 We have some great news! Reza was released on bail and arrived back in Sheffield Friday evening! He was greeted just like a celebrity in the Sheffield train station and he was beaming from ear to ear with happiness! We are all very glad he is back home and that he is safe for now!
Reza's bail conditions will be revised in three weeks time, when he will hopefully be given temporary release whilst the home office take their time deciding on the revision of his claim. There are a number of legal avenues we can take if the home office refuse his case, we can ask for an oral hearing where the judge will be the one who makes the decision and we can also appeal to the court, so there are still many hopeful steps to take and Reza's lawyer feels confident that he has a very good argument to stay in the UK, which is why the High Court judge gave an injunction in the first place.
Thank you again everyone for all your support, whilst it doesn't feel like much we know that the letters and signatures make a difference to the final decisions.
Thanks from a very relieved Reza and his campaign team xx
Marishka Van Steenbergen <m_vansteenbergen@yahoo.com> Posted Saturday 26th March 2011
Great news! Reza Still here, won't be flying (Posted 16th March 2011)
A High Court Injunction was granted Tuesday preventing Reza from being deported to Afghanistan. The UKBA has to look at his claim again, so hopefully they'll see some sense and grant Reza leave to remain.
Thank you so much to everyone for your support!!
We'll post more info about his release and more details about the injunction anon.
Unfortuneately Reza for the time being remains in detention.
A very relieved Marishka and Reza xx
Reza Yosefi Judicial review this afternoon (Posted 15/03/11)
We have some good news and some bad news; the good news is that the High Court did not refuse Reza's case, however the bad news is that we still don't have a decision. The judge decided he wanted to have an 'oral argument' to make a decision on Reza's claim. This means there will be a review of the case where Reza's barrister will defend the case to the High Court Judge tomorrow (Tues 15th) in the Leeds Courts at 2pm.
This will be a public hearing, so anyone is welcome to go and listen to the hearing, here is the information Reza's lawyer sent me.
Administrative Court In Leeds Court 17
Before His Honour Judge Behrens
Tuesday 15 March 2011 At 2 o'clock
For interlocutory hearing
CO/2314/2011 Queen on the Application of Yosefi v SSHD
We still haven't heard from the ECHR, so there is a chance they will pass a Rule 39 tomorrow which will prevent the UKBA from deporting Reza. Let's hope they do!
We will definitely be holding a demonstration today (Tues 15th) outside Sheffield Town Hall at 12:00 pm. So Please join us for as long as you can. This is Our Last Chance to try and influence the politicians and the UKBA to stop Reza's deportation, so we need as many people there as possible. Please bring banners, petitions and pictures of Reza like you did last time.
I hope to see you all there today and I hope we can celebrate a positive decision from the High Courts after 2:00 pm!
Marishka Van Steenbergen
m_vansteenbergen@yahoo.com
"We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety."
Update on Reza's situation- Only one and a half days left! til Wednesday 01:40
We are now waiting for the High Court to make a decision about whether they will pass an injunction to stop Reza's removal. We have also sent a fax to the ECHR to ask them to reinstate a Rule 39 which will prevent the UK government from deporting Reza. So I will be in touch when we hear about the decisions.
Also, please keep tomorrow free (Tuesday 15th) for a demo outside Sheffield Town Hall @ 12pm, in case the judicial review fails. Reza needs all the support he can get!
We will confirm if the demo is needed later on today- lets hope Reza gets an in junction and we will need to celebrate instead of demonstrate!
Thank you on behalf of a very scared Reza xx
"We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety."
Second Attempt to Remove Reza Yosefi
Reza Yosefi, , is a refugee with no nationality and long time resident of Sheffield. Whom the Home Secretary is intending to deport to Afghanistan, he is not an Afghan national - which is why the Home Secretary should not be sending him to Afghanistan. He is currently detained in Colnbrook IRC and due to be forcibly removed from the UK @ 01:40 hrs on Charter Flight PVT 800 on Wednesday 16th March to Kabul.
My name is Reza Yosefi, I'm 20 years old and I am in Colnbrook Detention Centre. I will be forcibly deported at on Wednesday 16th March to Afghanistan.
I grew up in Iran as the son of illegal Afghani refugees. I wanted to go school at 14, but was not allowed to attend. I wanted to work, but when I tried, I was arrested and badly beaten by the police.
At the age of 15, on fear of deportation I was sent to England to try to find a safe place where I could grow up. It took around 7 months to get here and I was often hungry and afraid. At 18 I was refused indefinite leave to remain and now, at 20, I am homeless, have no benefits and I am not allowed to work.
My situation is desperate. Now I am being deported. Please help me to stay in England . I want to study and work and live a normal teenage life. I have friends in Sheffield and have started to make a life of my own here, please help me to continue living here in safety. With thanks, Reza Yosefi
Reza Yosefi Belongs to Sheffield
You are receiving this email because we his friends in Sheffield, urgently need your support to help save our friend Reza Yosefi.
Reza is 20 years old and has been a refugee all his life. At the age of 15, on fear of deportation he was sent from Iran to England to try to find a safe place where he could grow up.
Reza has been living as an asylum seeker in Sheffield for five years, where he has settled and made many strong relationships at college, football club and elsewhere. However, Reza was recently arrested and is presently detained at Colnbrook Detention Centre with a flight to Kabul booked for Wednesday the 16th March 2011.
Civilian deaths in Afghanistan up 15%
The human cost of the armed conflict in Afghanistan grew in 2010. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and UNAMA Human Rights recorded 2,777 civilian deaths in 2010, an increase of 15 per cent compared to 2009. Over the past four years, 8,832 civilians have been killed in the conflict, with civilian deaths increasing each year. UNAMA 09/03/11
Afghanistan a failed state: (6th worst)
Failed state: A state having little or no governance, endemic corruption, profiteering by ruling elites, very poor Human Rights, the government cannot/will not protect the population from others or itself, massive internal conflict, forced internal/external displacement, institutionalised political exclusion of significant numbers of the population, progressive deterioration of welfare infrastructure (hospitals, clinics, doctors, nurses) not adequate to meet health, needs, progressive economic decline of the country as a whole as measured by per capita income, debt, severe child mortality rates, poverty levels.
Afghanistan rated 3rd most corrupt country
Transparency International (TI) defines corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. This definition encompasses corrupt practices in both the public and private sectors. The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranks countries according to perception of corruption in the public sector. The CPI is an aggregate indicator that combines different sources of information about corruption, making it possible to compare countries.
Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2010
Afghan police corruption 'hits Nato pullout'
Afghanistan's security forces are crippled by corruption, poor training and high attrition rates, senior British and US officials have revealed, casting doubt on the West's plan to leave the country within five years. As Nato leaders rubber-stamped a strategy to transfer leadership for the fight against the Taliban to Afghan forces by the end of 2014, Western experts have complained that the vast majority of Afghanistan's police are untrained and do not even know the law. Indpendent Sunday 21st November
Afghanistan's Broken Judiciary
Afghanistan's justice system is in a catastrophic state of disrepair. Despite repeated pledges over the last nine years, the majority of Afghans still have little or no access to judicial institutions. Lack of justice has destabilised the country and judicial institutions have withered to near non-existence. Many courts are inoperable and those that do function are understaffed. Insecurity, lack of proper training and low salaries have driven many judges and prosecutors from their jobs. Those who remain are highly susceptible to corruption. Indeed, there is very little that is systematic about the legal system, and there is little evidence that the Afghan government has the resources or political will to tackle the challenge. The public, consequently, has no confidence in the formal justice sector amid an atmosphere of impunity. A growing majority of Afghans have been forced to accept the rough justice of Taliban and criminal powerbrokers in areas of the country that lie beyond government control.
International Crisis Group (ICG) 17 November 2010
The Home Office are trying to send Reza to Afghanistan , even though he has no family or social network there and has no knowledge of life in Afghanistan. We are very concerned for his safety as he is still very young and is of Hazara ethnicity which makes it very dangerous for him in Afghanistan.
We believe that Reza has much to offer the UK if he was allowed to stay and that, without family to shield him, he would be in grave danger if sent to Afghanistan . Please help us in our campaign to protect Reza here in the UK, where he has made such an effort to belong and contribute. We are campaigning for Reza to be granted permission to stay on humanitarian grounds.
You can help Reza by:
1) Emailing/Faxing Theresa May, Home Secretary
Ask her to exercise her discretionary powers to stop the flight, release Reza Yosefi from detention and to grant him protection in the UK. Download model letter, RezaYosefiTheresaMay.doc or alternatively write your own one. Please remember to quote Reza Yosefi's Home Office Reference number in any correspondence: Y1094016.
Rt. Hon Theresa May, MP
Secretary of State for the Home Office,
2 Marsham St
London SW1 4DF
Fax: 020 7035 4745
Emails:
mayt@parliament.uk
Emails: Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
UKBApublicenquiries@UKBA.gsi.gov.uk
"CIT - Treat Official" <CITTO@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk>
2) Email/Fax Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister: Ask him to intervene with the Home Secretary Theresa May to stop the forced removal of Reza Yosefi. Download model letter RezaYosefiNickClegg.doc. You can copy, amend or write your own version - if you do please remember to include the following: Reza Yosefi, Home Office Reference: Y1094016, is currently in detention @ Colnbrook IRC and due to be forcibly removed from the UK @ 01:40 hrs on Charter Flight PVT 800 on Wednesday 16th March to Kabul.
Nick Clegg - Deputy Prime Minister's Office
Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2AS
Correspondence Section:
Tel: 020 7276 0527
Fax: 020 7276 0514
pscorrespondence@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk
Please let the campaign know of any Emails/faxes sent:
C/o Marishka Van Steenbergen
m_vansteenbergen@yahoo.com |