Accommodation denied: Nadir Zarebee hanged himself in Manchester

On Saturday 9 August 2008, there was a demonstration in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester city centre in response to the death of Iranian refugee Nadir Zarebee who hanged himself in a public park in Longsight, a suburb of Manchester on Tuesday 5 August 2008.

Nadir died after being asked to leave his home in Trafford by the racist Home Office's NASS-appointed 'accommodation provider' M&Q Properties Ltd. Parasites like M&Q, Angel Group, Clearsprings, UPM, etc. are paid millions every year to house 'dispersed' asylum seekers, but instead keep the money and house them in poor, rotten, damp, vermin-infested houses.

25 anti-racists, refugees and supporters assembled in Piccadilly Gardens hoping to march to the BBC Center in Oxford Road. The march was abandoned due to the persistent and heavy rain. The BBC censor the racist treatment and brutal human rights abuses of migrants and refugees in Britain, and instead spread lies and propaganda about migrants portraying them as 'scroungers', criminals and even 'terrorists'.

The rally correctly denounced M&Q Properties as the killers of Nadir, and denounced the racist policies of the British government which forces asylum seekers into destitution as a means of social control and reducing the numbers of asylum seekers in Britain.

The demonstration had the following demands:
No to deportations!
Stop starving asylum seekers!
No immigration controls!
For the right to work
No to destitution!

All organisations, and campaigns were invited to take part and it was called by the International Organisation of Iranian Refugees (IOIR) and supported by the North West Asylum Seekers Defence Group (NWASDG), and Manchester Revolutionary Communist Group/Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! (FRFI)

Another demo has been called for :: Saturday 16 August 2008 in Manchester. Anti-racists, refugees and supporters met in Piccadilly Gardens then marched to the BBC who censor the racist treatment and brutal human rights abuses of migrants and refugees.

Background

The National Asylum Support Service (NASS), is a parallel welfare system for asylum seekers only. As they are not allowed to work, and especially since Labour's 'dispersal' policy away from the south East of England, asylum seekers are forced to rely on NASS for all their support. This makes it easier for the British government to isolate, :: ghettoise, terrorise and hence control asylum seekers. This has been particularly useful for Labour's deliberate policy of :: enforced destitution of asylum seekers as a means of forcing them to leave Britain 'voluntarily'. This has led to the situation whereby there are now about 280,000 destitute asylum seekers in Britain today!

Accommodation providers

The characteristics of the 'accommodation-providers' like M&Q Properties Ltd. include:

People have no choice or notice of moving house! Some are told to move at a week's notice, or not told when they will move, where they will be moved to, and given no choice of area or whether they want to move or not. No regard for their children, schools, GPs (if the have one), etc.

People have been threatened with being thrown out of their homes simply for complaining about the disgusting conditions they are being housed in.

They dont respond to reports of pest infestations promptly or pay for the control of pests. Families wait weeks for them to respond, and then are left to pay the bill or face court charges!

'Accommodation-providers' housing multiple single-parent families in the same house without locks on each families' part of the house. They house adults together in the same room, some of whom are strangers and some of whom have serious mental health problems.

People are housed in rooms without windows so they can't open a window to let light or air in.

Migrants have little storage spaces for their food and belongings! One small fridge for 3 people is common. As asylum seekers live on electronic vouchers they can only shop once a week and hence need bigger storage spaces for longer storage of perishable foods.

Scum-bags like M&Q have no respect for privacy! There are no appointments for 'inspections': they regularly let themselves in to people's homes with no notice and 'inspect' their belongings. They let themselves into the property with their own keys at any time of the day or night without knocking.

They take unacceptable amounts of time to respond to problems - for example one woman in Newcastle waited two months to have a faulty washing machine replaced.

They have no flexibility in giving asylum seekers their vouchers: Home Office vouchers are issued mainly through the 'accommodation-providers' and they frequently only issue them on one specific day of the week. Everybody has to collect them on the same day of the week, regardless of other commitments - childcare, volunteering, 'reporting' at immigration reporting centres and police stations, language courses.

Source: North West Asylum Seekers Defence Group (NWASDG)
http://ww.asylum-seekers-defence.org.uk