‘We need to be there when they knock on doors to remove people’
Article published: Wednesday, September 15th 2010
On Saturday Manchester Anti-Deportation (MAD) Coalition had a vibrant launch as they held their first public meeting. On the agenda was how to build a practical network capable of preventing deportations as well as launching broader campaigns in the fight for migration justice.
Over 40 people attended the meeting, including members of immigration and asylum supports groups from across the Greater Manchester area such as RAPAR, Lesbian and Gay Immigration Support Group, Citizens for Sanctuary, Revive, Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST) and many from individual campaigns.
Following an introduction with announcements of ongoing campaigns, the main session focused on specific ways of offering practical support to prevent deportations and how to address issues of injustice in the system.
Discussed were a range of different tactics, such as contacting local trade union branches, councillors, staging demonstrations and banner drops. Yet while acknowledging that gaining publicity and writing to MPs and the Home Office were useful in garnering support, one woman felt that physically stopping removals is sometimes the only solution: “The network has to be concrete and based around real people who are threatened. Supporters and the media need to be there when the UK Borders Agency knock on doors to remove [people].”
The presence of media and visible community support has in the past proven an effective method of delaying – and in some cases even stopping – scheduled removals.
This was touched upon by a speaker who called on the coalition to look at to Glasgow Unity as a shining example of community action where radical means have been taken to stop deportations: “We should take a leaf out of Glasgow’s book – there are no longer any morning snatches by the UKBA there”.
However the difficulties faced in mobilising community support were poignantly put by a member of WAST currently involved in the asylum process: “When you are made destitute, you are moved into a new community and don’t know anybody. It is extremely difficult to raise local support when you are moved around”.
Another point raised was the notorious deportation pilot scheme running in Manchester. Following the coalition government’s announcement that detention of child asylum seekers would be ended, a programme has been trialling the rapid removal of failed asylum seekers in a period of just two weeks.
And Manchester City Council’s collusion in the scheme was referred to with mention of a document leaked in August which showed how the authorities were preparing to deal with foreseeable public order implications of the scheme, namely the rallying of community support and adverse media attention.
Testimonies given by those inside the system highlighted what appears to be a concerted effort on the part of the authorities to disrupt the lives of asylum seekers. One attendee told of a particularly insidious example in which a detained woman was allegedly threatened that she would be sent back to her home country alone unless she told Home Office officials where her children were staying. Despite the proclamations of child detention being ended, others spoke of their fear of children being taken into care, which can be equally as traumatic.
The threat of and hardship caused by destitution – found by the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights in 2007 to be a deliberate policy tool of the previous government – was another issue several people spoke of having experienced.
In another topic of discussion the imminent threat to access to justice in immigration law was brought up by Paul Morris from South Manchester Law Centre. The centre, which provides free legal advice in a range of areas, has announced that it now faces closure after 34 years of community service following massive cuts to its legal aid funding.
“What is galling is that nobody criticises the competence of our work, in fact it is quite the opposite,” he said.
“People in the community are shocked and indignant at the Legal Service Commission’s [the body which provides legal aid funding] decision.”
Opposing these cuts will form one of the future campaigns of the coalition.
John Sandiford, who facilitated the meeting, said: “I am really impressed with the energy and enthusiasm and it was a pleasant shock to see how many people attended. If we can build in numbers and publicise our actions then the coalition will really take off.”
Functioning as an informal network, MAD Coalition will work by “facilitating streamlined communication to link campaigns” through the use of a collective mailing list and regular meetings on a non-hierarchical basis, he added.
Throughout the meeting numerous petitions were passed around and support pledged for current struggles, while a schoolteacher involved in the campaign Child M Must Stay called for immediate support with removal orders looming this week. A focus of action will also be the Trade Union Congree (TUC) Conference this week, taking place at the G-Mex.
From the meeting there emerged a consensus that a diversity of tactics will have to be employed in the struggle. As one man declared: “We cannot be soft; people in the community have to stop immigration officials”.
Michael Pooler
For information on MAD Coalition’s activities and anti-deportation campaigns currently under way, contact: madcoalition@gmail.com
There will be an initial meeting next week on Thursday 16 September at 5.30pm to set up a Friends of South Manchester Law Centre group, with the aim of saving the Centre. The meeting will take place at South Manchester Law Centre, 584 Stockport Road, Longsight, M13 0RQ.
More: Manchester, News
Comments
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We all know that a few ‘people in the community’ disagree with deportations. But why do these ‘people in the community’ feel that they should decide what happens, rather than the rest of the ‘people in the community’, many of whom support deportations ?
‘People in the community’ who think that their views should prevail and that their direct action is justifeid should remember that they don’t represent all ‘people in the community’, just themselves.
It’s a mistake to quote people using vacuous phrases like ‘people in the community’. It makes a cause seem nothing more than an obsession of a few oddballs.
Comment by simon on October 7, 2010 at 7:17 pm -
so wouldn’t you agree then that the policies officials such as putting children into detention centres and moving families around the country arbitrarily are no more than the ‘obsession of a few oddballs’ which in no way represent people in the community?
Comment by withingtonian on October 8, 2010 at 4:03 pm
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