the RESPECT party

Mohammed Amin Khawaja is about to be forcibly deported on 24 August from the detention centre in Dungavel, Lanarkshire through Edinburgh Airport. Why should we care?

Mohammed Amin Khawaja is 18 years old and was seized by UK Border Agency officials immediately after his birthday. He spent over a year trying to reach Britain from his home in Ishkamish in the Takhar province in North Eastern Afghanistan. He was trained from the age of 11 by the Taliban for whom his father and uncle were commanders. His father and sister were killed by NATO forces and he was betrayed by his uncle, who seeks his inheritance. At 15, Khawaja was arrested by Afghan police and NATO forces and tortured, suffering loss of vision, hearing, seizures, psychiatric distress and loss of mobility. He was to be sent to Bagram air base, the notorious prison complex near Kabul. Khawaja escaped and discovered that the Taliban had placed a price on his head while in a refugee camp in Pakistan.

He came to Britain after harrowing hardship and has prospered. He spent weeks in the Turkish mountains eating grass to survive. Upon reaching Manchester, he studied at Manchester College for two years, winning the Principals Merit classification for his studies. He has lived with a Christian woman who he calls ‘mum’ and has recently been harboured at the Farghana Institute in Whalley Range, Manchester, where he has learned much of the peaceful nature of Islam.

It is evident that Khawaja is at serious risk from both sides in the Afghan war and should be granted asylum. The Afghanistan war is a product of U. S and British adventures and we have a responsibility to help its victims.

He is an example of how those brought up in violent conflict can turn away from violent doctrines. It is a scandal that politically motivated deportations and cuts in funding for immigrants to make their case in court are increasing under the Con Dem government.

Khawaja’s life and case are the very meaning of the term ‘political asylum’.

What can you do?

1. Contact Immigration Minister, Damian Green.
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 3518
Fax: 020 7219 0904
greend@parliament.uk

c/o Hardy House, The Street, Bethersden, Ashford, TN26 3AG
Tel: 01233 820454
Fax: 01233 820111

2. Contact Gerald Kaufman MP
If you live in GORTON CONSTITUENCY, contact GERALD KAUFMAN at his office on 0161 652 6326 to leave a message, or phone/text his Agent on 07968 703740.
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

Tel: 020 7219 5145
Fax: 020 7219 6825
kaufmang@parliament.uk

Constituency
Tel: 0161-248 0073
Fax: 0161-248 0073
searsb@parliament.uk

3. Contact Tony Lloyd MP
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Tel: 020 7219 6626
Fax: 020 7219 2585
lloydt@parliament.uk

Constituency
Tel: 0161-232 0872
Fax: 0161-232 1865
contact@tonylloydmp.co.uk