Haslar Visitors Group: News

After three months John Bosco now has his papers and is allowed to work in the UK! His compensation claim is still pending

Government to face legal action by returned asylum-seeker

Gay man's deportation to Uganda is overturned by High Court judge. Emily Dugan reports

The Home Office is facing legal action after it forcibly deported a gay Ugandan asylum-seeker when his case was still under review. John Bosco Nyombi is now seeking damages against the Government after British judges ruled that his removal was "manifestly unlawful" and ordered his return.

The case will embarrass Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, over its suggestion that casual cruelty and inefficiency are at the heart of the British asylum system.

Speaking for the first time since arriving back in the UK, Mr Nyombi told the IoS: "The last year has been torture. I've never done anything wrong and what the Home Office did was illegal. All the things I went through are because of them."

The 38-year-old originally fled to Britain in 2001, fearing that being gay – which in Uganda can result in life imprisonment or even death – put his life in danger. He had an outstanding application for a judicial review on his case when he was taken by four security men and bundled on to a flight to Kampala on 18 September 2008. When he tried to resist and ask for a lawyer, the British removal officers allegedly dragged him by the handcuffs and struck him in the groin and shoulder.

Just two days earlier, Mr Nyombi's face had been on the front page of a Ugandan national newspaper "outing"him as a homosexual and reporting on his fight to stay in the UK. Within moments of his arrival in Kampala, he was abandoned by the British officers who had accompanied him on the flight, leaving him to be interrogated by border police who had seen the article and wanted to arrest him.

He managed to escape a first arrest after paying a bribe. The former careworker then endured six months in hiding before the Home Secretary secured his release, twice getting caught and put into prison where he was violently beaten by both staff and inmates for his sexuality.

On hearing the circumstances of Mr Nyombi's removal from the UK, a deputy High Court judge, Sir George Newman, said the Home Office was guilty of "a grave and serious breach" of the law. The judge also ruled that Mr Nyombi had been "deliberately misled" on the day of his removal. He was told that he was being taken from Tinsley House removal centre "for an interview". Instead he was taken to Gatwick airport. The guards gave him no opportunity to contact friends or lawyers, even though Home Office rules state he should have 72 hours' notice to allow time for calls.

In a final insult, when Mr Nyombi finally arrived back in the UK on 6 March, he spent three days being held in immigration detention because of a "miscommunication". This was despite an arrangement made with the Home Office that he would stay with friends following his ordeal.

Mr Nyombi, who was known as "Mr X" while his lawyers fought to bring him back to the UK, has now won his asylum appeal and is back in Southampton staying with a friend. Once his immigration papers come through, his old job as a carer in a local nursing home is waiting for him.

Nick Armstrong, Mr Nyombi's barrister at Matrix Chambers, said: "It is very rare to have the Home Secretary ordered to return someone. It happened here because of the quite extraordinary catalogue of errors. The Home Office used a policy which was unlawful. It really could not have gone more wrong, and betrays a worryingly casual attitude towards matters of fundamental rights, including access to lawyers."

After fleeing his country, fighting a seven-year immigration battle and suffering a further six months in Uganda in fear of his life, safety has come at a great cost for Mr Nyombi. "I think I've lost a lot of things," he said. "I've lost time and I have been stopped from working. I want to rest now, I want peace. For the last five years, I've been wondering what will happen tomorrow. For the first time, I won't have to worry about that."

Despite his ordeal, he is careful not to tar Britain with the mistakes of its government. "Although I've had a rough time, I'll never say it was Britain that did it to me, but always the Home Office. Without the friends I have here, I wouldn't have survived."

Caroline Slocock, chief executive of Refugee and Migrant Justice, said: "The sad truth is that without the intervention of a High Court judge, he would be there now. This appalling case illustrates how vital it is that adequate scrutiny is maintained."

The Home Office have confirmed that they are not going to appeal the John Bosco case. He can stay in the UK and once documents are issued can resume work. Our previous experience is that these documents can take months and the threat of High Court action but we shall see .... Bosco was in Chichester Cathedral on 23rd May for Mayor Making and attended the new Mayor's reception later.

John Bosco wins both asylum and human rights case. He can now stay in the UK unless the Home Office appeal the decision.

Deporting gay asylum-seeker 'was unlawful'

High Court orders Home Secretary to find and return 38-year-old man to Britain

A gay asylum-seeker who was unlawfully deported last year and now lives in fear of persecution must be found and returned to Britain, a High Court judge has ruled.

Sir George Newman said the failed asylum-seeker's removal was "manifestly unlawful" and ordered the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, to "use her best endeavours" to bring him back.

The judge said it appeared to him that officers of the UK Border Agency, which is responsible for controlling immigration, had "deliberately misled" Mr X and deprived him of his right to seek legal advice before his removal. Neither the asylum-seeker nor the country to which he was sent can be named.

The agency's actions were calculated "to avoid any complication that could arise from his removal becoming publicly known," said the judge.

In a written statement, Mr X said that, last September, he was deceived into thinking he was being taken from Tinsley House immigration removal centre, on the perimeter of Gatwick airport, for an interview with an immigration officer. Instead, without warning, he was taken in a van by four security men to a plane.

He said that, when he resisted leaving the van, he was handcuffed, and punched in his private parts to make him straighten his legs so they could be belted together. Crying, he was lifted on to the aeroplane and flown out of the country.

Caroline Slocock, chief executive of the Refugee Legal Centre, described the ruling as "a damning indictment" of Home Office practice. "The High Court ruling shows our client was quite wrongly removed, deliberately misleading him and preventing him from contacting his solicitors to launch a defence," she said. "His life was put at risk and remains so until he is brought back."

She said this was not an isolated case, adding: "Even more worryingly, Phil Woolas [minister for borders and immigration] recently signalled he wants to curtail the judicial review process which has led to this decision."

Mr X's mobile phone had been taken from him and he was given no chance to contact friends or lawyers, even though Home Office rules required that he should have 72 hours' notice of removal to give him a chance to make calls.

Lawyers for the Home Secretary conceded in court that his removal was carried out illegally, but they argued that flying him back to the UK was pointless as the 38-year-old was bound to lose the new claim he wanted to make.

Rejecting the submission, Sir George, a High Court deputy judge, ruled that the illegal actions of the agency in removing him were "grave and serious", and justice required his return. The judge said: "Justice requires he should, if possible, be brought back so he can make his claim as effectively as he can. Without hesitation, I exercise my discretion to grant the claimant a mandatory order that the Secretary of State should use her best endeavours to secure his return to the UK."

If returned, Mr X is expected to claim damages from the Government.

Mr X arrived in the UK in September 2001 and worked in the country for seven years before being earmarked for removal after his asylum claim failed. He argued that he feared persecution because his native country discriminated against homosexuals and he could be subjected to violence.

A UK Border Agency spokesperson said: "We are disappointed by the High Court's decision. When somebody has continually been found, by the independent courts, to have no right to stay in the UK, we expect them to leave voluntarily and, if necessary, will enforce their removal. It is important that individuals who have no right to be here are removed as part of a robust immigration system. We are fully investigating what happened in this case."

Our treasurer, John Bosco Nyombi, a Ugandan asylum seeker with permission to work, was arrested on Tuesday when signing on at Portsmouth Police Station. He was given Removal Directions for Sunday and taken to Gatwick at 1.30am on Sunday morning for a Brussels Airlines flight for Uganda. He didn't fly and last night was in Tinsley House Removal Centre 01293 434800 Room 31B. We think he may be moved to Dover today.

Bosco refuses to board plane

A MAN due to be deported back to Uganda is still in the UK after refusing to board his plane this morning.

Campaigners have been trying to save John 'Bosco' Nyombi from being sent back to the East African country where they fear he will be persecuted because of his sexuality.

The 38-year-old was due to fly from Gatwick Airport at 6.40am but the plane took off without him leaving him with the immigration services.

Neil Pugmire, a spokesman from the Diocese of Portsmouth, said: “We received a telephone call from John on a landline in Gatwick Airport telling me he had refused to get on the plane and that they had accepted that decision.

“He’s still being held at Gatwick Airport. I imagine that the immigration services are looking for a detention centre that they can take him to. That, we hope, will buy us some time for his solicitor to take some legal action – an injunction or a judicial review.”

A number of friends, work colleagues and campaigners also travelled up to the airport this morning to protest at his forced departure.

Colleagues at Stonham Housing Association, where he has worked almost since his arrival, launched a campaign and a petition, which they plan to send to the Home Office.

But Neil added that there had been no last minute review of his deportation from the government.

Bosco has been working with mentally ill people in the city for the past six years while his application to stay in the UK has been heard by the immigration authorities.

He fled to the UK from Uganda where homosexuality is illegal and carries a punishment of life in prison.

Bosco, as he is known, was also told his life could be in danger, after his brother, a high profile opposition campaigner, was murdered.

He was unexpectedly taken into custody this week after his last appeal was refused.

News from THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

DIOCESE OF PORTSMOUTH

11th September 2008

Bishop Supports Asylum Seeker's Case

The Anglican Bishop of Portsmouth has spoken of his outrage at the treatment of a member of one of his congregations who has been threatened with deportation on Sunday. (Sept 14)

The Rt Rev Kenneth Stevenson said he was “shocked and ashamed” that John Bosco Nymobi was being treated in this way by the Home Office. The 31-year-old gay asylum seeker was arrested on Tuesday (Sept 9) and is due to be returned to Uganda. He believes he will be killed if he is returned there because of his sexuality.

He was taken from Portsmouth Central police station last night (Sept 10-11) to a detention centre in Dover, where he arrived at 4.30am. He has not been allowed access to a change of clothes or toiletries. He has been told that he will be put on a flight to Uganda at 6.40am on Sunday morning.

Bishop Kenneth said: “I find it difficult to understand why a law-abiding, rent-paying, tax-paying member of our society who is working in a socially-useful job should be asked to leave. I feel shocked and ashamed that he is being treated in such an unjust and uncaring way by the Home Office.

“John Bosco came to Britain from Uganda in September 2001.
He was detained in Haslar Immigration Centre in Gosport for four months while his application was being processed. However, he has been legally working since 2003 as a care assistant and project worker in Southampton. In other words, he is a tax-paying member of our community. He is also a committed worshipper in one of the parishes in my diocese – St Jude’s in Southsea.

“A court ruled in May 2002 that John Bosco was allowed to stay in Britain, but the Home Office appealed against the decision.

There followed six years of legal wrangling till he was finally told to leave the UK earlier this summer. When arrested he was still considering his legal options. The Home Office had not cancelled

The bishop is due to be speaking at St Jude’s Church on Sunday morning (Sept 14), when prayers will be said for John Bosco. Worshippers and supporters are due to take part in a prayer meeting tonight (Sept 11) and are lobbying the Home Office to allow him to stay.

John Bosco himself is able to speak to supporters on the phone, but hasn’t been allowed any visitors yet.

He said: “They moved me in the middle of the night. We picked up other people in Hounslow and Croydon, so we were driving all over London. We got here at 4.30am and by the time they searched us and we’d got to our rooms it was 6am. I’m sharing a room with eight other people. I’ve been able to have a shower, but not to change my clothes.

“I want to thank everybody who has been supporting my case and working hard for me. I don’t know what will happen to me if I’m taken back, but I know I can’t be protected from the government.”

John Bosco had worked since 2003 for Stonham Housing Association in Southampton, which helps vulnerable adults – such as those with mental health problems, learning disabilities or additions – to live independently. Most recently, he has been one of their project workers.

His manager, Mark Chambers, said that he and his staff were outraged that John Bosco had not been allowed to say goodbye to work colleagues or the clients that he had helped.

“He is a selfless person who is always thinking of others and a very diligent worker,” he said. “He has done so much to help the vulnerable adults he works with, and this seems so unfair when he’s given so much to society in such a short time. He’s done everything in the correct way, and by the law. We want to him to continue his new life in England.”

The prayer meeting at St Jude’s Church, Kent Road, Southsea, will happen between 7pm-7.45pm tonight (Thursday 11th September). Anyone, of all faiths or none, is welcome to attend to show their support for John Bosco.

Our treasurer, John Bosco Nyombi, a Ugandan asylum seeker with permission to work, was arrested on Tuesday when signing on at Portsmouth Police Station. He was given Removal Directions for Sunday.

You are advised to read from the bottom up

19th August 2009

Government to face legal action by returned asylum-seeker

Deporting gay asylum-seeker 'was unlawful'

High Court orders Home Secretary to find and return 38-year-old man to Britain

Bosco refuses to board plane