Suhair BeidasSupervisor, London OfficeRoyal Jordanian Airlines1 Beadon RoadLondon W6 0EAFax: 020 8748 5251 Dear Sir, Yousuf Ahmed IBRAHIM is due to be forcibly removed to Iraq on Royal Jordanian Airlines Flight RJ112 at 17:05 on Wednesday 23rd April I am writing to you about Yousuf Ahmed Ibrahim who is being held in Oakington Immigration Removal Centre, awaiting removal to Iraq on Wednesday 23rd April. Yousuf Ibrahim is a musician from central Iraq who has been in the UK for some years. He was drafted into the Iraqi army during the Gulf war and deafened by the constant onslaught of Allied bombs. He has suffered depression and confusion ever since. When he first came to Swansea, in late 2006, Yousuf was very shy, lacking in confidence and socially withdrawn. With the support of local people over the past 12 months, he has regained his self-confidence and a zest for life. Anyone who has met Yousuf is impressed by his warm personality and can tell that he is a genuinely caring and sincere person. He is a talented musician who has been involved in a whole range of community and voluntary activities in Swansea. His enthusiasm for music is infectious and he became part of the international choir in Swansea and was teaching violin and piano to children on a voluntary basis through the Swansea Bay Asylum Seekers Support Group. Many people can testify to his contribution to the life of the community and the arts. Yousuf was picked up on 17 March when reporting to Cockett Police Station in Swansea. He was taken into custody and kept for 32 hours in a police cell, before being held in Oakington Barracks for 5 days, and then transferred to Campsfield House. He was due to be removed on the charter flight to Iraq on the charter flight on 27th March. At the last minute he was judged too ill to fly, and was consequently moved (again) to Dover IRC, where he remains. When he was picked up, Yousuf was not allowed to return home, and was taken into detention with no money, no change of clothes and without medication. His health has deteriorated severely since being in detention, yet he has received no medication for the recurrence of depression and panic attacks, from which he is now suffering. To return Yousuf to Iraq at this time would be to condemn him to extreme dangers. He will arrive penniless, without anything to live on, and disoriented. It would be a clear breach of his human rights to return him to a country that is considered dangerous in the extreme. If this man is forced onto a plane against his will, it is certain that he will become deeply and obviously distressed and this will clearly affect the comfort and safety of other passengers. It is likely that this will damage the reputation of Royal Jordanian in the eyes of current and potential passengers. In the light of the Home Office’s recent statement that "Airline captains have the right to refuse carriage of a passenger and will do so if they feel appropriate for security or commercial reasons", I urge Royal Jordanian not to carry out this forced removal.
Yours sincerely,
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