| Maud Lennard Must Stay ! |
Another attempt to remove Maud Lennard Maud Lennard has another removal order for today Friday 5th December on flight MS778 on Egypt Air to Cairo at 17:25 from Heathrow, then MS847 to Nairobi at 22:00 on Saturday and on Kenya Airways KQ424 to Lilongwe/Malawi at 8:30 on Sunday morning. Maud says she was an activist with the Movement for Democratic Change, the opposition movement in Zimbabwe. She says she was abducted in March 2003, questioned about her political activities, tortured and raped. Like others in her position, Maud fled Zimbabwe using a Malawian passport that she had paid a bribe for as a means of escape. Thus, the Home Office insists they can deport her to Malawi. Maud is likely to find herself on the wrong side of the law when she enters Malawi because the passport she used may be viewed by the Malawian authorities as having been obtained fraudulently. (One cannot take up Malawian citizenship after the age of 22, and Maud is in her thirties). It is likely that the Malawian authorities will first imprison her then deport her to Zimbabwe. So, despite the "freeze" on deporting Zimbabwean asylum seekers directly to Zimbabwe, Maud, like others before her, may end up back there where she was at great risk of further persecution. Maud is so desperate that she, together with other Zimbabwean detainees, went on hunger strike in Yarl's Wood detention centre. She was hospitalized twice. Maud previously has managed to stop being deported after her desperate protest on the flights in two occasions, and alleges she suffered a beating at the hands of the escorts on the first occasion. We really cannot allow her to be deported to Malawi, as her life could be in serious danger. What you can do to help: 1) Send urgent faxes immediately to Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith, Secretary of State for the Home Office asking that Maud Lennard be granted protection in the UK. Please use the attached "model letter" MaudJS.doc) you can copy/amend/write your own version (if you do so, please remember to include the HO ref L1096927). Fax: 020 7035 3262 (00 44 20 7035 3262 if you are faxing from outside UK) 2) Fax Egypt Air asking them not to remove Maud Lennard, Download model letter MaudEgyptair.doc, you can copy/amend/write your own version (if you do so, please remember to include flight details: Egypt Air flight MS778 from Heathrow to Cairo at 17:25. Fax: 020 7637 4328 from outside the UK + 44 20 7637 4328 Please email copies of any faxes sent to: Two pictures of Britain's brutal asylum policy - Maud Lennard, 36. Beaten and abused by British security guards, she fears she is about to be handed back to Mugabe's thugs Maud Lennard alleges she was abused during attempted removal on Monday 12th Nov. 2007 Speaking from Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre, Maud described her alleged ordeal during the attempt to remove her to Malawi on a Kenya Airways flight ; “I was boarded on the plane by 5 immigration escorts. I was feeling sick and went to the toilet at the back of the plane. When I came out I shouted out that I am in danger. They grabbed me onto a seat. They were all over me, chocking me. The pilot came down the plane and said he would not fly me. The escorts double handcuffed me. They pushed me into a vehicle and called me terrible things, including “filthy” and “black pig”. They also said ;
Maud was an activist with the Movement for Democratic Change, the opposition movement in Zimbabwe. She says she was abducted in March 2003, questioned about her political activities, tortured and raped. Like others in her position, Maud says she fled Zimbabwe using a Malawian passport that she had paid a bribe for as a means of escape. This has lead to the Home Office to deport her to Malawi. Maud says she is likely to find herself on the wrong side of the law when returned to Malawi because the Malawian passport she used may be viewed by the Malawian authorities as having been obtained fraudulently as one cannot take up Malawian citizenship after the age of 22 (Maud is in her thirties). It is likely that the Malawian authorities will deport her on to Zimbabwe. So, despite the "freeze" on deporting Zimbabwean asylum seekers directly to Zimbabwe, Maud, like others before her, may end up deported to Zimbabwe where she is at great risk of further persecution. Maude says she is so desperate that she, together with other Zimbabwean detainees, has spent more than 40 days on hunger strike in Yarl's Wood detention centre. She is very weak and was recently hospitalized. The deportation of one of Maud's fellow Zimbabwean hunger-strikers was cancelled after the pilot deemed her too ill and malnourished to fly.
Maud's claims of being at risk seem to be well backed up ; “Since 2004 the Home Office has sent at least 11 Zimbabwean asylum-seekers to Malawi. Of those at least five ended up back in Zimbabwe. … Amnesty International says that "people fleeing persecution often resort to using forged documents as they are unable to approach their authorities in order to obtain valid travel documents". But these tools of escape are now being used to send asylum-seekers to danger and a place they have never known.
Many feel the UK's immigration policy is cruel and the UK Government is hypocritical : at the Labour Party conference in September, Gordon Brown, the UK Prime Minister promised to stand up for those suffering persecution from brutal regimes like that of Zimbabwe in what he described as the world's "darkest corners" and that "human rights are universal".
Zimbabwe
refugees are returned home despite asylum policy The callous hypocrisy of our asylum system What you can do ; Please send letters or faxes to Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith, Secretary of State for the Home Office expressing your concern about how Maud has been treated, asking that she be released immediately and granted protection in the UK. Please download the attached "model letter" (MaudJS2.doc), sign and fax. You can copy/amend/write your own version (if you do so, please remember to include the HO ref L1096927) Rt. Hon. Jacqui Smith MP Fax: 020 7035 3262 (00 44 20 7035 3262 if you are faxing from outside UK) Please let the Maud Must Stay campaign know of any letters or faxes you have sent ; Maud Must Stay campaign ; Source for this Message: |