Ben Mellor

Feb
3rdSofia and Johnson Must Stay!

Sofia and Johnson Kalu are Manchester residents in danger of being
deported to countries where they are at risk of persecution. Please sign
this petition (below) to allow them to stay in their adopted Manchester
community.

Petition to Rt. Hon Theresa May Secretary of State for the Home Office to allow Sofia & Johnson Kalu to remain in the UK.

Sofia Kalu (Home Office Ref: K1254708) arrived in the UK on the 13th of November 2006 having fled Zimbabwe, after her home was burnt to the ground and her husband beaten and murdered by ZANU-PF members because he was an active MDC member. Sofia knew it was no longer safe for her to stay in Zimbabwe and she could not return to her country of birth South Africa as she had been warned that there were ZANU-PF supporters who would kill her or the authorities may just return her to Zimbabwe.

Sofia’s church in Zimbabwe made arrangements for her to go to Britain where a church was to provide her with shelter and work. Later, once in the country, Sofia’s claimed asylum but was refused on the grounds that the Home Office did not believe she would be at risk as an MDC supporter in South Africa or that she would be forced to go back to Zimbabwe by the authorities. Sofia fears either could happen and there is now a very real risk of persecution if she is returned.

Sofia has recently married Johson Kalu (same Home office ref: K1254708) a Nigerian asylum seeker who is also facing a risk of persecution if he is sent back to Nigeria. They have built a new life in Manchester as husband and wife and both are active in the Manchester community. At present, Sofia’s claim has been refused and is at the end of the line.

Zimbabwe is a ‘Failed State’ and Nigeria a ‘Failing state’ (32% decrease in living/human rights conditions in 3 years) according to Fund for Peace a leading authority on economic and human rights conditions in all countries around the world. Both countries lacking the capacity to establish and maintain political institutions secure their population from violent conflict, from the state and from agents of the state, control their territories and meet the basic needs of their population.

We the undersigned, call upon the Home Secretary to grant Sofia & Johnson permission to stay in the UK on Humanitarian grounds so that they can remain with their Manchester Community; where they have established a ‘private life’ as set out in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.