|
Support Peter Gitau Gichura, disabled activist, at risk of deportation Please write or email this model letter with your name and address to the Immigration Minister Liam Byrne, or write your own, demanding that Mr Gichura (HO ref: G1053958) be granted the right to stay. Liam Byrne MP 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF fax 020 7219 2417, byrnel@parliament.uk
Please email/fax a copy to:
Malcolm Wicks MP
(Mr. Gichura’s MP) fax: 020 8683 0179 Payday: fax 020 7209 4761
Emails: wicksm@parliament.uk; mcguirea@parliament.uk; payday@paydaynet.org; MODEL LETTER
Dear Mr. Byrne,
Re: Peter Gichura, HO Ref: G1053958
I understand that Mr Peter Gichura, a father, a wheelchair user and disability activist from Kenya who is seeking asylum in this country, was recently detained again in Harmondsworth. Only legal action and campaigning stopped his deportation and won his release, but he is still fighting for his right to stay to get life-saving medical care. He is a widely known and respected campaigner who was released after huge public support and media interest also when he was previously detained in February 2006 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4742948.stm).
Both Mr Gichura’s justified applications for asylum, on grounds of political persecution and for life-saving access to healthcare, have been rejected by the Home Office. His recent detention comes just days after he took part in the “Claim the Buses” wheelchair users’ action organised by Transport for All, and was interviewed on ITV’s London Tonight (ITN, 21 August) unable to board a 24 bus. He was one of 250 wheelchair users taking part on the day. Is he being victimised here too for upholding disability rights?
Mr Gichura’s justified asylum claims have been refused twice. In 2001, he claimed asylum from persecution as a founder member of Mwanzo Disabled Development Society, formed by disabled street sellers. He had to flee Kenya in fear for his life because of repeated violence and threats, including death threats from the authorities. Other members fled to the UK and Canada. When interviewed by the Home Office shortly after arrival, he was in pain, exhausted and lacking legal representation, resulting in minor discrepancies which the Home Office seized on to dismiss his application and subsequent appeals.
Mr Gichura has a spinal injury with associated bladder problems and urinary tract infections. He is waiting for an operation which he would never be able to afford in Kenya. Yet his fresh claim of 25 April on disability and health grounds was refused despite compelling evidence from Rachel Hurst of Disability Awareness in Action, who stated in her conclusion: “In developing countries ... people with spinal injuries died within two years of their injuries, not from lack of treatment, but because of their living conditions. To survive the effects of bowel and bladder dysfunction (inevitable results of spinal injury), a person with spinal injuries requires a fully accessible and aseptic home with modern hygienic toileting and bathing facilities. Without these available on a daily basis the disabled person is likely to contract uncontrollable infection of the kidneys, leading to death. It is my honest and considered opinion that the return of Peter Gichura to Kenya will result in his death within a short space of time." Ms Hurst OBE is also a member of the Advisory Group to the government Office for Disability Issues (http://www.officefordisability.gov.uk/national/biography.asp).
It is outrageous that the Home Office and courts have dismissed disability and health grounds for asylum even when someone’s life will be shortened if sent back. Refusing his application, the Home Office said: "a person's medical condition must be at such a critical stage that there are compelling humanitarian grounds for not removing them to a country which lacks the medical and social services to prevent acute suffering before death". Even Mr Gichura’s situation does not satisfy this test, which lawyers say is almost impossible to meet. People with disabilities are treated as entirely expendable. These attacks on vulnerable people spearhead the government’s brutal asylum policy, denying the right to medical care and accessible living conditions which is set out in legislation including Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights – the right to life.
After his previous detention, Mr Gichura launched a legal case under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and Human Rights Act (HRA) about the appalling and inaccessible conditions in Harmondsworth detention centre. He could not access the toilet or shower safely, was given the wrong medication and was searched in a painful and threatening way, all of which made his health worse. This time he did not have a proper bed, contributing to terrible back pain. Mr Gichura’s case under the DDA and HRA is likely to set an important precedent establishing what entitlement we all have to care and humane treatment.
The Home Office may claim (as it has with others) that Mr Gichura can pursue this case even if deported to Kenya, knowing full well that in non-industrial countries it is hard enough for able-bodied people to make their views known, let alone wheelchair users.
Mr Gichura’s detentions in Harmondsworth contravene the United Nations Notes on Detention of Asylum Seekers (2003), which says that people with disabilities should not be subjected to detention. It is ironic that he is under threat of deportation when an international treaty which grants greater rights and freedoms to disabled people around the world, is agreed at the United Nations (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/5274354.stm).
Despite all the difficulties, Mr. Gichura has made a home in London, and contributes to the community, helping others. He is a valued member of Payday men’s network based at the Crossroads Women’s Centre, a longtime volunteer with Leonard Cheshire, and an active member of the church group, Back to God Ministries.
Considering all these facts, I urge you to grant Mr. Peter Gichura the right to stay.
Yours sincerely, |