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UK: Iraqi Kurd from Halabja 'Don't send me
back to Iraq'
2.2.2007
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February 2, 2007
UK, -- An Iraqi Kurd who made his home in
Grantham was detained by police on Sunday and is
threatened with deportation for the second time in
18 months. Erfan Ali, who has lived and worked in
Grantham for seven years, narrowly escaped
deportation in August 2005.
Since then Mr Ali, who is 27 and lives on Oxford
Street, had to report to police monthly.
He was kept at Grantham police station until Tuesday
when he was taken to a holding centre in
Cambridgeshire.
Speaking from the centre, he told the Journal he
does not want to be sent back to Iraq.
He said: "I don't feel happy because it would be
very dangerous for me to go back there. I left there
because it was dangerous for me and this is letting
my dream of staying in England down again. |
Erfan Ali from Halabja could be deported back to
Kurdistan (Iraq) |
"I chose England and everyone has treated me so
well, but I am embarrassed that this has happened to
me again. I am in shock because I never believed I
would be locked up again."
Workmates at Grantham Book Services raised the alarm
when he failed to turn up for his Sunday night
shift. Logistics manager Duncan James said: "We all
thought he was on the way to getting a British
passport.
"He is open about his status, earns a good wage and
pays tax, but is just an easy target."
Mr James said Mr Ali's job will be kept open and the
company will follow his appeal.
He also said Mr Ali was forced to sell his car to
help pay legal costs totalling £5,000. Mr Ali said
he is waiting for paperwork to find out what will
happen.
His solicitor, Elizabeth McCue, said he was detained
after failing to pursue his appeal to stay correctly
and has been told he will be flown back to Kurdistan
in 10 days.
She said: "The only way is to go to the High Court
for a judicial review. There are hundreds of people
in a similar situation but he has got a good chance
because of his circumstances."
A Home Office spokesman said they could not comment
on individual cases.
Erfan Ali comes from Halabja in Kurdistan region
(northern Iraq) where 5,000 people died in chemical
attacks carried out by Saddam Hussein in the 1980s.
Some of his relatives died in the attacks and it is
believed his parents still live there.
When the Journal interviewed Mr Ali after his return
in September 2005, he said: "I want to stay in
England because I am paying my own rent and bills,
working and going to college.
"If I had tried to build my life in Iraq like I have
here, every time you make progress someone tries to
damage it or attack you. In Iraq people don't plan
for next week because they are just planning for
today. I want to stay here and start my life again."
granthamtoday co.uk
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