Celebrities urge Theresa May to stop her removal
Last minute legal action by Women for Refugee Women campaign has prevented the forced removal of Lydia Besong, a playwright who is seeking asylum in the UK after being imprisoned and raped in Cameroon as a result of her political activities.
Lydia along with her husband Bernard Batey, had been given removal orders for 21st January 2012, despite very real fears that they will face further persecution if returned.
Lydia is currently being held in Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre and Bernard is being held in Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre.
On 20th January 2012 Judge Mark Pelling QC ruled that the Home Office had acted unlawfully and that Lydia and Bernard cannot be removed from the UK as was scheduled. He also ruled that all costs must be paid by the government and that a Judicial Review of their case can take place in the UK. The date has not yet been set.
The Women for Refugee Women said their campaign continues until Lydia and Bernard are safe and granted leave to remain in the UK.
Lydia sought asylum in the UK in 2006. She was persecuted in Cameroon as a result of her peaceful political activities on behalf of the English-speaking minority in the country, and was imprisoned and raped in prison.
She fled here with her husband Bernard and sought asylum. Since arriving in the UK she has written three plays, one of which, “How I Became an Asylum Seeker”, was performed in London in 2010 at an event produced by Women for Refugee Women and hosted by Actress Juliet Stevenson.
Another is currently in rehearsal with a performance scheduled for March.
Bestselling authors and leading human rights dignitaries have urged the government to stop the removal of Lydia and Bernard.
More than 30 leading writers and actors, including Monica Ali, Alan Ayckbourn, Joan Bakewell, Nick Hornby, Helena Kennedy, Caitlin Moran, Michael Morpurgo and Juliet Stevenson have signed a letter to Home Secretary Theresa May expressing support for Lydia.
Speaking from Yarl’s Wood, Lydia said: “Of course it would put me in danger if I was returned to Cameroon. There is no hiding that my work is critical of the current government. I would be detained indefinitely. There is no freedom of expression in Cameroon, this is happening every day.”
But she would not stop writing, she added. “I wanted to highlight what was happening at home,” she said. “If it couldn’t be beneficial to me maybe it could be beneficial to others. I didn’t know I would find myself in this situation. I am very, very, scared.”
The letter, which was organised by English PEN and Women for Refugee Women, and signed by a number of leading writers, states: “The UK should be proud to offer Lydia protection from the persecution she suffered in her home country.”
Natasha Walter, Director of Women for Refugee Women and author of “The New Feminism” and “Living Dolls”, said: “Lydia’s courage and creativity is a real inspiration for those standing up to oppression. It is shocking to see how she has struggled to get a fair hearing in the UK asylum process.”
Gillian Slovo, novelist and president of English PEN urged the government on behalf of English PEN, “to stop Lydia’s deportation as well as the deportation of her husband to a country that continues to use force to silence its critics.”
Juliet said: “Lydia Besong is an incredibly courageous woman who has put her head above the parapet to talk about her experience and write her plays. This country should not send her back to a situation where she could be in very real danger.”
Michael Morpurgo, author of “War Horse” and ex-Children’s Laureate, said: “How this country treats asylum seekers is the measure of what kind of people we are. Lydia was oppressed in Cameroon. That there is risk she will be imprisoned and abused again seems undeniable. That she is extraordinarily brave in her stand against oppression is clear. And that her talents would be of great value to us as a citizen in our society would seem to be obvious. On these grounds, I would ask, beg, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, to look again, think again, and allow this remarkable woman the right to stay here and live amongst us.”
Lydia and Bernard and their campaign are very grateful to all who have been supporting them.
