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Rae
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YET ANOTHER DAWN RAID –MORE CHILDREN DRAGGED FROM
THEIR BEDS AT DAWN – ONLY THIS TIME THEY LEFT BEHIND
ONE OF THE CHILDREN

Royston dawn raid on asylum family

Support the amnesty for Scottish asylum families, sign
the online petition now

12 Nov 05: Mrs Farhat Ahmed (40), her son Faheem (19)
and daughter Zoha (13), a 3rd year pupil at St Roch's
Secondary School, are currently being held at Tinsley
house Removal Centre and are to be deported to
Pakistan on a 10.30 pm flight tomorrow, Sunday 13
November 2005. Farhat's other son, Fahad (16), was in
London at the time of the dawn raid and is unaware
that his family was been removed for deportation. he
is expected back in Royston on Monday.

The family was taken between 6am and 7am on Friday 11
November 2005. Neighbours, friends, relatives and even
their solicitor was unaware of their whereabouts until
the early hours of Saturday morning.

All of the family members had been fasting that day as
part of the Muslim tradition following Eid. Farhat and
her two children had got up around 5 am to eat
something. They then went to sleep and less than an
hour later a 12 strong immigration snatch squad put in
their door and proceeded to remove the family within
20 minutes. Zoha, 14, was dragged from her bed in mid
sleep and was shaking with fear. Mrs Ahmed, who wears
hijab, had to beg repeatedly to be allowed to take her
Quran with her. She suffers from heart disease and a
serious lung condition which requires medication. She
has been denied her medication in Tinsley House. Mrs
Ahmed and her son Faheem suffered the humiliation of
an officer insisting on accompanying each of them to
the tiny bathroom.

The immigration officers took Mrs Ahmed's mobile phone
as soon as they entered the flat and denied her an
incoming phone call from a worried neighbour who she
had managed to call just minutes earlier when she
heard the door being banged on.

Her son, Faheem Ahmed (19) told immigration officers
that his 16 year old brother Fahad was not in the flat
and was not expected back until Monday 14 November.
Fahad does not have a mobile and the only way of him
getting in touch with his mum was to phone her mobile.
All of Mrs Ahmed's numbers are on the mobile phone.
Still, immigration officers refused to hand the mobile
phone back or allow the family to make attempts to
trace Fahad. Fahad is a fourth year pupil at St Roch's
Secondary School. He has no idea what has happened to
his family or that they are about to be deported
without him back to Pakistan.

The Ahmed family then endured a gruelling 17 hour
journey in a caged van. Following the raid, they were
taken to Brand Street Immigration Office, then
Manchester, then to Heathrow Airport, then Gatwick
Airport and then were taken finally to Tinsley House
Removal Centre at 1 am on Saturday 12 November. During
the entire journey they were given one sandwich. Mrs
Ahmed found it difficult to breathe and repeatedly
asked for the van door to be opened but she was
refused on each occasion.

Positive Action in Housing staff visited the Ahmed's
Royston flat and taped a written notice on the front
door for Farhad Ahmed (16). The note asks Farhad to
contact a neighbour in the Royston flats. Farina
(surname withheld), a Pakistani asylum seeker who is a
friend and neighbour of Farhat's, said:

"People here are terrified of what is happening every
day to our friends, our neighbours. We comforted each
other through our own sadness. Every day we are too
upset to eat or just take a spare breath. Every night
we are too scared to sleep. There is absolutely noone
to help us escape from this fear. After what happened
to my friend, my sister, she is good and kind to
people and visited the mosque with me for prayers, and
between us we have nothing, as you can see, we exist
only, look at this place but we stay here because of
where we can't stay in our countries, but between us
we tried to make each other smile, she would cook
something for me or look after me if i was ill. and i
was ill, around two days before i report every week to
Brand Street, i am ill. We both suffered from the
constant fear but she was my strength and i find it
very hard now to believe that this country is about
human rights when they took my sister, my friend like
this. They won't even let her take her son and he is a
very quiet, good boy. and i don't know what to say to
my daughter about what is happening here, is this
country not for human rights? Can they really do this
to us?"

Robina Qureshi, Director of Positive Action in
Housing, said:

"I've never witnessed such levels of desperation, fear
and grinding poverty as in these flats in Royston.
Everywhere you see people surviving on almost nothing
and still trying to make the best of it. They deserve
a medal not a dawn raid.

"Here is Scotland emptying of its own people, with a
first minister who is gone off to Canada to get
expatriates to come back here. And we know they won't,
because they have a better life there. And noone is
complaining about that. Yet here in this very city,
the asylum capital of the UK, there are 12,500 asylum
seekers, law abiding, following every rule the Home
Office sets, weekly reporting, signing, keeping their
heads down, and desperate to work and stand on their
two feet, and settle and contribute to this country.
They are here, right now and we are supposed to
pretend they don't exist because of a word called
'reserved'. What is wrong with the people in power?
Why won't the Scottish Executive take a lead on this
and stop the inhumane, barbaric practices emanating
from Westminster's asylum policy once and for all?".

Support the amnesty for Scottish asylum families, sign
the online petition now

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. Positive Action in Housing is a Scottish wide
anti-racist organisation working with communities and
others to enable everyone to have an equal chance to
live in good quality, affordable and safe homes, free
from discrimination and the fear of racial harassment
and violence. Since 1995, we have taken a centre stage
role in challenging racism and supporting the human
right of everyone to live in a safe home and
neighbourhood. Then, we were fighting the legacy of
years of discrimination in housing against immigrant
communities. We still are. Today that fight has
shifted to challenging the forced dispersal,
segregation, imprisonment and destitution of refugee
communities. Our work is not just about housing
discrimination; it is also about human rights or the
abuse of it by a country that is supposed to champion
civil liberties, democracy and freedom. We operate the
only accommodation service for asylum seekers made
destitute after being evicted from Council, YMCA and
SRC emergency accommodation

2. Further info, please contact Robina Qureshi on 0777
3321727.

3. Log onto www.paih.org to find out about our work,
get involved or make a donation. See also
www.closedungavelnow.com



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