Don’t Send Me Back To Iraqi Kurdistan

I am Sarwar Gareb, I am from Iraq who was a member of the Worker communist party of Iraq (WCPI) and who worked as a journalist in the media. Through my professional and political career I have supported women’s, children’s and the general worker’s rights. Due to these beliefs and actions, and in speaking out about these issues, I was been imprisoned and tortured by the two main political parties in Kurdistan, the PUK and KDP. In fear of my life I fled Kurdistan on 16.07.2000.

I arrived in the UK on 10.09.00 and instantly applied for asylum. However, without any consideration my case was refused on 18th January 2001.
When I arrived in the UK there was a Home Office policy in place which clearly applies to my case. The Home Office policy being, that any Iraqi, from any part of Iraq, that arrived between April 1991 and 20 October 2000 should be granted 4 years ELR, known under the Rashidi case August 2006.

After this first refusal I appealed for my case to be heard in the court of appeal and this appeal was accepted by the Home Office. My court of appeal only took place once Saddam’s regime had collapsed, which is a long 3 years on from my date of arrival in the UK.

More importantly it also shows that the Home Office dealt with my case on what seems to be on a generic basis, i.e. that I was fleeing from Saddam, when actually I was fleeing from the PUK and KDP.

I am a good and active member of the community. I have worked as a teacher for 5 years and as a journalist and artist. I am a chair of Relive magazine and a member of many organisations such as National Union Journalist, Leicester Civil Human Rights Movement, Long Journey Home, International Federation of Iraqi Refugee, NCADC (National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns) and RAPAR (Refugee and Asylum Seeker Participatory Action Research).

We, the undersigned, call upon the Secretary of State to reconsider Sarwar Gareb’s case and grant him indefinite leave to remain.