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.

Demo to support Amdani Juma, Nottingham activist, at risk of deportation - Pics

Tash [alan lodge] | 01.06.2008 11:26 | Migration | Repression | Social Struggles

Below is the press release distributed by the Friends of Amdani Juma following his detention at Loughborough reporting centre and news that he is to be deported on Wednesday 4th June on Kenya Airways flight KQ101 (Terminal 4, Heathrow). In support, there was a well attended demonstration on Saturday 31st May, to highlight his case.






















Below is the press release distributed by the Friends of Amdani Juma following his detention at Loughborough reporting centre and news that he is to be deported on Wednesday 4th June on Kenya Airways flight KQ101 (Terminal 4, Heathrow).

In support, there was a well attended demonstration on Saturday 30th May, to highlight his case. Obviously, pressure needs to be maintained and thus there is another demonstration in the Market Square, on Monday 2nd June, from 5pm

Amdani Juma, a refugee HIV prevention and community worker in Nottingham, was detained by the immigration authorities today, Friday 30th May 2008. He is currently awaiting removal to Burundi. The removal date has been set for just four days time, Wednesday June 4th at 8pm. He is being detained in Campsfield Detention Centre and will be taken to the Immigration Removal Centre near Doncaster tomorrow to await removal from Heathrow.

Friends of Amdani were shocked and distressed by the news of his detention. Amdani is a popular, active and enormously well-respected refugee community worker in Nottingham, with a particular interest in HIV prevention work.

Amdani is a Burundian national. In 2003, he was granted 3 years Humanitarian Protection but his later application for Indefinite Leave to Remain was turned down. A further application for discretion by the Home Office has also just been refused. Given his track record in Nottingham, Amdani should be regarded as prime candidate for a positive discretionary decision.

Amdani is a torture survivor and a pro-democracy activist, who escaped death on more than one occasion. He has no immediate family left in Burundi. Amdani’s cousin, brother and sister have all been given Leave to Remain in the UK or the Netherlands. Human Rights organisations and the UN have reported ongoing human rights abuses in Burundi, including harassment and torture.

In a letter to Liam Byrne dated 31st January 2008, Alan Simpson, Amdani’s constituency MP wrote:

"I am not aware of any refugee who has made the contribution to the city and its communities comparable to that made by Mr Juma. He is an outstanding asset. Removing him from the UK would leave Nottingham (and beyond) much the poorer. There is no one, particularly within the AIDS / HIV field who could replace the work he does."

A spokesperson for the Friends of Amdani / NNRF said:

"He turned up to sign on and was detained without any warning with just the clothes he stood up in. He wasn’t even allowed to say goodbye to his friends who were waiting for him outside the signing centre. Amdani is an exemplary citizen and a truly good person. We want him to stay in Nottingham."

Background notes:

1. Amdani arrived in the UK in 2003 and was granted Humanitarian Protection.

2. He originally left Burundi following the ethnic conflict in that country and was resettled by the UN. He later attempted to settle back in Burundi but had to leave because his life was in danger.

3. On arriving in Nottingham, he started working at the Nottingham and Notts Refugee Forum as a volunteer. Later he was employed by the NNRF as a member of their team helping refugees settle into new tenancies.

4. He has also been a key member of the African refugee community in Nottingham. As Chair of the Nottingham African Support initiative he organised training on employability and capacity building for local communities, and was involved in setting up a supplementary Saturday school for African children to support their English and Maths. He has developed close links with a number of statutory and voluntary bodies, including the Nottingham City Council. He has participated in the City Council BME Forum and as a refugee representative on the Nottingham City Homes Tenants Forum.

5. It is in his work on HIV prevention that Amdani has made a particular contribution to the city. He has been tireless in his HIV educational work, understanding the particular sensitivities and difficulties around the HIV issue amongst African communities. His experience, five languages, and wide networks have made him a unique presence in the field of HIV Prevention work in the city. Amdani was recently appointed to a project funded by the Terence Higgins Trust.

6. In 2005, the manager of the then East Midlands Consortium for Asylum and Refugee Services (EMCARS) recommended that Amdani apply to serve on the National Refugee Integration Forum. He joined the National Forum’s Community and Media sub-group. Here he was involved in ensuring that information was disseminated to refugee groups.

7. Amdani has been supported by his local MP, Alan Simpson; Jon Collins, Leader of Nottingham City Council and other MPs. At his appeal against the Home Office refusal of his Indefinite Leave to Remain, over 80 organisations wrote letters of support for Amdani, including community groups, trade unions, churches, health promotion groups.

8. For an Evening Post report on Amdani Juma go to www.thisisnottingham.co.uk Search this site for Amdani Juma.


Another Nottingham Activist Detained For Deportation [Feature]
 http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/05/399910.html

Amdani Juma: Petition
 http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/05/399908.html

Amdani Juma: Letter to Home Office
 http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/05/399906.html

Andami on Refugee Forum website
 http://www.nottsrefugeeforum.org.uk/first.htm#amdani

Sponsor Amdani Juma, Walking for Leicestershire AIDS Support
 http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/04/396997.html

____________________________________________
ALAN LODGE
Photographer - Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham. UK
Email:  tash@indymedia.org
Member of the National Union of Journalists [No: 014345]
____________________________________________
"It is not enough to curse the darkness.
It is also necessary to light a lamp!!"
___________________________________________

Tash [alan lodge]
- e-mail: tash@indymedia.org

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