London: Passengers Prevent Deportation

Passenger Revolt Halts Illegal Deportation on Flight BA902

18th July 2000 Midday.

Several arrests were made this morning on a BA flight from Heathrow to
Frankfurt. Passengers resorted to civil disobedience to prevent the
forced deportation of 23 year old Salim Rambo, a Zairean refugee. Due
to take off at 7:15am the flight was delayed for over 2 hours. Mr Rambo was
taken of the plane and his forced deportation was prevented.

Several passengers are still being held at Heathrow police station.
Page CAGE for more details: 07669 167 489

Mr Rambo was caught up in the Civil War in the Republic of Congo (Zaire) and
now fears for his life from both government and rebel forces. He was among
over 11,000 people detained by the immigration service every year, and has
been held in Harmondsworth detention centre and given no legal advice since
the decision for his removal was made. Germany had already refused his
asylum application, so return to Frankfurt this morning would almost
certainly have meant deportation to Zaire and death.

The removal to Germany was taking place under a little known but often
used clause of the Dublin Convention, which provides for removal of
immigrants to a "Safe Third Country". As it is almost impossible to
arrive in the UK without passing through a "Third Country", thousands of
asylum seekers are deported with no consideration of their case. By
deporting Mr Rambo in this way, without access to legal representation, the
Home Secretary may have been in breach of international law. This is being
taken up in court.

Before boarding the flight passengers were given leaflets by the anti-prison
network, CAGE, informing them about Mr Rambo's presence on the flight. The
leafleting was part of a long weekend of actions by CAGE. This included the
occupation of the site of a proposed women's prison in Surrey and scaling
the fence at Harmondsworth detention centre - which is how CAGE first came
to communicate with Mr Rambo.

Passengers were also encouraged to delay the flight by refusing to take
their seats until Mr Rambo was allowed off the plane. Similar actions in
Belgium have led to commercial airlines refusing to deport asylum seekers.
A spokesperson from CAGE said: "It is unbelievable that BA and its
shareholders are profiting from the forced removal of people from the UK.
This is the ultimate in putting profit before life, and it is nice to see
that people here are standing up to it...literally!"

CAGE on site pager: 07669 167 489

For more information on asylum issues:

National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns: www.ncadc.demon.co.uk
Close Campsfield Campaign: www.users.ox.ac.uk/~asylum

CAGE is a network set up to support and create resistance to the growing
prison industry, of which the immigration detention complex is a part. For
more information see www.veggies.org.uk/cage

National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns (NCADC)
110 Hamstead Road
Birmingham B20 2QS
Phone: 0121-554-6947 Fax: 0870-055-4570
E-mail  ncadc@ncadc.demon.co.uk
Web site:  http://www.ncadc.demon.co.uk/

National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR)
310-8th St., Ste. 307
Oakland, CA 94607
510.465.1984
510.465.1885 (fax)
Visit us at www.nnirr.org