Isu Muazu, the asylum seeker described as 'near death' after being on hunger strike for 100 days, was deported on Friday on a private jet chartered by the government. If you missed our initial post about him then you can read it HERE.
Nearly 24 hours later, after a flight via Malta, the plane was denied permission to land in Nigeria, and Muazu was flown back to Malta and then Luton airport - where he was taken off the plane on a stretcher and returned to the medical wing of Harmsworth Detention Centre.
The Observer report that the flight is estimated to have cost the Home Office £95,000- £110,000.
Muazu applied for political asylum in the UK in July because he said the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has already killed members of his family and will target him if he returns to Nigeria. He lost his final appeal last week.
His case has attracted support from church leaders and campaign groups, including Liberty, Reprieve and Amnesty International. Actors Juliet Stevenson, Dame Harriet Walter, Cush Jumbo, Khalid Abdalla, playwright Howard Brenton, author Stella Duffy and comedians Mark Thomas and Daniel Kitson all signed a letter appealing for him to be allowed to stay.
On Wednesday, the Anglican Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, Most Rev John Packer, said the decision to deport Muazu should be re-considered "in the name of both justice and mercy".
"Isa is not fit enough to survive being returned to Nigeria. He is extremely weak from not eating. He is finding it hard to see or to walk," supporters from the Glasgow Unity centre said.
Lord Roger Roberts, a Liberal Democrat peer and Methodist Minister, told the Observer he was delighted Muaza was back in the UK but horrified that he had been forced to endure the attempted removal. "I saw him on Tuesday when a doctor had judged him too sick to fly," he said. "Goodness knows what state he must be in now the poor man. He needs hospital treatment. We should know the cost of this private jet. We've already heard this case has cost some £180,000.
Sources at the detention centre said that staff "were horrified" at Muaza's medical condition. Doctors at the centre have six times ruled that he is too ill to be held there, while staff were put on notice of "an imminent death", believed to be that of Muaza, last week.
Lawyers and supporters are now trying to stop a second deportation. "It's an unbelievable fiasco and we are very worried about his health. He is very weak," one campaigner said.
To sign a petition calling for Isu's release see: http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/release-isa-muazu-now-don-t-let-isa-die-in-detention-release-isa-from-harmondsworth-irc-immediately
A second petition on HM Goverment petition site, can be found here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/57612
Source: ICN News
0 comments:
Post a Comment