- in which the Asian community are prime victims — is sweeping Britain the West Bank. He and his wife work for a computer firm. She is pregnant. They have lived in Britain since 1975. In 1986 they applied for asylum but were given imperialist war in the Gulf" (Asian Times, January 29, 1991). There have been attacks on black people in their homes, in their places of worship, in the streets and at schools. These attacks also happened before the war in the Gulf started. But since mid-January there has been an increase in physical attacks, detentions and deportations.
FINN JENSEN
HERE are about 100,000 Arabs in the United Kingdom, 3,000 of them students from the Gulf area, including an estimated 1,000 Iraqis. Kuwaiti nationals who were resident in the UK on August 2, 1990 have so far been given "exceptional leave to remain" by the Home Office. In contrast no such promise has been given to any other nationals from the Gulf area.
About 60 Iraqis and Palestinians in Britain were detained in January 1991 awaiting deportation. Deportations are not a new experience for the black community in Britain. They are just being intensified with the war.
Among those detained are people who have lived in Britain for more than ten years. Several of those detained are well known for their opposition to the Iraqi
Fifteen Iraqis were deported to Jordan in January 1991. According to Amnesty International it is not safe to return or deport opponents of the Iraqi government to Jordan.
One of the detained Palestinians is Abbas Cheblak. He has lived in London for 16 years with his wife. They have two young children, both British citizens, and he applied for naturalization two years ago. Mr. Cheblack is a well-known academic and journalist who has a long record of fighting against civil rights abuses in the Middle East.
Abbas Cheblack was served with a deportation order and detained at Pentonville prison. He applied for habeas corpus and for bail. The High Court refused his application.
Mr. B. is a 31 year old Palestinian from leave to remain in the U.K. Mr B. is the nephew of a man described in court as a "terrorist", whom Mr. B has not seen since childhood and of whom he strongly disapproves. Mr B does not support the Iragi government or the invasion of Kuwait. Ali el-Salh has lived in Bedford for the past twenty years. His wife was also threatened with deportation but the Home Office backed after publicity about her The British government has the power (under the 1971 Immigragrounds that it is "conducive to the public good on grounds of national security". In such cases people have no right to appeal
All they can do is to present their case to a panel of three advisers (known as the Three Wise Men). The advisers are all appointed by the government. The Home Secretary does not have to follow any recommendations from these advisers. So the Home Secretary is the only one who can overturn the decision to detain and deport — a decision that was taken in the first place by himself.
No right to legal representation
In reality the hearing in front of the Three Wise Men is nothing more than a cosmetic exercise. The person involved has no right to hear the reasons for his/her detention/deportation, s/he cannot present witnesses, s/he has no right to legal representation and s/he will not know what the panel will recommend to the Home Secretary. Presently 10 cases are scheduled to be dealt with a day. This is the British justice equivalent of a four minute mile.
On January 19 the Home Office decided to ban all Iraqis, including asylum seekers, from entering Britain and to refuse those here for any temporary purpose an extension of their leave.
So any Iraqi who is not being deported for national security reasons will be prohibited from entry to Britain if they leave the country, even for a short period, irrespective of how long they have lived in the UK or of their family and other connections here. Are the British government at war with the Iraqi people or with the Iraqi government? The government wants to give the impression that all Iraqis are a threat to Britain's national security.
The Guardian commented, in an editorial on January 24, that "Truth is not the only victim of war. Human rights, too, are often lost along the way. And civil rights lawyers are right to be concerned about some of the people who have been rounded up this week by the British security services in their effort to pre-empt Iraqi terrorist attacks"
British "justice", "immigration control", and "security" have now all become the same thing. This can be seen in the membership of the three man panel. The chair is a judge, Justice Lloyd, who also supervises telephone tappings by being Commissionaire of the Interception of Communications Committee. Sir Robert Andrew was responsible at the Home Office for liaison with MI5 (the British secret service). He was also involved in removing John Stalker from the shoot-to-kill enquiry in the north of Ireland. David Neve was a magistrate in colonial Uganda and then graduated to chair of the immigration tribunal in the UK where he oversaw deportations and divided families (The Guardian, February 2, 1991).
Detainees held in appalling conditions
The Arab detainees in Pentonville prison went on hunger strike on February 2 to protest at the failure of the jail heating system and their being kept overnight in cells well below freezing point. The men are in single cells, locked up 16-20 hours a day, with access to a shower once a week, and having to "slop out". Access to legal advice is restricted. No telephones have been provided for the detainees. One solicitor described it as "unusually filthy, even by the standards of British jails".
Socialists are fighting to get trade unions and student unions to take up the defence of their black members threatened with racist attacks or by the Home Office. Black people have already begun to organize self-defence. Ishtiag Ahmed, a spokesperson for the Bradford Council of Mosques, said in the Asian Times, "If we are attacked or molested or harassed, as a community we have a right, 27 to defend and protect ourselves" * March 4, 1991• #201 International Viewpoint
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chauvinism as a direct consequence of the BRITAIN