Serco corporation threatens disabled Afghan refugee woman with eviction

This video from England says about itself:

Manjeet Kaur fought eviction

11 May 2013

Speaking at the Benefits Justice Summit 2

Manjeet, an Afghan national, is seeking asylum in the UK following a series of threats and attacks made on her since the disappearance of her husband in India. Her husband Amitt Bhatt, a journalist and Panun Kashmir activist, was threatened and attacked as a result of his anti-government publications, including ‘Lies and Genocide of the Indian Government’ (2010) and ‘Cryashmir’ (2009). He disappeared without trace in February 2011.

Following his disappearance, Manjeet was beaten at her home in Delhi on two occasions by a group of men looking for information about her husband’s whereabouts. They told her if they failed to find him, they would be back to rape and kill her. Manjeet uses a wheelchair due to paralysis resulting from polio – the injuries sustained from these attacks have worsened her condition. These violent assaults were reported to the police in India but no protection was offered to Manjeet, despite increased vulnerability due to her paralysis. Manjeet has been advised by friends that the police are in communication with the group who are hunting down her husband.

As a result of these events, Manjeet fled India in March 2011 in fear for her life. She came to the UK to be with several family members who live London because they can offer her the safety and system of support she needs; a support system made all the more complicated by her medical condition and her need for a wheelchair.

From the archives …..

URGENT – ACTION NEEDED – UKBA to evict disabled woman from her home today

26/05/20110

A picket is underway outside Manjeet Kaur’s house: OAKLEA, UPPER CHORLTON ROAD, M16 7SG – OPPOSITE SYLVAN AVENUE. Please call Kath on 07812471047 for directions.

Manjeet Kaur, 32, who is wheelchair-bound, has been living in Oaklea, Upper Chorlton Road. She sought asylum in the UK following the disappearance in India of her husband Amitt Bhatt, a journalist and human rights activist. Her husband had been threatened and attacked for his journalistic work before his disappearance in February this year. Afterwards, Manjeet continued to receive threats, by post and over the phone. She has also been physically attacked.

Although Manjeet’s solicitors are still working on her asylum case to see if there are grounds for a judicial review, the UKBA has withdrawn her housing support and she had been told she had to leave her accommodation by 5pm Tuesday. Her housing provider, ‘Happy Homes’, then agreed to extend this by two days (which Manjeet assumed meant 5pm Thursday) but told her last night that she was to leave at 9pm today (Thursday)

Latest on Manjeet’s fight to stay in her home: picket line temporarily halts eviction – continued action needed!

26/05/20110

Today (Thursday), following a determined picket line outside Manjeet Kaur’s home in Whalley Range, radio and TV coverage and a last-minute intervention from Kate Green MP, the eviction was delayed for a second time, this time until 8am tomorrow morning. In the meantime efforts to secure other accommodation are ongoing. Manjeet, who sought asylum in the UK two months ago, is disabled and uses a manually operated wheelchair. The UKBA recently withdrew her housing support, leading the private housing company Happy Homes UK Ltd to attempt to evict her.

The superb effort of Manjeet and her supporters today, remaining resilient, needs to be continued with redoubled resistance tomorrow from 8am outside Manjeet’s home- 5 Oaklea, Upper Chorlton Road, M16 7SG – opposite Sylvan Avenue. Anybody able to come and give vital support, please do.

Update: 27/05/11 This afternoon Trafford social services have informed Manjeet that they have approved that social services support Manjeet, and are sending a duty officer to see her at her flat in Oak Lea this afternoon. Refugee Action have advised Manjeet that social services have found potential accommodation in a residential home and are looking for a place that is age appropriate.

By Peter Lazenby in Britain:

Vulnerable Asian woman faces eviction

Thursday 16th October 2014

Asylum request denied despite threat of rape and death in India

A DISABLED Asian woman who fled threats of rape and death in India faces eviction from her Manchester home after being refused asylum.

She today appears before a Manchester asylum appeal tribunal in an attempt to have the eviction order overturned.

Trade unionists and asylum campaigners are demonstrating there in her support.

Manjeet Kaur lived in India and came to Britain three years ago after the disappearance of her husband Amitt Bhatt.

He is a journalist and Kashmiri human rights activist who was threatened and attacked because of his anti-government articles and books. He has spoken on the same human rights platform as Jemima Khan.

Ms Kaur was beaten twice and threatened with rape and murder by people looking for her husband before fleeing to Britain.

She suffered polio and uses a wheelchair. The beatings worsened her condition.

Ms Kaur has relatives in England. Earlier this year, her husband escaped to Britain and claimed asylum.

She campaigns for disabled human rights and is chairwoman of Refugee and Asylum Participatory Action Research.

Ms Kaur worked with the UK Disabled People’s Council on disability and asylum issues and has spoken out publicly against Tory anti-immigrant policies.

After refusing her asylum the Home Office withdrew her housing support. She faces eviction by privateer Serco, which runs asylum seeker housing in the North West.

Telling her to quit her home by October 9, Serco wrote: “Should you refuse to leave the property on this date, we will have no choice but to take legal action to evict you.”

Ms Kaur said: “I will be made destitute with a limited ability to survive on the streets. Is this something the state allows to happen in the society that we live in?

“The asylum process feels like a slow poison that is taking away my zest for life.”

Sharon Hooley, of the Direct Action Network for Disabled People said: “We say this is a ‘civilised country’ yet it seems perfectly acceptable to demonise, discriminate, alienate and rob disabled people of their basic human needs.”

The demonstration is 9am to 10am outside the Tribunal, Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester.