Anti-deportation campaign success

By Flores Sukula, student asylum seeker

On 23rd August, the High Court ruled that it was unlawful for the government to continue with its plan to deport 35 Congolese refugees, including 15 children, back to the Democratic Republic of Congo before a tribunal, expected in September, considered their safety. This partial success was the result of a campaign backed by the Refugee Council, the National Union of Journalists, Liberty, the National Assembly Against Racism and others.

My friend Lufu Ndombasi was deported to the Congo in July and hasn't been heard of since. He was detained at the airport and taken away. We still live in fear for our very lives. We are still fighting for justice for the Ndombasi family. Many experts agree that torture and death are very real possibilities for those who return.

All we want to do is live here and contribute to society – I’ve just finished my course at Bolton Sixth Form College and been accepted for a university place in Bolton. I want to be a midwife and dream of helping people but it is made very difficult by barriers placed in my way – I cannot afford the fees.

We depend on you to help us to stay here and keep on living, for the rights of all of us and a better world.