Please download these letters of support for Sofia Kalu and email to the relevant address now. We urgently need your support

to: Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister's Office

to: Rt. Hon Theresa May, MP
Secretary of State for the Home Office

Please download these letters of support for Lydia Besong and Bernard Batey and email to the relevant address now. We urgently need your support

to: Sam Okwulehie, Group Area Manager Kenya Airways

to: Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister's Office

to: Rt. Hon Theresa May, MP
Secretary of State for the Home Office

Lydia and Bernard MUST STAY CAMPAIGN

Listen to Juliet Stevensen and Lydia Besong Women's Hour interview with Jenni Murray at 00.53 to 12.16 minutes

15.09.11 update
Do listen out for Women's Hour, Radio 4, 10.00am tomorrow (160911) 16.35 How the UKBA left Lydia and Bernard's home when they snatched Bernard. Campaign team member Angela says: "I have just come back from the flat. Two friends of Lydia’s met me there along with a staff member from Bury Asylum Team. UKBA have kicked in the bathroom door, it’s a mess and they left very obvious messy signs that they had pulled the place apart in search of Lydia. I have taken laundry home to wash, found it soaking in the bathroom. It felt as though the Gestapo had been in there, very distressing to see."

See The Bury Times for a new article about Lydia and Bernard's ongoing struggle for their rights, and a letter from Eagle Wings in Bury about how so many other people seeking asylum are treated by the UKBA.

11.09.09 update
Bernard has been moved out of short term to long term holding. The situation for he and Lydia will clarify further once offices open tomorrow.

10.09.09 update
As at 20.40, Bernard has been in Colnbrook's short term holding facility for over 24 hours.

This is against procedure. Bernard has pointed this out to the Guards and asked to be moved but he has not been moved. He has asked for a complaint form but not been given one.

We have phoned Colnbrook on 0208607-5200 to speak to the Deputy Contact Director but the phone is not being answered.

23.15 update
See latest press release here

18.14 update
Bernard called by his lawyer....our current information is that the injunction has been successful and the flight has been cancelled

17.44 update
listen - at 44.40 to live BBC broadcast about Bernard and Lydia

16.45 update
lawyers continue to work for Bernard. Please see Guardian Newspaper report, now live.

15.16 update 
Injunction denied. Please contact Bernard's MP David Nuttall on 0161 797 5007, your own MP and Kenyan Airways and ask them to stop the removal

Visit the Lydia and Bernard webpage for further information on how you can help

14.02 update 13.52 
Bernard's lawyers had not received a response from the court

13.36 update
UKBA officers holding Bernard Batey are telling him that colnbrook have not received any faxes from Bernard's lawyer telling them about the jr and the fact that the removal process should be stopped while case is under review.... Bernard's lawyers have spoken with Jaswant in the immigration department in Colnbrook who confirmed that Colnbrook online records now note that the jr has been lodged and here is the confirmation of fax receipt.....own up UKBA

09.09.11 update
Judicial review lodged yesterday now under review with Mr. Pelling. More faxes just sent by legal reps to UKBA Detained Casework Section, Treasury Solicitors, and Colnbrook to confirm that JR lodged so removal proceedings should be discontinued whilst case under review.

Read today's article in bury times: Lydia and Bernard's home town paper

07.09.11 update
Report of intention to remove Bernard and Llydia to Cameroon now in Cameroon press. At 7.30am on Mon 05 Sept 2011, at least five UK Border Agency officers went to the home of Cameroon playwright Lydia Besong and her husband Bernard Batey in Bury, Greater Manchester.

Visit the Lydia and Bernard webpage for information on how you can help

Sofia Kalu arrived in the UK in November 2006 having fled Zimbabwe, after her home was burnt to the ground and her husband beaten and murdered by ZANU-PF members because he was an active MDC member.

Sofia knew it was no longer safe for her to stay in Zimbabwe and she could not return to her country of birth South Africa as she had been warned that there were ZANU-PF supporters who would kill her or the authorities may just return her to Zimbabwe. Sofia managed to escape to Britain, where a church provided shelter and sanctuary.

Whilst awaiting a decision on her application for asylum, Sofia has married Johnson Kalu, a Nigerian asylum seeker who is also facing a risk of persecution if he is sent back to Nigeria. Johnson has been in detention for longer than 6 months now and Sofia has been campaigning for his release.

The UK Home Office, however, have so far refused to offer protection and are now intent on sending her back to South Africa - away from her husband, away from safety.

Sofia has not signed any travel documents and as far as she knew the South African embassy had not found any of her documents in relation to her Nationality, yet they have now issued her with flight details for her on the 9th September. She is afraid if she returns to South Africa here they will try and send her back to Zimbabwe and that she would not be safe in either country.

Sofia and Johnson have built a new life in Manchester as husband and wife. Both are active and given so much to the Manchester community.Please as Home Secretary , stay the removal of Sofia and grant Sofia and Johnson permission to stay in the UK on Humanitarian grounds so that they can remain with her Manchester Community; where they have established a ‘private life’ as set out in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

WAST Nightingales choir will perform with Juba do Leao on Friday 23rd September. Full details on our events page

Urgent Support For Lydia And Bernard

Lydia Besong and Bernard Batey sought asylum in the UK on 18/12/06. Their asylum claim is based on their activities with the Southern Cameroon National Council, a peaceful political pressure group which campaigns for the rights of the English-speaking minority of Southern Cameroon. In Cameroon, both Lydia and Bernard suffered beatings and imprisonment as a result of their involvement with the SCNC and Lydia was raped by a uniformed guard. These experiences have left them both traumatized and subject to severe depression.Lydia was an English teacher in Cameroon and has written three plays, including one which is critical of Cameroon president Paul Biya. She was detained in Yarl's Wood IRC over Christmas 2009 and came within 72 hours of deportation. A campaign to gain her release saw an overwhelming response from people and communities across Greater Manchester and beyond, and a High Court judge granted an injunction to prevent their deportation from the UK.
 
At the time, Robert Sharp, of English PEN, the charity which campaigns for writers and playwrights internationally, said: “This is a blow for freedom of speech. It is astonishing that the UK plans to deport someone who has been seeking refuge from a government which attacked her just for exercising her right to freedom of expression.”
 
The chairman of the SCNC has since affirmed that Lydia and Bernard were active human rights practitioners in Cameroon and their human rights work in the UK stands as a testimony to that. Bernard and Lydia have worked tirelessly at RAPAR (Refugee and Asylum Seekers Participatory Action Research) and WAST (Women Asylum-Seekers Together) with refugees in similar situations to their own. They have also worked as volunteers with other charitable organisations and have been extremely active in their church community at St Ann's Church, Belfield, Rochdale, where they are valued members of the congregation. Lydia and Bernard are supported by campaigners and friends throughout the UK. They have made many new friends in Bury, where they were re-housed just over a year ago. Their campaign is backed by the trade union Unite and many other organisations and individuals. The Bishop of Manchester and the actor Juliet Stevenson have both spoken publicly about their support for Lydia and Bernard. I understand that the Bishop has already written to you on their behalf. In addition, a number of very well respected writers and actors signed an open letter to the Guardian in July expressing concerns about Lydia's case.

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