(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC of International PEN welcomes the British authorities’ decision to halt the deportation of Mende Nazer, a Sudanese writer. Nazer published claims in her book on slavery that would endanger her life if she were to be returned to Sudan. On 11 November 2002, the minister for immigration, Beverley Hughes, announced that […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC of International PEN welcomes the British authorities’ decision to halt the deportation of Mende Nazer, a Sudanese writer. Nazer published claims in her book on slavery that would endanger her life if she were to be returned to Sudan.
On 11 November 2002, the minister for immigration, Beverley Hughes, announced that the decision to deport Nazer had been reversed. The Sudanese writer’s application for political asylum has been returned to the British Home Office.
Hughes wrote to the London-based newspaper “The Guardian”, which disclosed Nazer’s claims that she had been kept as a slave earlier in 2002, stating that, “Her asylum application will be carefully reconsidered once all the relevant information has been submitted to the Home Office.” Hughes added that the Home Office had not been aware that Nazer had written a book claiming that she had been abducted into slavery as a teenager and sold into domestic service. The book, published in Germany, has become a best-seller.
Nazer worked for a Sudanese diplomat in London, where she had been brought in 2000 to work as an au pair. She subsequently escaped from the diplomat’s home and submitted a claim for asylum. She is currently studying English in London.
For further details on Nazer’s case, see her website, www.mendenazer.org, and “The Guardian” at www.guardian.co.uk.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
– welcoming the British government’s decision to reconsider Nazer’s application for asylum and the fact that she is no longer under imminent threat of deportation
– expressing the hope that now that the relevant details supporting Nazer’s claim for asylum are available, the immigration authorities will conclude that she should not be forced to return to Sudan, where her writings have placed her under threat
Appeals To
David Blunkett MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
United Kingdom
Fax: +44 207 219 5903Immigration & Nationality Directorate
Lunar House
40, Wellesley Road
Croydon
CR9 2BY
United KingdomPlease copy appeals to the source if possible.
