Last-ditch effort launched to overturn family's deportation

Published on Friday 23 January 2009 08:59

FRIENDS of a Bangladeshi family living in Edinburgh were today mounting a last-ditch bid to halt their deportation.

Jamal and Tania Islam, along with children Jessica, six, and three-year-old Tanim – who was born in Edinburgh – were taken from their home in West Pilton Green in a dawn raid by Home Office officials on Monday morning.

Friends said officers had broken down the door of the home, although this has been denied by the Home Office.

The family were taken to the Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre and yesterday, as supporters stepped up legal moves to try to halt their removal, the Home Office moved them to London.

Failing the success of an 11th-hour legal challenge, they were to be put on a plane home to Bangladesh today, despite claims that both Mr Islam and his family could face violent retribution for opposing local political parties.

The couple have lived in Edinburgh since arriving from Bangladesh in 2003.

Mrs Islam, 30, is a well-known member of the local community, helping with groups such as the Black Community Development Project and also teaching the art of henna painting to local students.

Mr Islam, 44, who had worked as a politician in Bangladesh, was also well-known in the community and supporters said they had been shocked at the speed with which the Home Office had moved.

Nazia Sattar, a family friend, is among a large group of local families who have been pressing the Home Office to delay the removal of the Islam family, and yesterday spoke to the office of Edinburgh North and Leith MP Mark Lazarowicz.

He has agreed to look at the circumstances surrounding the family's removal and Miss Sattar said she feared for their safety if they were returned to Bangladesh.

"We believe that Mr Islam may be killed as soon as he returns to the country and his family would also face violence, so we are all very shocked that they have been removed," she said.

"They are a lovely family, and have lived here for more than five years. They are both very involved in the local community, his son was born here and his daughter attended a local school.

"This is a big loss for the local community."

Faifol Choudhary, of the Bangladeshi Community in Edinburgh organisation, said he felt the Home Office had been heavy-handed.

"I hope there is some way to stop them being removed, and I feel the Government needs to look at the kind of legal representation asylum seekers are being given, as I fear some companies are simply taking their money and doing nothing on their behalf."

The Home Office insisted no force was used to gain entry to the Islam's home and said the family had known for weeks that their asylum request had been denied.

Phil Taylor, regional director of the UK Border Agency in Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: "We would much rather that those families whom our courts have found do not qualify for asylum or for humanitarian protection leave the UK voluntarily.

"Where they refuse to do so, despite being given every opportunity, it is our responsibility to enforce the decisions of the courts and send them home.

"This is undertaken at a time when all the family are likely to be present, giving them an opportunity to pack their belongings.

"The decision to detain a family before removal only happens as a last resort because the parents refuse to take the opportunity to go home under their own steam with assistance from the Home Office and the International Organisation for Migration."