BY SARAH STEPHEN

Dressed in riot gear, British police and immigration officers broke down the door of a mosque in Lye, West Midlands, with a battering ram in the early hours of July 24. Two Afghan asylum seekers who had sought sanctuary there 28 days earlier were arrested. In anticipation of the raid, the children were taken away by a family friend.

Farid and Feriba Ahmadi and their two children are seeking asylum from Afghanistan, their country of birth, and Germany, where they were subjected to racism and terrible living conditions. Britain's Home Office ruled that they could not stay in the country and should be deported to Germany, from where they fled last year. If they are returned to Germany, they will be sent back to Afghanistan.

Sounding awfully like Australia's immigration minister Philip Ruddock, a spokesperson for the British immigration service said: “Two people unlawfully at large were detained prior to their removal.”

In bizarre mockery of cultural sensitivity, police officers wore coverings over their footwear, and female officers wore head coverings, as a mark of “respect” to Islam.

The Ahmadis are being held in Harmondsworth detention centre, where they are subject to “closed” visits, a restriction normally only applied to criminals. Visits are supervised by a security guard, who has told visitors that their visit will be terminated if they say anything the security guard doesn't want the Ahmadis to hear.

Legislation going through British parliament will make it a criminal offence to assist an asylum seeker.

From Green Left Weekly, August 7, 2002.
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