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Mass deportation by charter flight to Afghanistan, 28th March

No Borders! Stop Deportations! | 25.03.2012 21:33 | Afghanistan | Migration | Terror War

Was 26th March, postponed to 28th March, 00.10 hrs

Many people know that the UK has embarked in a disastrous war in Afghanistan, alongside the US and NATO.
What most people do not know, or are not aware of, is that the people who arrive in UK fleeing the war in Afghanistan are routinely detained, denied protection and sent back to Afghanistan, on regular charter flights London - Kabul: there is a deportation charter flight to Afghanistan about every two weeks– charters to Afghanistan are the most regular of the mass deportation flights from the UK.

Usually young boys are left to stay in UK until they turn 18, then they are told they have to go back; if they don’t go they are arrested and put forcibly on a plane.
Aziz Hussini, aged just 18, is in detention, due to be forcibly removed from the UK to Afghanistan on this charter flight. Agents of the UK Border Agency arrested Aziz on his wedding day in Glasgow, snatching him at the Registry Office. His fiancée Gemma is a British citizen. Aziz arrived in the UK in 2009 as an unaccompanied minor. Perhaps the UK government thinks that no one in this country cares what happens to refugee children when they reach 18, that we are all happy to see them kicked out of care and into the refugee camps of Afghanistan. His friends and devastated fiancée have set up a campaign to stop him being deported and to have him released.
 http://www.ncadc.org.uk/campaigns/aziz_hussini/index.html

Aziz was first booked on a charter flight due to depart the UK on the 12th of March. The flight was cancelled at the last moment because Reliance had concerns about the safety of its employees, due to worsening security situation in the aftermath of the massacre of 17 innocent Afghan civilians by a US soldier. Reliance is the private security firm who took on the dirty work to carry out deportation, after G4S private security killed Jimmy Mubenga during a deportation attempt. If it is dangerous for private security guards to fly to Afghanistan, how can it be safe for Afghan refugees? How can it be safe for a 18 years old who has lost all contact with his family and has no support there?
Next they booked Aziz on a charter flight the 26th of March, that has now been postponed to the 28th of March, 00.10 hrs, for unknown reasons.

Many times the Afghans struggle before they are deported, they don’t want to be sent back, they go on hunger strike, but there is very little publicity around the issue. Many Afghans are detained and put on the ‘fast track’, which further curtails their right to obtain proper legal representation. The ‘fast track’ procedure for asylum cases was introduced supposedly to deal with claims that are straightforward or clearly unfunded: so how can people from a country at war be put on the fast track? How can exiles be deported to a country at war anyway? In fact, most European countries do NOT usually deport people to countries at war: it’s only the UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands who do. Note that until quite recently people fleeing war were normally left to stay in the UK on humanitarian grounds, if they weren’t granted asylum: it is only from the eighties and Thatcher era that the UK government began to tighten the screw, build prisons for immigrants and deport people to war zones. The subsequent Labour and Tori governments have continued to curtail the rights of migrants and refugees. To obtain refugee status in the UK became increasingly difficult and nearly nobody is given humanitarian protection nowadays. Then the UK in the past deported Jews to Nazi Germany.

Despite, or perhaps because of their military involvement in Afghanistan, the UK authorities are very reluctant to give protection to the Afghans who arrive in the UK, and for Afghans to be recognized as refugees by the UK is extremely difficult. According to the Home Office, if somebody is not safe, say, in Helmand, he can safely relocate in Kabul, which is total bullshit: there is no part of Afghanistan that is safe, the country is destroyed by a war of 30 years and life expectancy is of 45 years only, the lowest in the world. Afghani casualty figures are higher than at any time since the invasion, and up 8% on last year. The Taliban explode car bombs and send suicide bombers everywhere, they have carried out major attacks in Kabul and other parts of the country under control of the US and Afghan army. The Taliban are held responsible by NATO for the majority of civilian casualties. However, the casualties numbers provided are angrily disputed by Afghan sources, including political figures and human rights agencies, who are accusing the UNAMA February report of grossly underestimating the civilian casualties by the US and their allies. Civilian casualties are however on the rise and amount to over 3000 in 2011. The recent massacre of 17 innocent civilians including 9 children, allegedly by one US soldier who was allegedly drunk or had gone crazy – and is now being tried in the US and ‘does not remember anything, the bodies were burned, may not be the work of one man only… Sgt Robert Bales killings seem to fit in a pattern of raids on civilians’ homes, random shootings and arbitrary killings that have exacerbated the Afghans. In recent months several US and coalition soldiers have been killed, not by insurgents but by Afghan soldiers. The burning of a pile of Qur'ans and other Islamic books by some US troops provoked a wave of protests and riots all over the country that left 24 Afghans and 6 American soldiers dead. Despite the planned deployment of US and coalition forces by 2014, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan John Allen said he believes American troop withdrawals should stop in 2013, keeping at least 68,000 by 2014, in contradiction of Obama administration plans to have combat troops out by that year.

After the invasion of the Russian Army in 1979, there were 7 million Afghan refugees around the world, most in Pakistan and Iran. After the ousting of the Taliban in 2001, almost 5 million people went back to Afghanistan. In the following years, another wave of refugees left Afghanistan due to the ongoing hostilities. Nearly one in three of the world refugees come from Afghanistan. The UNCHR and other refugee agencies have admitted failure in providing for the refugees who have returned, who mostly fail to reintegrate and live in abject poverty in slums and camps. Several, including many children, have died of cold and deprivation during the Winter months. Most Afghans refugees live in poverty in neighbouring countries but Pakistan now want to deport the Afghans in irregular position back en masse by 2013. Only a minority of Afghan refugees make it to Europe, and a small minority make it to the UK. Almost all are young men and underage boys, very few families arrive here, women and girls often do not make it this far due to the harshness and brutality of European border controls, but there are many Afghan women stuck in Athens for instance.

The Bush administration* decided to invade Afghanistan in pursuit of Osama Bin Laden. First they demanded the Taliban to hand Bin Laden over, in the wake of the 9/11 massacres of 2993 people. The Taliban asked for evidence of Bin Laden involvement, the US did not have any so they invaded the country and ousted the Taliban, replacing it with the corrupted puppet government of Hamid Karzai. To this day there is no evidence whatsoever that Bin Laden or al Qaida were behind the 9/11 attacks. Originally the US secret services helped set up Al Qaida, for the purpose of fighting the Russians, but there are ongoing relations between CIA and Al Qaida to this day.
Many engineers and experts in demolitions claim that the Twin Towers could only have collapsed the way they did the in a controlled demolition, and they are calling for a truly independent investigation.

With the end of the Cold War a very essential element in rallying popular support for war went missing: the enemy. It was therefore imperative for the US military-industrial complex to find another powerful enemy and provide the justification for their wars under the banner of the War on Terror. What the Bush administration* did in Iraq: they went for Saddam, destroyed the country for some weapons of mass destructions that did not even exist, and made over 2.000.000 refugees. The real reason for that war was that they wanted the Iraqi oil. In Afghanistan they want to build some gas pipelines to get the gas of the region.

Refugees are hostages in the endless imperialistic war for exploitation of resources. Unwanted by the same Western governments who caused the war in the first place, they are liable to be detained in special prisons for immigrants and often are sent back to the dangers they tried to escape; asylum procedures have become more and more of a complicated farce and a façade. As the government sets targets of people to be deported, many asylum seekers are refused for the mere purpose of meeting those targets. For Afghans as I said it is very difficult to get asylum. Many Afghan refugees know that, and do not even bother to apply for asylum. some cannot apply because they have fingerprints in other countries. They live ‘illegally’ in the UK, open to exploitation and always afraid to be caught in Gestapo-style raids by UKBA officers and police on workplaces, underground stations and people’s homes.
Mass deportations from the UK to Iraq have stopped also thanks to a sustained political campaign both in UK and Iraq. Sadly mass deportations to Afghanistan continue. We need to raise the issue, build resistance and step up the fight.

Notes:
*just a name, George W Bush was only a puppet in the hands of others, unlike his father who is a man of importance

Links:
Known as Operation Ravel, the charter flights to Afghanistan are the most regular of the mass deportations from the UK, taking place roughly once a fortnight and usually involving two coaches of deportees. Detainees are given Removal Directions (RDs) with a standard flight number ‘PVT008′. Companies known to have participated in these flights over the years include Hamburg International Airlines and more recently, Lufthansa-owned BMI. Notorious coach company, WH Tours, based in Crawley, provide transport to the airport.
 http://stopdeportations.wordpress.com/afghani/

 http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/23/headlines#0

 http://iwpr.net/report-news/afghans-dispute-nato-casualty-figures

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/aug/10/afghanistan-civilian-casualties-statistics

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan is predicting the United States needs to prepare for heavy fighting during the upcoming year. General John Allen made the comment under questioning from Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona.
 http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/23/headlines#8

UNHCR says it has realized in recent months that for the past decade, it has followed a misguided strategy in dealing with the nearly five million refugees - almost a quarter of the population - it has helped return to Afghanistan since 2002.
 http://www.irinnews.org/Report/94965/AFGHANISTAN-Towards-more-sustainable-solutions-for-returnees

 http://www.irinnews.org/Report/94959/AFGHANISTAN-Bracing-for-mass-evictions-from-Pakistan

The ‘reasons’ for the war in Afghanistan –by Noam Chomsky
 http://stopwarblog.blogspot.fr/2009/02/chomsky-on-afghanistan.html

The 9/11 attacks: controlled demolition?
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architects_%26_Engineers_for_9/11_Truth
 http://www.attackonamerica.net/proofofcontrolleddemolitionatwtc.htm

Conspiracy theories
 http://www.funnypictures.net.au/sheep-dog/

No Borders! Stop Deportations!
- Homepage: http://stopdeportations.wordpress.com

Comments

Hide the following 10 comments

good article, but just one thing ...

26.03.2012 11:40

thanks for writing this detailed article on an urgent topic
but it would have been even better without the 9-11 conspiracy stuff
it's not relevant to the main points of the article, and many of us who are involved in these issues wouldn't agree with the claims you make

arnaud borderer


re.

26.03.2012 13:23

It is not conspiracy stuff, hundreds of engineers and experts are saying it was controlled demolition, look at the link. However you are free to think what you like, and I am free to write what I think, I am not expecting everybody to agree with me.

the author of the article


Gen Allen tried to stop the civilian massacres

27.03.2012 05:21

General Allen tried 'desperately', in a statement that was as shocking as it was revealing, to pre-emptively prevent exactly the massacre which took place on Sunday 11th March 2012. Three weeks prior to the massacre/s of 16 Afghan civilians, including nine children, near Kandahar US army's top commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen had said to his troops:

"now is not the time for revenge for the deaths of two US soldiers killed in Thursday's riots". They should, he said, "resist whatever urge they might have to strike back" after an Afghan soldier killed two Americans. "There will be moments like this when you're searching for the meaning of this loss," Allen had continued. "There will be moments like this, when your emotions are governed by anger and a desire to strike back. Now is not the time for revenge, now is the time to look deep inside your souls, remember your mission, remember your discipline, remember who you are."

 http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-madness-is-not-the-reason-for-this-massacre-7575737.html

That is a Vietnam moment for loosing US army.
Except of course poor Afghanistan isn't fighting back.
There's no bounce back in sight for the Afghani people.
Just pack up and run is the only agenda.
The deportations to Afghanistan is to partly hide the embarrassment to the macho society.

Never Independent


Regular event

27.03.2012 05:51

 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/british-troops-shot-dead-at-afghanistan-base-7585627.html

British troops shot dead at Afghanistan base 26th March.

Other reports of similar killing of NATO soldiers are out today too.

More Independent


Some people just need to believe something.

27.03.2012 09:13

"hundreds of engineers and experts are saying it was controlled demolition"

Actually they are not, a few are saying it and lots of people who don't understand even basic physics are agreeing with them. At the same time hundreds of thousands of properly qualified engineers, physics teachers, explosive experts and construction engineers fully understand what really happened. Two aircraft crashed into the buildings, burning aviation fuel weakened the structure, they fell down.

Physics teacher


To the physics teacher

27.03.2012 14:59

I am not an expert, you who are a physics teacher can you please explain me how burning fuel can melt steel structures, how many degrees and how long does it take? Cos steel structures are quite strong if they can hold up buildings the size of the Twin Towers.

me


"burning fuel can melt steel structures"

27.03.2012 15:38

The burning fuel did not melt the steel structure, it weakened it. This has been proven and documented. Take a look at the works of Georre Vincent Palmer, he explains it quite well. As an alternative try Benjamin Schafer's many papers on the subject.

Physics teacher


Postponed again

27.03.2012 15:54

POSTPONED TO 4TH APRIL
Reasons not known, coud be the security situation in Afghanistan after 2 more British troops have been killed by an Afghan soldier / who was also killed.

Stop deportations!


Israeli involvement

28.03.2012 09:04

Mossad informed the FBI and CIA in August 2001 that as many as 200 terrorists were slipping into the United States and planning "a major assault on the United States." The Israeli intelligence agency allegedly cautioned the FBI that it had picked up indications of the Twin Towers as the target in the United States and that Americans would be "very vulnerable.

In September, 2001, The New York Times and Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that four hours after the attack, the FBI arrested five Israelis who had been filming the smoking skyline from the roof of a white van in the parking lot of an apartment building, for "puzzling behavior". They were charged with illegally residing in the United States and working there without permits. The Israelis were said to have been videotaping the disaster with what was interpreted as cries of "joy and mockery". Police found the van and a search revealed $4,700 in cash hidden, along with foreign passports and a boxcutter which aroused suspicions and led to the detention of the occupants. The men were held in detention for more than 2 months, during which time they were subjected to interrogation and lie detector tests, before being deported back to Israel; one of the men (Paul Kurzberg) refused to take the test for 10 weeks, and then failed it.
The five men worked at the company Urban Moving Systems, owned and operated by Dominick Suter. After the men were arrested the FBI searched their offices and questioned Suter, however Suter fled to Israel before he could be questioned further. Eventually, Suter's name appeared on the May 2002 FBI Suspect List, along with the Sept. 11 hijackers and other suspected extremists.

According to a former CIA chief of operations for counterterrorism Vince Cannistraro, Urban Moving Systems was a front for an intelligence operation investigating fund-raising networks channeling money to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. On March 15, 2002, The Forward claimed that the FBI had concluded that the van's driver, Paul Kurzberg, and his brother Sivan, were indeed Mossad operatives, who were in America "spying on local Arabs". ABC news cited this report on June 21, 2002, adding that the FBI had concluded that the five Israelis had "full foreknowledge of the attacks"

In March, 2001, the US Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive had issued a warning about people identifying themselves as "Israeli art students" attempting to bypass security and gain entry to federal buildings, and even to the private residences of senior federal officials. A French intelligence agency later noted “according to the FBI, Arab terrorists and suspected terror cells lived in Phoenix, Arizona, as well as in Miami and Hollywood, Florida, from December 2000 to April 2001 in direct proximity to the Israeli spy cells”. The report contended that Mossad agents were spying on Mohammed Atta and Marwan al-Shehi, two of leaders of the 9/11 hijack teams.

The Associated Press reported that "Israeli intelligence services were aware several months before Sept. 11 that bin Laden was planning a large-scale terror attack" and that this information was passed on to Washington. According to Fox News, In August 2001, Israel warned the US that an al-Qaeda attack is imminent. Reportedly, two high-ranking agents from the Mossad came to Washington and warned the FBI and CIA that up to 200 terrorists have slipped into the US and are planning "a major assault on the United States.

On February 18, 2009, The New York Times reported that Ali al-Jarrah a Palestinian activist and cousin of 9/11 hijacker Ziad al-Jarrah, was arrested in Lebanon on charges of being a paid Mossad asset over the last two decades.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an August 2010 speech that no Zionists were killed in the attacks since, according to him, "one day earlier they were told not go to their workplace." He also remarked, "What was the story of September 11? During five to six days, and with the aid of the media, they created and prepared public opinion so that everyone considered an attack on Afghanistan and Iraq", furthermore he said that Iranian intelligence has clear evidence that Mossad supplied the explosives used to bring down the towers and they have film of the explosives being planted on September 4th during a maintenance visit.

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