet PDF, download and distribute

Asylum for Visaginas Church Congregation

Enquiries/further information:

ncadc-nw@ncadc.org.uk