'People must stand up against injustice. We are very proud of the protesters'

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/socialistlawyer.87.0023
• Pages: 23-24
• Published date: 01 January 2021
• Date: 01 January 2021

SocialistLawyer #87 2021-1 23

Taking inspiration from the political

trials of activists who have chosen to defy

the courts logic and embedded power

dynamics, means there is a need for lawyers

to listen to clients and understand the

tensions between balancing the objectives of

the campaign and trying to win (probably

unwinnable) cases.

Conclusion

It is only through abolition and direct action

that we can seek to end the violence of the

state. This means recognising the links

between border violence, carceral regimes,

policing, and the criminalisation of

migration. It means recognising that the

same powers that prosecute activists are the

same ones enforcing the border.

As the British government continues to

signal towards an alarming and ever more

hostile environment for migrants in the UK,

it is urgent we build alliances with people

working to dismantle borders across all

fronts. The blocking of a deportation flight

was a collaborative action, involving End

Deportations, Lesbians and Gays Support

the Migrants, and Plane Stupid. These were

not single-issue movements but tied to each

other’s resistances.

By locating our interconnected struggles

and working in solidarity with people on the

frontlines, we engage in movement building

across communities. After all, abolition is a

collective project. It needs all of us to begin

envisaging new forms of living, relating and

working together beyond borders.

An anonymous asylum seeker wrote

in solidarity with the Stansted 15

‘People must stand

up against injustice.

We are very proud

of the protesters’

‘I sought asylum in 2013, my

asylum got refused. I spent five

months in Harmondsworth

detention centre then I was released.

I was signing for three years at the

immigration reporting centre, then

they detained me in Scotland. Then

they released me, then I was

detained again and they gave me

removal directions for Ghana.

I am from Ivory Coast not

Ghana. I told the Home Office I’m

not Ghanaian. The Home Office

told me I could take a bus from

Ghana to the Ivory Coast. They

said they cannot take me to Ivory

Coast so I must go Ghana.

The doctor in the detention

centre made a Rule 35 report that

said I have been tortured in Ivory

Coast but they did not release me

from detention.

I am part of a church in

Manchester, they found me a

lawyer. My lawyer sent faxes to the

detention centre to stop my

deportation, but the guards did not

give them to me. I did not get the

documents from my lawyer until

this morning.

I want the church to not close

their eyes to us. Justice is from the

Bible. The church must not close its

eyes to injustice. I am sending a

message to the entire church – they

cannot let injustice go on like this.

The word of god is about justice

and righteousness. The church

>>>

Pictures: Jess Hurd / reportdigital.co.uk

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