Manchester, Sat 17 December 2005, Three Anti-Deportation Campaigns

DETC is campaigning to save the lives of Eucharia and her 4-year-old son who are threatened with deportation to the war-zone in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria, from where they fled after members of their family were killed. Justina Ogbe and two-year-old Yonre also fled the war in the oil-rich Niger Delta. Justina's husband was killed within days of the birth of her son. She sought asylum in Britain fearing she and her son would be targeted next. The Home Office acknowledges that their story is true, but say Justina and Yonre could go and live elsewhere in Nigeria. In reality, all deportees to Nigeria are immediately incarcerated, and over 95% of Nigerian prisoners are routinely brutalised and tortured, by NigeriaÂ’s British-armed dictatorship. Eucharia's claim for asylum was also rejected by the Home Office and she is seeking to appeal against this decision, but has been denied legal aid.

Innocent fled homophobic and political persecution in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). At least 3.8 million people have died in DRC's profitable civil war since 1998, yet Labour deported 65 people to Congo in 2004 (many are raped and tortured on return). Innocent has been arrested by the DRC officials at various times between 1992 and 2005, particularly in June 2004 because he participated in a march against the UN failure to protect the Congolese people in Bukavu from US and French-armed Rwandan troops. Following one arrest, Innocent was made to choose between 15 years in gaol or volunteering for Secret Service Training. He refused and was detained in Buluwo prison, where he suffered rape, beatings, and torture. The Home Office has dismissed Innocent's asylum claim, and yet behind the horrors of the DRC lies Eu, US and British imperialism: gold, chrome, cobalt, oil, timber, tin, rubber, diamonds and coltan (used in laptops and mobile phones) are being stolen from DRC, AfricaÂ’s richest country. The thieves include 18 British firms, who together with 67 other imperialist companies and in collusion with British-armed Ugandan and Rwandan troops and militia, took at least $5 billion out of the country between 1998-2002 (Observer, February 6 2005;  http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1406705,00.html). All of this under Labour, a racist, imperialist government, which is now speeding up deportations.

Imperialism creates the conditions (war, poverty, disease) that cause asylum seekers and refugees to flee in the first place. Opposition to the treatment of asylum seekers that doesn't oppose policies of the imperialist Labour government, ultimately, will not protect asylum seekers or unite families. We will simply go round in circles, as a few escape deportation, while thousands others are deported, or drown in the Mediterranean sea or stay locked up in detention centres around Europe. Millions more in oppressed nations will continue to suffer as imperialism creates more poverty, wars, death and destruction. Oppose imperialism, oppose Labour imperialism, defend all asylum seekers! No to all immigration controls!