The Home Office didn’t pull the trigger, but with the British government (like all nation states) determined to control borders and decide who can be in and who can be out, it is also responsible. The State in Britain also commits daily violence to asylum seekers by detention, forced removal, mental stress of uncertainty, lack of access to proper healthcare, and destitution. Death and suicide in (and also outside of) custody of detainees is not uncommon. Many asylum seekers choose so-called ‘voluntary return’ in exchange for a period of food and shelter beforehand and hope of a safer return without escort of immigration officials which is more likely to alert police and ‘security’ forces (e.g. under the Home Office’s Section 4 programme) but this decision is not taken lightly. In Darfur, and elsewhere, just returning after a time outside of the country can make you a target.

All this, and the terrible outcome of Adam Osman Mohammed’s return to Darfur, means that action to prevent and delay removal, ‘voluntary’ or otherwise, saves lives. In Nottingham, activists are working with asylum seekers with this very aim, whether they are from Sudan/Darfur, Congo, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Iraq or anywhere else they do not wish to return to. For more details, see: http://www.nottsrefugeeforum.org.uk/nrcg.htm

See also: Flying People to Torture & Death

UPDATE: Mustafa’s removal flight was cancelled but please sign the petition and continue to email and/or send faxes [attachment=20] to the Home Office as this may only be a temporary delay to his removal (Click on read more for full text of email).

Support the campaign to prevent the second attempt by the government to remove Mustafa Abdulrahim Mustafa, Sudanese cameraman, from the UK. Mustafa Abdulrahim Mustafa from Sudan is detained in Campsfield House IRC and due to be forcibly removed from the UK on Tuesday 2nd December 2008 on BMI flight BD 0997 from Heathrow Terminal 1, @ 16.00 to Khartoum. Please sign the petition, and forward the petition address to others:
http://www.petitiononline.com/MustafaM/petition.html
Click on read more for other things you can do.

UPDATE: Mustafa’s removal flight was cancelled but please sign the petition and continue to email and/or send faxes [attachment=20] to the Home Office as this may only be a temporary delay to his removal.

MODEL EMAIL/LETTER/FAX as follows:

Rt. Hon Jacqui Smith, MP
Secretary of State for the Home Office
3rd Floor, Peel Buildings
2 Marsham St
London SW1 4DF
Fax: 020 8760 3132
Email: indpublicenquiries@ind.homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Dear Ms Smith,

Re: Mustafa Abdulrahim Mustafa, Home Office Ref: M1247034, Port ref: DEU/454546
I have made myself familiar with the case of Mustafa Abdulrahim Mustafa and would like you to use your discretion to prevent the removal of Mustafa from the UK on Tuesday 2nd December 2008.
Mustafa was a camera man in Sudan, where he was employed to work in the media unit of the Sudanese army, and earlier, for a television station in Sudan. His ID as a camera man/journalist were handed to the Home Office on his arrival in the UK. Mustafa was required to film military operations and as part of his work, he overheard conversations from a senior military officer (rank of Major General) which caused him some concern. This was in 1997 and the senior ranking officer was talking about the killing of civilians in the military operations in the South. Questioning his senior officer, Mustafa was verbally abused ? both his ethnicity and his profession, and he was then dismissed from the Unit. At about this time another cameraman went missing after questioning the scenes that they were required to film.
Mustafa was detained and tortured for six months in one of the regular and ad hoc ?ghost houses?. ?Ghost houses? sprang up everywhere. Any ordinary house could be commandeered to be used as a small prison or place of imprisonment and torture. This is a normal tactic for silencing the local citizens, as everyone learns that anyone can disappear. Mustafa was detained in a room in which he could touch both walls with his arms outstretched, was required to sleep on a bare concrete floor, not permitted visitors or legal advice, and was beaten severely on many occasions. Mustafa is now having treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, suffers from ongoing pain in his legs, and has visual impairment in his left eye after blood collected in the eye after a beating.
Mustafa was released after six months and threatened. He left the area and tried to relocate from Khartoum ( where his family had moved when he was a child) to Al Fashir to be with extended family. Mustafa is of dual ethnicity ? his father is from the Masseleit tribe and his Mother, Dinka. Subsequently, Mustafa became caught up in the military siege of Tawila in Darfur. Many homes were raided as Government militia raided homes looking for anyone they suspected of being in opposition to Bashirs Government. Thousands of people were thus ransacked and raided, rounded up and imprisoned on the most spurious of reasons.
Mustafa was not at home when his Aunts house was raided, but his camera equipment was confiscated, and so too was footage that he had recorded in Darfur which was to be passed to the Justice and Equality Movement for smuggling out of the country.A neighbour recommended to Mustafa that he leave Sudan.
Mustaf is a very highly respected member of the Sudanese community in Nottingham. He is a gentle and kindly man, generous with the very little that he has, to help and assist others. His experiences and what he has witnessed continue to affect his ability to sleep or to rest. Yet under his coaching the Sudanese went into the semi final of the International football league in Nottingham.
We believe that Mustafa is at risk from the regime of President Basher. We believe that what he has witnessed makes him a target to be silenced. We ask that you do not remove Mr Mustafa.
Yours Sincerely,

.

Name:
Address:
City: Postcode: Country:
Date:

Support the campaign to prevent the second attempt by the government to remove Mustafa Abdulrahim Mustafa, Sudanese cameraman, from the UK. Mustafa Abdulrahim Mustafa from Sudan is detained in Campsfield House IRC and due to be forcibly removed from the UK on Tuesday 2nd December 2008 on BMI flight BD 0997 from Heathrow Terminal 1, @ 16.00 to Khartoum. Please sign the petition, and forward the petition address to others:
http://www.petitiononline.com/MustafaM/petition.html

See below for other things you can do. Please remember to include his Home Office ref: M1247034 and let the campaign know of faxes/emails sent:
Friends of Mustafa c/o omer_babikker@hotmail.co.uk
or friendsofmustafa.campaign@gmail.com
See previous info and download model letters (but note change of immigration minister to Phil Woolas):
http://www.nobordersnottingham.org.uk/index.php?newsid=150
http://www.nobordersnottingham.org.uk/index.php?newsid=151
—
Mustafa Belongs to Nottingham

Mustafa Abdulrahim Mustafa from Sudan is detained in Campsfield House IRC and due to be forcibly removed from the UK on Tuesday 2nd December 2008 on BMI flight BD 0997 from Heathrow Terminal 1, @ 16.00 to Khartoum.

This is the second attempt to remove Mustafa this year, and the third attempt to date. Mustafa believes his life will be in danger if he is returned to Sudan. If you speak to his Community in Nottingham you will see, also, how desperately they believe this too.

Mustafa first arrived in the UK in 2004. He is a Sudanese African of dual Dinka/Massaleit heritage – his mother is from the Dinka tribe of Southern Sudan, and his father is from the Masseleit tribe in the West of Sudan. For family reasons he grew up in Khartoum, where he was recruited alongside many other men, to be trained to work in two man crews as a War Correspondents. Mustafa worked as a War Correspondent and camera man, employed in the Media Unit of the Sudanese Army. The programme that they worked on was a propaganda exercise by the Government. All Sudanese remember this programme: FI SAHAATUL FIDAA. In 1997 he lost his job after overhearing a high ranking military man (Major General), who was in charge of media in the operation zone, discussing the deaths of civilians during military operations. Mustafa questioned what he had heard and was insulted and verbally abused before being dismissed from his job. Another television War correspondent/cameraman disappeared from the same film unit at about this time.

Mustafa continued his filming work, making short films with students critical of the regime. The films were parodies of the regime and produced for distribution abroad. The smuggled films were discovered and Mustafa was arrested and detained for 6 months, during which time he was tortured: beaten and humiliated, confined to a space in which he could reach both walls with his outstretched arms, sleeping on a bare concrete floor. His left eye is seriously damaged due to the beatings during that time, and he suffers from pains in his legs.

On release, Mustafa was warned that if he continued to make films he would be shot on sight. He was told that he could not leave Sudan.

In 2004 the Sudanese army and the Arab militia attacked Tawila in Darfur, near to where Mustafa was staying in Al Fashir. The town was under military siege, with an arrest campaign of anyone opposed, or suspected of opposition, to the Government, including students and others. Ghost houses sprang up everywhere (these are houses turned into torture centres and prisons). Your neighbours house could be a ghost house. They were everywhere. Passing by with his camera, Mustafa heard the shouts and screams coming from within one of the houses and managed to film what he saw by using a zoom camera lens. A couple of months later, after the attack on Tawila, thousands of homes were searched, people were arrested and disappeared. Everyone was accused of supporting the Darfuri in the war in Darfur. Mustafa?s’ home was searched and his footage of a film that he was making about the atrocities in Darfur, (prepared for the Justice and Equality Movement) was seized.
Mustafa had not been at home during the search, but a neighbour warned him that his camera had been seized and advised him to leave.

Mustafa is a gentle reflective man, with a passion for football. Under his guidance his team went through to the semi finals in a local international Football league this summer. He has suffered psychologically because of the events and incidents that he has observed, and his fears that he may be returned to Sudan. He suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and is treated at the local hospital for this. He also suffers from problems with his vision, and pain in his legs.
Those that know Mustafa know him to be a gentleman: an honest, considerate and kindly man, who does his best, within his limited means, to care for others in the Nottingham Community who are suffering from destitution and fear.

Please take the time to help Mustafa

1) Please send urgent faxes to Nigel Turner, Chief Executive Officer BMI Airways, asking that BMI should not facilitate Home Office enforcement policies, Download ‘model letter’ you can copy/amend/write your own version, if you do so, please remember to include the following details: Mustafa Abdulrahim Mustafa, due to be forcibly removed from the UK on Tuesday 2nd December on BMI flight BD 0997 from Heathrow Terminal 1, @ 16:00hrs, flying to Khartoum
Fax: Fax:: 01332 854875 from outside the UK: + 44 1332 854875

2) Ring BMI Head Office and ask to speak to the CEO, Nigel Turner (Tel: 01332 854000). You probably won’t be able to speak to him personally, but you should be able to leave a message, at least to say that you have sent a fax.

3) Please send urgent faxes/emails immediately to Rt. Hon. Phil Woolas, Minister for Immigration, asking that Mustafa Abdulrahim Mustafa, be granted protection in the UK. Please use the attached ‘model letter’ which you can copy/amend/write your own version, if you do so, please remember to include his HO ref: M1247034.
Fax: 020 8760 3132(00 44 20 8760 3132 if you are faxing from outside UK)
Email: Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Mustafa?s petition may be signed at http://www.petitiononline.com/MustafaM/petition.html
Please let the campaign know of faxes/emails sent:
Friends of Mustafa
C/o omer_babikker@hotmail.co.uk or friendsofmustafa.campaign@gmail.com

End of Bulletin:
Source for this page:
Friends of Mustafa

We also have the good news (see also Evening Post article) that Selina and her children were arriving home to Nottingham as of 4th Oct, after they were detained for removal to Ghana by British Airways on Friday 3rd. A neighbour drove to London to collect them as soon as they knew she was being released. Selina has seen that 940 supporters signed a petition in support of her and the children (now over 1020 signatures). Brian (aged is very happy ‘to be out of the Dungeon’, and we are hoping that little Chelsea (5) will start eating again soon, because she wouldn’t eat in Yarl’s Wood (Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire). The campaign has learnt is that another family with young children ‘disappeared’ from the same school (St Patricks, in Wilford) over the summer holidays, and an older sister bringing a younger sibling to school mentioned that her family had beein in Yarlswood for three months last year. This is just one primary school… we need to keep the Campaign going for Selina, and we need to think about what else is going on in our midst.

See previous No Borders Nottingham website articles for background details on both attempted removals. Pressure must be kept up on the airlines to stop them colluding with the UKBA over deportations like these, which are known to involve abuse by private security companies contracted by the government, that within the last week, the Home Office has been forced to investigate.

UPDATE: Mustafa is still here in England, but please continue to fax letters to the home secretary and immigration minister on his behalf. He is still in Campsfield house removal centre and the home office say they have no plans to release him.

Mustafa Abdulrahim Mustafa, who has been in UK since June 2004, was detained when he reported at his reporting centre in Loughborough this week. He is a Sudanese African of dual Dinka/Massaleit heritage ? his mother is from the Dinka tribe of Southern Sudan, and his father is from the Masseleit tribe in the West of Sudan. He criticised the Sudanese regime though his film work for which he was tortured: beaten and humiliated. Mustafa was detained last year when the Home Office were rounding up Sudanese prior to the second HGMO case last year. Another Appeal is set for November this year on the issue of torture of returnees to Sudan. But, as is typical of the Home Office before Appeals are heard, removals are rushed through. Mustafa has been given a Removal Notice set for Saturday 4th October, with BMI flight number BD 997 from Heathrow Terminal 1, flying to Beirut, and then on to Khartoum. We urge you to write on his behalf, to the Home Secretary, the Immigration Minister, and the Airline. Mustafa should not be returned to Sudan. Follow read more link for how to help. Model letters: [attachment=17] and [attachment=18]

Mustafa Abdulrahim Mustafa

UPDATE: Mustafa is still here in England, but please continue to fax letters to the home secretary and immigration minister on his behalf. He is still in Campsfield house removal centre and the home office say they have no plans to release him.

Home Office Ref: M1247034
Port ref: DEU/454546
DOB: 1/1/1967
Arrived UK: 13/6/2004

Model letters: [attachment=17] and [attachment=18]

Mustafa was detained when he reported at his reporting centre in Loughborough this week. Many of you will remember that Mustafa was dertained last year when the Home Office were rounding up Sudanese prior to the second HGMO case last year. Another Appeal is set for November this year on the issue of torture of returnees to Sudan.

Mustafa first arrived in the UK in 2004. He is a Sudanese African of dual Dinka/Massaleit heritage ? his mother is from the Dinka tribe of Southern Sudan, and his father is from the Masseleit tribe in the West of Sudan.

Mustafa worked as a camera man for a television station in Sudan, and also for the military media unit. In 1997 he lost his job after overhearing a high ranking military man (Major General), who was in charge of media in the operation zone, discussing the deaths of civilians during military operations. Mustafa questioned what he had heard and was insulted and verbally abused before being dismissed from his job. Another television cameraman disappeared from the same film unit at about this time.

Mustafa continued his filming work, making short films with students critical of the regime. The films were parodies of the regime and produced for distribution abroad. The smuggled films were discovered and Mustafa was arrested and detained for 6 months, during which time he was tortured: beaten and humiliated, confined to a space in which he could reach both walls with his outstretched arms, sleeping on a bare concrete floor. His left eye is seriously damaged due to the beatings during that time.

On release, Mustafa was warned that if he continued to make films he would be shot on sight. He was told that he could not leave Sudan. Moving to Al Fashir to stay with a relative, Mustafa continued to make short films of family events, parties, and continued to make a living in this way between 1999-2004.

In 2004 the Sudanese army and the Arab militia attacked Tawila in Darfur, near to where Mustafa was staying in Al Fashir. The town was under military seige, with an arrest campaign of anyone opposed, or suspected of opposition, to the Government, including s students and others. Ghost houses sprang up everywhere (these are houses turned into torture centers and prisons). Your neighbors house could be a ghost house. They were everywhere. Passing by with his camera, Mustafa heard the shouts and screams coming from within one of the houses and managed to film what he saw by using a zoom camera lens. A couple of months later, after the attack on Tawila, thousands of homes were searched, people were arrested and disappeared. Everyone was accused of supporting the Darfuri in the war in Darfur. Mustafas’ home was searched and his footage of a film that he was making about the atrocities in Darfur, (prepared for the Justice and Equality Movement) was seized.

Mustafa had not been at home during the search, but a neighbor warned him that his camera had been seized and advised him to leave.

Mustafa is a gentle reflective man, with a passion for football. Under his guidance his team went through to the semi finals in a local international Football league this summer. He has suffered psychologically because of the events and incidents that he has observed, and his fears that he may be returned to Sudan. He suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and is treated at the local hospital for this. He also suffers from visual problems, and pain in his legs.

Mustafa has been given a Removal Notice set for Saturday 4th October, with BMI flight number BD 997 from Heathrow Terminal 1, flying to Beirut, and then on to Khartoum

Those that know Mustafa know him to be a gentleman: an honest, considerate and kindly man, who does his best, within his limited means, to care for others in the Community who are suffering from destitution and fear. We urge you to write on his behalf, to the Home Secretary, the Immigration Minister, and the Airline. Mustafa should not be returned to Sudan.

His solicitor is still putting representations together so please, I know that it must seem like there are many appeals at the moment, please write, phone, fax the Home Office and BMI. We know that BMI Baby are not sympathetic to cases in the past so please do all that you can. I have attached a phot of Mustafa at the football tournament – I am sure that many of you will know/ recognise him.

Please send urgent faxes/emails immediately to Rt Hon. Liam Byrne, Minister for Immigration, asking that Mustafa Abdulrahim Mustafa is granted protection in the UK. Please remember to include Mustafas Home Office Ref. Number M1247034.

Fax.020 8760 3132 (0044 20 8760 3132 if you are faxing from outside the UK)

Email: privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

1) Please send urgent faxes to Nigel Turner, Chief Executive Officer BMI Airways, asking that BMI should not facilitate Home Office enforcement policies, using the attached ‘model letter’ (ElsaIMbayeBMI.doc) you can copy/amend/write your own version, if you do so, please remember to include the following details: Elsa Temesgen Imbaye and her 11 year old daughter, Bethlehem due to be forcibly removed from the UK on Wednesday, 1 October 2008 on British Midland Airways flight BD913 from Heathrow @ 14:15 to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Fax: Fax:: 01332 854875 from outside the UK: + 44 1332 854875

2) Ring BMI Head Office and ask to speak to the CEO, Nigel Turner (Tel: 01332 854000). You probably won’t be able to speak to him personally, but you should be able to leave a message, at least to say that you have sent a fax.

Please let Mustafas campaign know of any emails/faxes that you send omer_babikker@hotmail.co.uk

Congolese, Zimbabwean, Iraqi, Afghan, Somali asylum seekers of other nationalities stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Sudanese, the latest targets of the Home Office’s most shameful, vile attacks.

Source: NCADC. READ MORE on Indymedia: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/04/366836.html

We know from another returnee to Sudan, that those who return voluntarily are treated differently to those who are deported. We are waiting to see whether anyone who returns voluntarily gets into trouble and we have arranged a system for receiving information in the hope that this never happen. In the week before the detentions there were two voluntary returns to Sudan. The men who returned voluntarily witnessed a man being deported . He was accompanied by two guards. On the flight that Alcir should have been on we have calculated that four others were not on that plane – either because Judicial Reviews prevented their removal, or, in one case, because Immigration got someone too late to the airport, and missed the flight. Mustafas’ fligh ticket was £450. so if we assume that for each person deported there is one one-way ticket for £450 and two returns at approx £1000 thats about £1500 per person. Four non returnees equals a considerable profit for BA and lots of leg room on the plane!

IMPORTANT UPDATE: 3 April 07 – Late last night, UK immigration authorities halted the removal of Darfuri African survivor Mohammed Abdulhadi Ali. Read more …

Of the three from Nottingham detained last week; Abdul Hadi, Mustafa, Alcir …:

Abdul Hadi has a removal notice set for next Tuesday. His solcitors seem confident on many aspects at the moment and are working on the bits that they are not yet confident about. Abdul Hadi is now famous having been featured in the Independent on Tuesday 27th March. We are staying in touch with him and his friends everyday. IMPORTANT UPDATE: 3 April 07 – Late last night, UK immigration authorities halted the removal of Darfuri African survivor Mohammed Abdulhadi Ali. The decision to halt Mohammed Abdulhadi’s removal comes ahead of judgement in HGMO, a country guidance case on Sudan, to be handed down at 10.00am tomorrow. The judgement is widely expected to go against the Home Office’s argument that internal flight from Darfur to Khartoum is a viable option for Africans fleeing ethnic cleansing in Darfur, making it much more difficult to remove Darfuris from the UK to Sudan citing sufficient safety in Khartoum.

Mustafa had a removal date set for Tuesday 27th March at 10 p.m. An application for Judicial Review was denied on several grounds even though the Judge admitted having some sympathy for his situation. His solicitor in London pulled out on Monday morning when Legal Aid Funding could not be obtained. I had already asked another to represent him in the event that this happened so that flowed quite smoothly. However, legal aid was still a problem. The solcitors were prepared to submit an application for JR anyway as long as it met standards for their own work. However, we came to an arrangement whereby we would assist him to submit his own emergency application in the event that they could not. It was quite complex and all very last minute. We needed to find someone who could attest to his ethnicity and no matter how far we looked it was difficult. Someone in Nottingham declined to do this but has since agreed. Despite submitting photographs of him at demonstrations the Judge held that there was no evidence that he was a Black African – which just made many Sudanese incredulous. We heard very late that the Judge had refused. We had already drawn up a letter to circulate to people who could fax the airline and circulated that with little time to spare and hoped that everyone would be able to redirect it to their contacts. We used several campaign and interest group lists to do that throughout the UK.
In the event we faxed approx thirty faxes from our offices, with members of the Community coming in right up until the last minute with signed letters to fax. We also had people telephoning the airlines and speaking to them in a number of languages to plead with them not to carry Mustafa. We were talking to Mustafa right up until his phone was switched off. However, the preparation work was done and quiet, gentle Mustafa was ready. When he was fetched to be put on the plane he said “No”. He refused and he was taken back to the holding centre.
In the office we were apprehensive and talked about trying another fax off to Bahrain where he was changing planes and tried to sort out the pros and cons of doing so, including talking with friends in Sudan for advice. I got home at 3 and decided to just try his phone one more time in case he was in Bahrain changing planes. I was astonished when he answered and we had a chat, and then I arranged for someone else to call him back speaking in Arabic. He was taken to Oakington in Cambridge and arrived just as I called. Yesterday he was given new removal directions for 4th April which I faxed on to his solicitors. We are now hunting for the experts to testify re his ethnicity amongst other things.

Alcir is still here also. We stayed in touch up until an hour before he was due to board the plane. He had been moved from Manchester at 4 a.m. to Heathrow and was out of touch until we found him again at about 7.30 a.m. The solicitors had applied for cancellation of removal directions on the basis of an emergency application for JR. However, the fear was that the application woud be heard before the flight was due to take off and that the removal directions would be re instated.

Information from Sudanese detainee support in Nottingham.