On 6 August 2010, Iranian Kurdish refugee and communist Faraydun Abdullazada won his asylum claim after almost eight years of struggle. He was an active member of the Worker’s Communist Party of Iran – Hekmatist (WCPI-H) and has been active in Britain against racism, oppression of migrants and Zionism.
Faraydun Abdullazada fled Iran after his communist views were made known and he was arrested. Whilst on bail he fled to escape possible torture or execution in a country known for repression of Kurds and communists. A people-trafficker in Turkey starved and tortured him and he had to jump out of a window to escape. He arrived in Britain in January 2003 and was in London until the ‘7/7’ terrorist attacks in July 2005. ‘Racist attacks became too much after that…the police never came’. He was attacked many times, his ribs broken and he had to flee London. He escaped to Finland but was deported back to the UK in January 2006 and ‘dispersed’ to Manchester a month later.
It was here he came into contact with FRFI and became active in our work in support of asylum seekers and against all forms of racism, especially state racism. He was active with the North West Asylum Seekers Defence Group and supported our demonstrations against Zionism outside Marks & Spencer.
The British government cut all support for Faraydun from February to August 2006. For seven horrible months he slept in coach and tram stations and on sofas and floors in over 50 different houses of friends and supporters. This, of course, led to tensions with the ‘friends’ which meant he would have to move on after a few days or weeks.
In September 2007, his friend Sabah Abdul Rahman Kasim of Moston, north Manchester was arrested by officers from the former Borders and Immigration Agency on a bus. Officers told him “we will send you back home” and promptly deported him in November 2007 to Yemen! Labour MP Graham Stringer and local councillors Joanne Green, Paul Fairweather and Patrick C Karney, all proved utterly useless.
In October 2007 Faraydun was also arrested on Stagecoach Bus 192 supposedly for a ticket offence. Faraydun was released after four hours of protest at Longsight Police Station from fellow activists from RCG, NWASDG, No Borders and Iranian Organisation of Refugees. He was charged under the Fraud Act 2006 but the charges were later dropped.
The former racist Labour government deliberately made asylum seekers destitute as a policy to force them to leave the country, then punished them for trying to survive in a malicious, callous and vindictive manner. But their oppression of Faraydun Abdullazada failed to achieve its desired goal and thanks to the determination and fighting spirit of Faraydun and the solidarity from FRFI, he is here to stay and here to fight.
