On 21 February 2011 the British state’s latest attempt to deport disability rights activist Peter Gichura to Kenya was averted by last minute legal action.
Peter has been in Britain since 2001, having fled persecution in Kenya as a result of his activities there, which included the establishing of an organisation which advocated for the rights of disabled street sellers. He sought asylum in 2006 on the basis that: ‘As someone with spinal injury I am vulnerable to chronic kidney infection and need sanitary living conditions to survive – but there is no running water where I am from in Nyahururu, Kenya. I cannot afford medical treatment – and there is no free healthcare.’ Expert evidence confirmed this but was ignored, and Peter’s claim was turned down.
70% of Kenya’s national wealth is in the hands of foreign corporations especially British companies such as Brooke Bond and Unilever (Kenyan Sunday Standard, 17 April 2005). These companies benefit directly from the poverty of Kenyan people which exploded into violence in early 2008, when over 1,500 people were killed and 350,000 forced to flee their homes in a tribal conflict orchestrated by the British-backed Kenyan state. Vast tracts of Kenyan fertile land are used to grow flowers, tea and coffee for export to supermarkets in Europe, while millions of Kenyans starve.
In Britain Peter has campaigned actively for disability rights, working with charities such as the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, and campaign groups such as PayDay and Winvisible. In 2008 he brought a successful legal challenge against the Home Office and Kalyx (the private company then running Harmondsworth immigration detention centre), which established that the Disability Discrimination Act does apply to people held in immigration detention.
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! is supporting Peter’s campaign to stay in Britain. FRFI supporters met Peter in January 2008, when he came to Southwark Crown Court to show his solidarity with the Harmondsworth Four – the four men put on trial following a mass protest at Harmondsworth immigration detention centre in November 2006 After a six-week trial, costing the state millions, all four were acquitted of conspiracy to commit violent disorder and criminal damage. (See Victory but not justice for the Harmondsworth Four!).
Although the lodging of a judicial review and injunction on 21 February stopped Peter being removed from Britain on that day, his fight against deportation is far from over.
An injury to one is an injury to all!
Please sign the petition against Peter’s deportation here: http://www.gopetition.com/petition/43145.html
