From 17 to 25 September the Immigration Appeal Tribunal considered submissions that the ‘Country Guidance’ on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), is incorrect and deportations cannot be safely carried out. (Country Guidance is intended to provide immigration judges with information to assist their assessment of asylum claims.) The Tribunal has heard all the evidence and the three judges have retired to consider their verdict. Whatever the court decides, the view of the many people from DRC who have been demonstrating all year in cities across Britain and who made their presence felt outside the court is clear – DRC is not safe!
Every hearing related to the Country Guidance Tribunal has been accompanied by nationwide demonstrations, with Congolese communities in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Nottingham, Newcastle, Middlesbrough and other cities mobilising to get across the message that while Kabila’s corrupt regime rules DRC, and while imperialist countries and multinational companies plunder the region’s resources, it is not safe to return. FRFI has supported and will continue to support these demonstrations and the struggle of the Congolese people against imperialist oppression. Friction TV interviewed protestors, including an FRFI member, outside the Country Guidance Tribunal on 21 February.
Click here for a brief introduction to the situation in DRC.
Video can be found here
