City Strolls - events - meetings

We are trying to trace the whereabouts of 16 year old Farhad Ahmed, a former pupil at St Roch's Secondary School. Farhad was due back 'home' at 15 Forge Place, Germiston, Royston, Glasgow G21 on Monday 14 November 2005. Noone ion authority has reported him missing.

However, on the the previous Friday (11 November), without his knowledge, Farhad's mum Farhat (40), his older brother Faheem (19) and younger sister Zoha (13), herself a pupil at St Roch's Secondary School, were the victims of a brutal 'dawn raid' by a 12 strong Home Office snatch squad. Farhad's only way of contacting his family was by calling his mum's mobile (he does not have one). That was the only means of contact. However the Home Office snatch squad immediately confiscated Farhad's mum's mobile despite her pleading that her youngest son was not in the flat and she needed the mobile so he could call her.

The family then endured a further catalogue of inhumane treatment right up until the point that they were forcibly put onto the plane to Pakistan despite Farhad's older brother Faheem protesting to the immigration officers that he would not leave the UK without his younger brother.

His mother, herself ill with lung problems and heart disease - was forced under duress to make a terrible choice virtually on the tarmac of Gatwick Airport. A women from Immigration screamed at her to 'shut up! shut up!" and that they would make sure Faheem went to jail "forever" and she would then never see either of her sons again if she did not make Faheem go onto the plane. When Mrs Ahmed heard this, she went quiet and then forced Faheem to go onto the plane and leave behind her younger son. Nothing has been heard from the Ahmed family in Pakistan or Farhad here in the Uk.

Brutal inhumanities took place on British soil against the Ahmed family between 11 and 14 November 2005. That inhumanity continues.

16 year old Farhad was expected back on 14-11-05 but has not returned. We don't know if he has disappeared or is scared or even alive. We fear for his safety. He has no keys or mobile phone. He still doesn’t know his family has been deported. His mum called a neighbour at Forbes Place from the airport to ask her to look out for Farhad when he got home the next day. The neighbour promised she would. She then put up a notice on his front door telling him to go to them. But noone has heard anything. If you see or hear from Farhad, please urge him to contact his neighbours. If anyone can help with tracing Farhad please contact 0141 353 2220.

To add to this misery, the Ahmed's friend and neighbour, also an asylum seeker, was informed yesterday (Tuesday 15-11-05) that she must leave the UK despite being settled here for two years without complaint (and there is plenty to complain about when you see the state of Forbes Place - urine-ridden, needle-ridden, damp, miserable, freezing cold with the wind whipping through the stairwells - probably one of the worst high rises we have ever encountered). There is a sense of fear amongst many of the asylum seeker residents because of the impending doom of further dawn raids on the families living in the block.

The Ahmed’s is the worst case yet to come to public attention since the recent dawn raids on the Vucaj family on 13 September (Kingsway) and the Kupeli family on 14 October (Gorbals). There are thousands more frightened people - like the Ahmed's, Vucaj's and the Kupeli's - living in Glasgow who are terrified they are going to be the next victims of a dawn raid.

Sign the petition for an amnesty for Scottish asylum families: http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?amn2005

POSITIVE ACTION IN HOUSING

98 West George Street

Glasgow G2 1PJ

Tel: 0141 353 2220 Fax: 0141 353 3882

Email: home@paih.org Web: www.paih.org