Stop the Deportation of Roseline Akhalu - Update

Watch this small news item on Rose from ITV Calendar, featuring interviews with Rose herself and MP for Leeds North West Fabian Hamilton!

Don't forget to sign the petition and email Teresa May demanding that Rose is given indefinite leave to remain. Deportation to Nigeria is a death sentence for Rose; everyone has right to life.

Sanctuary Weekend on BBC Radio Leeds

The wonderful Abbe Smith from Leeds City of Sanctuary and Said from Leeds Refugee Forum have been interviewed on BBC Radio Leeds' breakfast programme hosted by Johnny I'Anson! Brilliantly dispelling asylum myths, promoting Leeds as a City of Sanctuary and generally raising awareness, Abbe and Said did Leeds proud.

The interview is from Sunday 29th April and starts at 1:10:00 in the recording. 

Stop the Deportation of Roseline Akhalu

We've just received an email from the campaigning group No-Deportations, about the potential deportation of Roseline Akhalu. Please take a moment to sign the online petition or send an email to the Home Office demanding that they do not deny Roseline the critical medical help she needs. 

Le Havre at Hyde Park Picture House

Set in a dusky port city in France, directed by a Swiss film-maker, and following a story of a young Algerian boy trying to reach the UK, Le Havre's tender story of friendship and solidarity across borders  is a lesson to us all. Catch a showing at the Hyde Park Picture House this week.

Finding Freedom

Freedom from Torture's Write to Life programme, a creative writing project that uses poetry and literature as routes out of traumatic pasts, have created an excellent short film - Finding a Voice.



The creative arts, in all their forms, allow individuals to approach difficult issues from new angles. Terrible pasts can become comprehendible, forgotten memories remembered, and new paths written. The success of Write to Life is testament to the incredible power of literature.

Only The Oppressed

It only takes ten minutes to watch this brilliant short film, detailing the experiences of three men fleeing the Iraqi-Kurdistan conflict to find sanctuary in Britain. In a striking portrayal of the precarious lives of three young men, Only the Oppressed is an important reminder of how the UK's asylum process is far from simple. In a poignant moment of clarity at the end of the film, surrounded by the pomp and circumstance of a 'citizenship' ceremony, one of the Kurdish men explains the final ironic hollowness of 'citizenship' (or 'naturalisation' in the words of the UKBA).

"They won't give you permission to stay until you've gone mental. When we can't be bothered with life anymore, then we're granted permission to stay."