SPEECH FOR THE LOBBY OF “YAHYA AL FAIFI MUST STAY IN THE UK

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On behalf of the CWU I want to welcome everyone who is here today to lobby for support for Yahya and his family.

Obviously we need such activity because we are not getting sense from the Home Office at the moment.

Firstly, they say that Yahya can’t show any evidence of threats that he received in Saudi Arabia.

Yet the Home Office must know that the regime in Saudi Arabia is a family dictatorship who have no respect for fundamental democratic or human rights.

Does the Home Office believe the threats against Yahya should have been written in triplicate? With a copy for Yahya to sign to prove he’d received it?

This is a regime which uses arbitrary arrests, torture and execution against its opponents.

Does the Home Office feel too embarrassed to defend Yahya in fear of losing the very lucrative contracts with the Saudi Royal family?

I wrote to the Home Secretary in support of Yahya.

The letter I got back told me that the Home Secretary can’t comment on the individual circumstances of the case. The Home Office has a legal obligation apparently to protect the individual under common law, human rights and data protection legislation.

Let me get this straight – the Home Office will not tell me why they are refusing his asylum rights because it would jeopardise his human rights to do so?

However – this concern may not prevent them later delivering him up to a brutal dictatorship?

Nothing better demonstrates why we must keep campaigning.

A system of Government which ignores the common knowledge about a regime like the Saudi Arabian Government cannot be trusted to deliver a just verdict on an asylum appeal.

We have to show that we are concerned and that we are watching everything that is happening.

The CWU is very proud to have Yahya as a member. He is a courageous activist. No wonder he has gathered such support.

We must keep up our work in support of Yahya and his family – to ensure he is given the residency in the UK he deserves.

Thanks for listening.