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Mehdi Mirzae back home in Manchester!! - With discretionary leave to remain for one year
After almost four months in a detention centre and the constant threat of deportation local football coach and valued community worker Mehdi Mirzae has been released and is back home in Manchester after a hard fought campaign by his friends, team mates and supporters.

26 year old Afghan national Mehdi has now been granted discretionary leave to remain by the Home Office for 1 year. Mehdi's fled to the UK and settled in Manchester in 2003 after his family were murdered by the authorities in Afghanistan and he was imprisoned and tortured. Mehdi and his supporters campaigned against his return to Afghanistan as they feared he would face the same fate if he went back.

The campaign has seen Mehdi's friends and team mates lobby local MP's for support, hold demonstrations and tournaments across Manchester and even play football outside the Houses of Parliament and collect thousands of signatures of support both in Manchester and across the country.

We don't know for sure what worked as the home office have not given the reasons for Mehdi being granted leave to remain but Mehdi is now free and back home in Manchester, which is a phenomenal achievement and makes all the campaigning and hard work worthwhile.

Mehdi had this to say to the everyone who has supported him. "I would like to say Thank You to every single one of you who has been campaigning for me. It has been a terrible time for me staying in detention for so long, but realising that I have the support of all of you has given me the extra courage and I was always looking forward to coming back and saying Thank You to you all!"

We wish everyone else currently detained and campaigning to stay strong and keep fighting!!

Mehdi, Jenny & Hassan

  


Mehdi Must Stay! Stop his deportation!

Manchester is where he lives and Manchester is where he must stay

Campaign for Mehdi Mirzae ongoing

Community worker and football fan Mehdi Mirzae, 26, is still facing deportation to Afghanistan, his solicitor applied for a Judicial Review (JR) + and an injunction to enforce the JR, delaying the planned deportation by Charter Flight on Tuesday 23rd November.

Friends and supporters were able to visit Mehdi in detention, and tell him face to face that he would not be deported on Tuesday morning.

Despite this, UKBA still told Mehdi he was being removed, transporting him to the airport, despite the fact he informed them about the Injunction to prevent it. This has left Mehdi feeling traumatised and extremely concerned for his safety, fearing that they might try to remove him again.

Mehdi is still being held in detention at Brook House, Gatwick, and awaiting further news on the judicial review. Costs are mounting for his legal support, and friends and supporters are seeking to raise much needed funds to continue to fight Mehdi's case. If you can help in any way, please get in touch with Jenny Loudon, campaign coordinator.

Last Monday, members of Omid FC, the refugee football team led by Mehdi in Manchester, held a 5-a-side game outside parliament against members of Support Direct, to campaign for Mehdi's release. Representatives from the team and campaign then met with Graham Stringer, Mehdi's local MP. Graham accepted over 400 postcards and 150 letters from friends and supporters. He also agreed to inform the home office that Mehdi's solicitor had lodged a judicial review and that an injunction was in place.

Mehdi is the driving force behind the Omid FC, a refugee team that has played in matches and tournaments around the UK; he also finds the time to volunteer with the Manchester Hazara Community Organisation as a sports co-ordinator and has become involved with coaching for FC United's community programme.

Concerns have been voiced that Mehdi might be killed if he is sent back to Afghanistan. He fled Afghanistan after his family were murdered due to his father's involvement in an anti-government group. Mehdi was detained by the authorities in Afghanistan and tortured but his uncle helped him escape and he fled to the UK in 2003.

"Mehdi has become such an important figure in the Manchester community we can't bear to see him leave", says Jenny Lomas, co-ordinator of the 'Mehdi must stay' campaign.

"Given what has happened to him and his family in Afghanistan we think it would be very unsafe to send him back there. We're determined to do everything we can to make the authorities re-think their decision."

Many thanks to all who have supported the campaign, we will need your help again at some stage.

"Jenny Lomas" <lomasjenny@yahoo.co.uk>


Mehdi Mirzae is 26 a national of Afghanistan and long time resident of Manchester. He is currently detained in Dungavel IRC and due to be forcibly removed from the UK @ 03:00 hrs on Charter Flight PVT 800 on Tuesday 23rd November to Afghanistan.

He was detained by the UK Border Agency on 2nd November 2010.

Since arriving in the UK in 2003 Mehdi has established himself as part of the local community in Manchester. He has tirelessly worked to increase the opportunities for young people to get involved in sport, particularly football. He set up a local football team called Omid FC and also finds the time to volunteer with the Manchester Hazara Community Organisation as a sports co-ordinator.

Mehdi is the driving force behind the Omid FC. He has supported them to enter tournaments and they have travelled across the country playing football with other teams in different cities. Mehdi organised a tournament himself for other grassroots teams in Manchester and he has been recognised by local football teams and community organisations for his commitment and dedication and promotion of the game as a force for community cohesion and social inclusion for young people.

In 2006, in Manchester, Mehdi was brutally attacked by an unknown assailant who stabbed him in the eye with a screwdriver. This attack has had a serious impact on Mehdi's physical health and emotional and mental wellbeing. Mehdi has been left with hearing, sight and other sensory difficulties. He was also further traumatised by the attack becoming more depressed and fearing for his safety. Despite this attack and the difficulties he faced he still found the energy to promote football and support young people to get involved in the game.

Afghanistan a failed state: (6th worst)
Failed state:  A state having little or no governance, endemic corruption, profiteering by ruling elites, very poor Human Rights, the government cannot/will not protect the population from others or itself, massive internal conflict, forced internal/external displacement, institutionalised political exclusion of significant numbers of the population, progressive deterioration of welfare infrastructure (hospitals, clinics, doctors, nurses) not adequate to meet health, needs, progressive economic decline of the country as a whole as measured by per capita income, debt, severe child mortality rates, poverty levels.

Afghanistan rated 3rd most corrupt country
Transparency International (TI) defines corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. This definition encompasses corrupt practices in both the public and private sectors. The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranks countries according to perception of corruption in the public sector. The CPI is an aggregate indicator that combines different sources of information about corruption, making it possible to compare countries.
 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2010

Afghan police corruption 'hits Nato pullout'
Afghanistan's security forces are crippled by corruption, poor training and high attrition rates, senior British and US officials have revealed, casting doubt on the West's plan to leave the country within five years.

Afghanistan's Broken Judiciary
Afghanistan's justice system is in a catastrophic state of disrepair. Despite repeated pledges over the last nine years, the majority of Afghans still have little or no access to judicial institutions. Lack of justice has destabilised the country and judicial institutions have withered to near non-existence. Many courts are inoperable and those that do function are understaffed. Insecurity, lack of proper training and low salaries have driven many judges and prosecutors from their jobs. Those who remain are highly susceptible to corruption. Indeed, there is very little that is systematic about the legal system, and there is little evidence that the Afghan government has the resources or political will to tackle the challenge. The public, consequently, has no confidence in the formal justice sector amid an atmosphere of impunity. A growing majority of Afghans have been forced to accept the rough justice of Taliban and criminal powerbrokers in areas of the country that lie beyond government control.
International Crisis Group (ICG) 17 November 2010

As Nato leaders rubber-stamped a strategy to transfer leadership for the fight against the Taliban to Afghan forces by the end of 2014, Western experts have complained that the vast majority of Afghanistan's police are untrained and do not even know the law.  Indpendent Sunday 21st November

Mehdi fled Afhganistan after his family were murdered due to his father's involvement in an anti-government group. Mehdi was detained by the authorities in Afghanistan and tortured but his uncle helped him escape and he fled to the UK.

The UK Border Agency refuse to believe that Mehdi's life is under threat if he returns to Afghanistan. However, Mehdi's uncle informed him that the authorities have been searching for him since he fled the country in 2003 and believes his life would be in danger and he would be tortured again if he returned. Mehdi therefore fears for his life if he is returned to Afghanistan and is increasingly distressed and distraught by his imminent removal to Kabul.

Friends of Mehdi in Manchester are campaigning to keep an outstanding member of their community where he belongs in Manchester.

What you can do

1. Contact Theresa May, Home Secretary

Ask her to exercise her discretionary powers to stop the flight, release Mehdi Mirzae  from detention and to grant him protection in the UK. Download model letter , MehdiMirzaeTM.doc or alternatively write your own one. Please remember to quote Mehdi Mirzae's Home Office Reference number in any correspondence: M1191648.

Rt. Hon Theresa May, MP
Secretary of State for the Home Office,
2 Marsham St
London SW1 4DF
Fax: 020 7035 4745

emails:
mayt@parliament.uk
Emails: Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
UKBApublicenquiries@UKBA.gsi.gov.uk
"CIT - Treat Official" <CITTO@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk>

Please let the campaign know of any Emails/faxes sent:
C/o "Jenny Lomas" <lomasjenny@yahoo.co.uk>

Last updated 10 November, 2011