UK Liberal party urged to support end removal of Darfur asylum seekers

September 19, 2007 — 26 year old Darfuri genocide survivor, Abdo Yahya Abdullah, will on Thursday morning make a personal appeal to Britain’s third largest political party to back a resolution at their Party Conference which calls on the Government to end the forcible removal of Darfuri asylum seekers to Khartoum, the Sudanese capital.

Abdo, who fled the crisis in 2004, was tortured by the Sudanese Army. His father, sister and seven-month-pregnant wife were murdered. Although he now has a fresh case in process, as a failed asylum seeker he spent nine months living in cardboard boxes on Britain’s streets.

The Aegis Trust, an international genocide prevention organisation backing Abdo’s call, uncovered compelling evidence of the torture of the last Darfuri asylum seeker removed to Khartoum by the British Government; Sadiq Adam Osman, who was returned in February of this year.

Independent medical and psychological assessments of Sadiq confirmed that his injuries and mental state were fully consistent with torture in the period immediately following his arrival in Khartoum, and his story was brought to public attention through the Guardian and Channel Four News.

‘Actions speak louder than words’

Overlooking this, the Government is pursuing in the House of Lords a test case against three Darfuri asylum seekers on the basis that it is safe for them to be removed to Khartoum, contrary to a Court of Appeal ruling on 4 April that removal would be unduly harsh given the appalling conditions of life they would face in IDP camps around the city.

The Court of Appeal made no ruling on prospects of torture as it considered there was insufficient evidence either way. However, the House of Lords will not be able to consider the fresh evidence relating to Sadiq, because it will be considering whether or not the Court of Appeal made the right decision based on the evidence available to it at the time.

Speaking earlier today, Dr. James Smith, Chief Executive of the Aegis Trust, stated: “Actions speak louder than words, and unfortunately Gordon Brown’s words on Darfur are being contradicted right now by Home Office actions. Sending survivors from Darfur back to Khartoum puts their lives at risk and gives completely the wrong political message to the Government of Sudan.

“History tells us that if we show genocidal regimes we care little for their victims, it gives them a green light for a campaign of murder. In 1938, 32 governments decided at the Evian Conference that they did not have room for Jews fleeing persecution in Germany. It proved a turning point, as the Nazis realised they could unleash total destruction on the Jews with impunity.”

ENDS

For further information, photographs, or to arrange interviews, please contact David Brown, Head of Communications, mobile: 07921 471985, tel: 01623 836627, email: [email protected]

For media interviews with Abdo Yahya Abdullah at the Lib Dem conference, please contact Hratche Koundarjian, Parliamentary Advisor, on 07905 911 039 or through [email protected]