Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Mohammad Arrian Deportation - Star article

Deacon Dave | 03.01.2006 18:45 | Migration | Sheffield

Here is today's Sheffield Star report of Arrian's plight.

Refugee deported as family stay on
AN ASYLUM seeker who fled Afghanistan after his father's murder and fears over his own safety is to be deported despite the rest of his family winning the right to live in Sheffield.
Mohammed Arrian, aged 34, has been ordered to leave on January 17 after his application for asylum in the UK was turned down, although his mum, three brothers and sister have been given the go-ahead to remain in Sheffield indefinitely.
A petition of more than 400 signatures was sent to the Home Office appealing for a rethink and Sheffield Central MP Richard Caborn is hoping to raise the issue personally with Home Secretary Charles Clarke.
Mr Arrian, who became the head of his family after his father was killed, left the country fearing he too could be murdered. He fled 12 years ago and lived in Iran until coming to Sheffield three years ago.
His father was killed for working for a previous Government and Mr Arrian himself had been outspoken about the new regime.
Today he said he fears for his life if forced to return.
"I will have no relatives, no friends, no job, no home if I have to go back - nothing. No support network, nobody to look out for me, I will be all alone," he said.
"We left the country 12 years ago so if I have to return there will be nothing there for me.
"I just cannot understand how my entire family can be granted permission to remain in the UK because of safety concerns, but Afghanistan is deemed safe for me to return to.
"I will continue to appeal against this decision, not just for myself, but for other people in my situation because if this is allowed to happen once it will happen time and time again - families should not be split up."
Mr Arrian, from Manor Oaks Court, Manor Park, spent much of his three years in Sheffield helping with activities run by the Sheffield Conversation Club.
A club spokesman said: "Mohammed has been a valued member of the Sheffield Conversation Club for nearly three years.
"He is always helping people with translations, he speaks five languages fluently and is an inspiration to everybody who meets him. Mohammed is well respected and loved wherever he goes. If allowed to remain here, Mohammed would become a great asset to this country."
Demonstrations against the deportation are to be held outside Sheffield Town Hall on Saturday and on Wednesday next week.

Deacon Dave
- e-mail: deacondave@onetel.com
- Homepage: http://www.sheffieldtoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=58&ArticleID=1300618

Additions

Article from the Yorkshire Post

08.01.2006 23:57

Article here:

 http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1084&ArticleID=1303077

Contains this text... (which is a just a bit over the top in it's "Horay for Caborn" tone... ):

Refugee given asylum reprieve as MP steps in

Home Office to rule on deportation fight

Emma Dunlop

THE case of a man who fears he may be killed if he is sent back to his native Afghanistan is to be taken up with the Home Office, the Yorkshire Post has learned.

Mohammad Arrian, 34, was to be deported later this month, despite huge protests.

Earlier this week Mr Arrian, currently in a holding unit at Dover, was ordered to leave on January 17 after his application for UK asylum was turned down.

This is despite the fact the rest of his family, including his mother, sister and three brothers, have been granted permission to stay in this country and have already set up home in Sheffield.

Hundreds of people signed a petition pleading with the immigration service to let Mr Arrian stay – but this appeared to fall on deaf ears.

That is until Mr Arrian's local MP Richard Caborn stepped in.

He has now taken up Mr Arrian's case and has requested a meeting with Immigration Minister Tony McNulty.

Jubilant supporters of Mr Arrian last night celebrated the news.

Spokesman Ralph Hancock, who worked with Mr Arrian at Sheffield's Conversation Club, said: "Our first objective has been achieved.

"The family and supporters have met with Richard Caborn, Mohammad's MP, who believes there are grounds to discuss the case and has requested a meeting with Immigration Minister, Tony McNulty. Mohammad will not be deported before that meeting.

"The campaign will carry on to support Mohammad and Mr Caborn in his efforts on Mohammad's behalf."

Mr Arrian fled his native Afghanistan 10 years ago after warlords in the country murdered his father because of his political beliefs.

His family, from Manor Oak Court, Manor Park, Sheffield, are adamant that if Mr Arrian returned to Afghanistan, his life would be in danger.

The warlords who executed their father are still in power, and as the eldest son Mr Arrian's life is more likely to be in danger than others.

Mr Arrian has not lived in Afghanistan for more than 13 years, having initially fled to Iran before joining his family in Britain two years ago.

In 2001 most of the members of his large, extended family came to Britain, eventually settling in Sheffield.

Now his mother, three brothers and sister all live in the city after they were all granted asylum in 2002. But as he came later, in 2003, he found himself in the middle of a political row about asylum seekers.

A judge initially gave him the right to live in Britain, but this was overturned by the Home Office.

A petition of more than 400 signatures was sent to the Home Office appealing for a rethink.

Despite the recent reprieve, Mr Hancock said planned demonstrations against the deportation are to still be held outside Sheffield Town Hall on Saturday and on Wednesday next week.

A Home Office spokesman last night said they could not comment on individual cases but said they were committed "to the protection of genuine refugees who seek asylum in the UK".

He added: "The Home Office assesses cases on their individual merits, providing protection to those who need it and seeking to remove those who do not. This is essential if the system is to be both robust and fair.

"This means that individuals who meet the definition of a refugee in the 1951 Geneva Convention are granted asylum.

"If they do not qualify for asylum, but there are other circumstances that make them particularly vulnerable and engage our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, they are granted humanitarian protection or discretionary leave.

"If their application is refused, they have a right of appeal to the independent Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. If the appeal is unsuccessful, that means that it has been judged safe for that particular individual to return to their country of origin."

Mr Caborn was not available for comment last night.

 emma.dunlop@ypn.co.uk

05 January 2006

i18n


Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech