TRADE UNIONS GIVE UNPRECEDENTED SUPPORT AGAINST DEPORTATION OF ASYLUM SEEKER SCAPEGOATED IN THIS COUNTRY AND BEING SENT BACK HOME TO DEATH AND TORTURE

For the first time an alliance of General Secretaries of trade unions have come together in support of a refugee in detention and under threat of deportation. This is unprecedented. The refugee is Alphonsus Uche Okafor-Mefor (Home Office reference number M1320887)

The General Secretaries are: Paul Mackney of UCU (the University and Colleges Union), Mark Serwotka of the PCS ( Public and Commercial Service Union), Jeremy Dear of the NUJ (National Union of Journalists), Bob Crowe of the RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport), Tony Woodley of the TGWU (Transport and General Workers). They have all written to the Minister responsible for immigration at the Home Office (Liam Byrne) protesting both the detention and threatened removal of Adolphus.

Paul Mackney has said: Alphonsus Uche Okafor-Mefor is presently being held in a detention centre and is due to be flown back to Nigeria where he has been previously detained and tortured. This case is of particular relevance to trade unionists as he was due to speak at a forthcoming 'No One Is Illegal' Trade Union Conference, (full details below) of which UCU is a sponsor. He is a leading figure in the campaign group Asylum Voice who have campaigned against the abuses suffered by asylum seekers…….This coming together of General Secretaries of major trade unions in support of Alphonsus is unique and shows that the labour movement is committed to the defence of refugees and others threatened by immigration controls – and shows why the slogan “No One Is Illegal” is a demand for justice and basic human rights”

Jeremy Dear has said : "It is a sign of the anger we feel that Alphonsus should be facing deportation and the prospect of being imprisoned and tortured that so many leading trade unionists have come together to express our outrage and support the efforts of those who are fighting attempts to remove him".

Tony Woodley has said ““I am frequently appalled at the workings of our asylum system, which seems a mechanism for injustice in all too many cases. The case of Alphonsus is one of them and I fully associate the T&G with the demand that he be allowed to remain in this country for his own safety.”

Home Office scapegoats Alphonsus

The No One Is Illegal trade union conference to which Paul Mackney refers is one opposing immigration controls. It is therefore ironic that Adolphus is now being prevented from attending and is in imminent danger of deportation himself. Furthermore the reference to Asylum Voice refers to the campaign Alphonsus initiated in Liverpool (where he had been living) against the government’s so-called New Asylum Model (NAM) which is being piloted in Liverpool and which is intended to ensure speedy removals. Even whilst in detention (at Tinsley House) Alphonsus has been lodging a series of complaints about the ways in which refugees are maltreated there. The campaign in defence of Alphonsus considers that is his opposition to immigration controls which lead to his arrest without warning and his being put in detention . The Home Office is scapegoating Alphonsus.

Political background in Nigeria

Alphonsus claimed asylum in 2005.He is an Igbo and belongs to MASSOB (Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra) who are campaigning for an independent Biafra . He was detained and tortured following attendance of a MASSOB meeting there. He has continued to campaign in the UK to highlight the persecution of the Biafran people and the murder of MASSOB members and Igbos by the Nigerian government through the Biafran Actualisation Forum . Now known to the Nigerian government he faces imminent danger if he is returned. MASSOB members here are active in the campaign for Adolphus. They have issued a statement which contains the following:

“Mr Okafor-Mefor is a MASSOB leader who has taken a key role in this peaceful struggle and, if he is deported back to Nigeria, unequivocally his life will be in danger. Even UK foreign office officials have confirmed that Nigeria takes a “tough stand” (diplomatic terminology for persecution and killing!) on MASSOB activism.”

Trade union action stops flight to Nigeria

Alphonsus was first arrested on February 28th. Neither he nor his solicitor (Peter Simms) were given any warning. This itself shows how the immigration system operates. Alphonsus has kept in regular contact with the Home Office, he has never gone underground. Yet he was arrested without warning. He was given 48 hours before his flight was due to take off. He was taken to the airport for deportation. But just as he was about to board the plane the Home Office said he would not be flown out that day. We attribute this to a) an excellent legal team b) a public protest at the airport by supporters of MOSSAB and c) undoubtedly the vast amount of trade union support not just by national unions but at branch and trades council level. However Alphonsus is now back in detention anxious that each day he may be taken back to the airport. In the meantime his solicitor has prepared a judicial review of the refusal to grant asylum.
What you and your union can do

(1) Email Liam Byrne: Minister for State for Immigration at  byrnel@parliament.uk Quote ref number M1320887 Fax: 020 7035 4745

(2) Send copies to Adolphus’s MP who is supporting him-John McDonnell-  mcdonnellj@parliament.uk and to No One Is Illegal at  info@noii.org.uk

(3) Attend the March 31st conference ,1-5.30pm,Asylum Links, St Annes Church,Overbury St, Liverpool 7

Further documents available on request:

1. Details of the trade union conference at which Alphonsus was/is due to speak on March 31st
2. A letter from Alphonsus written in custody
3. A statement by MOSSAB
4. Photographs of Alphonsus

Contact UCU:

 http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1688

The well-known slogan “Workers of the world unite” means what it says.
It does not mean “Only workers with the correct immigration status unite.”

SPONSOR AND ATTEND
TRADE UNION CONFERENCE AGAINST
IMMIGRATION CONTROLS

Saturday March 31st 2007, 1.00-5.30pm (light refreshments from 12 noon)
Asylum Link, St Annes Church,
Overbury St, Liverpool 7

AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL! Immigration controls are an attack on all workers. When groups of workers have unequal status, when workers are precarious or when they are declared illegal; they are vulnerable to superexpliotation. Not only do the bosses get superprofits from migrant workers directly through immigration controls, they use this to discipline the entire class. Trades unions must oppose all immigration controls and fight for equal rights regardless of immigration status. Some unions such as NATFHE (now merged with UCU) and the NUJ have adopted this as their policies. Other unions have responded by considering campaigns to 'regularise migrants'.

This conference is to bring trade unionists together to organise against immigration controls both at the level of policy and perhaps more importantly practically as it impacts upon the worker place and upon our members. Themes will include:-

* Organising Migrant Workers: This isn't just about recruiting migrant workers into the union but assisting them to fight back against their bosses. Speaker from Justice for Cleaners will report on their successes against exploitative agencies in London with the help of the T&GWU and Alan Fraser of GMB (in personal capacity) on the formation of a GMB branch of migrant workers in Wessex.

* Defiance not Compliance: Workers in the caring professions are expected to act as immigration officers to their clients; reporting to the home office, cutting off benefits and services. If they refuse they could be victimised or sacked. The unions need to protect their workers and actually organise defiance. Speaker from Bolton UNISON explaining why the branch agree to support social workers in defying Section 9 of 2004 Immigration and Asylum Act and in refusing to take children of the undocumented into care as part of the deportation process.

* Deportation and Detention: What can unions do when their members are detained or threatened with deportation

* Fighting for Right to Work and Equal Rights at work

* What's New? There is a forest of immigration control legislation already, but new laws are coming in. What are the key developments that effect the workplace.

All this and more at this vitally important conference for all trades unionists.

No One Is Illegal is a group of trade unionists long active in anti-deportation campaigns. We have produced with trade unions the pamphlet Workers Control Not Immigration Controls.

We ask unions to sponsor (give their name to) the conference. Admission/sponsorship free, donations welcome (cheques to No One Is illegal). Workers Control Not Immigration Controls can be obtained by donation (or downloaded at www.noii.org.uk).

Initial sponsors

Trades Councils: Tameside, Oxford, Bury, Waltham Forest, Oldham, Chorley, Greater Manchester Association of Trades Councils
Union branches: Bolton NUT, Bolton Unison, GMB Central London, Manchester Unison Community and Mental Health, TGWU 6/389, 0543 Branch Finsbury Park RMT, Liverpool University UCU and Liverpool Community College UCU, Regions: TGWU Region 1, National unions: UCU.

No One Is Illegal 16 Wood St,Bolton, BL2 IDR Email  info@noii.org.uk