Former Rochdale couple set for deportation

The UK Border Agency is set to deport Cameroon playwright Lydia Besong's husband Bernard Batey on Saturday 10 September. Paperwork shows they are also attempting to deport Lydia on the same date.

Paul Rowen, former MP for Rochdale, whose constituency they lived in for three years, said he had looked into the case in detail and was convinced it would be unsafe for the couple to be returned to Cameroon.

Whilst in July their case reached national attention with an open letter sent to The Guardian by leading writers such as Gillian Slovo, Sarah Waters,Juliet Stevenson,Lisa Appignanesi,Joan Bakewell and prominent actors raised concerns about Lydia's case: 

www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/27/justice-for-asylum-seekers

At 7.30 this Monday morning (040911) at least 5 UKBA officers took Bernard from his home to Dallas Court, Salford. He has now been moved to Colnbrook Removal Centre. Please contact Colnbrook to demand his immediate release - Tel: 020 8607 5200 Fax: 020 8759 7996. Reference is Bernard Oben Batey UKBA No. B1236372

Before taking him, neither Bernard nor his lawyer were given any information about the outcome of the legal case. 

For further details about the campaign:

www.rapar.org.uk/lydia-and-bernard-must-stay.html

Five UKBA officers went to their home in Bury early this morning and took away Bernard and the only set of keys to the house. Lydia was not at the house at the time.

Campaigners are demanding to know why Bernard was detained when the UKBA were still considering fresh evidence put forward by the couple's lawyer in July. There had been no indication to the couple or their legal representative that the new evidence had been rejected.

It was only when their lawyer phoned Dallas Court Reporting Centre to find out why Bernard had been detained that the UKBA said the further submissions had been turned down. The UKBA later faxed the legal representative with the reasons for rejection and removal instructions for Bernard.

It is now clear from the paperwork that the decision to reject the further submissions was taken on 17 August. Supporters want to know why the couple and their lawyer were not informed about this decision before UKBA officers swooped on their home at 7.30 am this morning.

A spokesperson for the human rights organisation RAPAR of which Bernard is a member said: “We are appalled by the actions of the UK Border Agency. They have known about this decision for almost a month yet they only chose to disclose the information when pressed by Lydia and Bernard's lawyer after Bernard had already been detained.
“This is yet another example of the UKBA failing to act within their own procedures.”

Lawyers are now preparing to challenge the asylum decision and will ask for Bernard to be released on bail. Campaigners are sending letters, emails and faxes to the Home Secretary and Immigration Minister urging them to intervene in the case.

Lydia and Bernard were politically active in Cameroon with the SCNC, a pressure group which campaigns peacefully for independence for southern Cameroon and is persecuted by President Paul Biya's regime.

They were both imprisoned and tortured in Cameroon and Lydia was raped by a prison guard.

Since then, their story has been the subject of hostile press reports in Cameroon and, in December 2009, a High Court judge granted an injunction to prevent them being deported and asked the UKBA to review their case.

The RAPAR spokesperson added: “The UKBA is still seeking to deport Lydia and Bernard despite all the evidence which shows the violation of their human rights in Cameroon and the very grave danger they would be in if returned. It is a sad reflection if this country cannot give refuge to a couple who have been persecuted and tortured merely for trying to exercise their right to freedom of expression.”

Lydia and Bernard's many supporters include English PEN, the organisation which campaigns for writers who have been persecuted, the actor Juliet Stevenson, and the Bishop of Manchester who has written to the Home Secretary on the couple's behalf. An open letter sent to The Guardian in July by leading writers and actors raised concerns about Lydia's case

The couple are both members of the union Unite, Lydia is a long standing member of the management committee at WAST (Women Asylum Seekers Together) , and both she and Bernard are members of RAPAR.

They are also members of the Bury AcaPeelers Choir. Their campaign is backed by Community Arts North West, the GAP Unit and Commonword, the Manchester writers' organisation.

While they have been living in Bury, their MP David Nuttall has raised their case with Immigration Minister Damian Green and their supporters have sent hundreds of postcards and letters to the Home Secretary.