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Dear Mr. Erasmus,

Thank you for contacting us at Virgin Nigeria.

We note, with great concern, your email in respect of Virgin Nigeria’s alleged role in the forceful removal to Nigeria of Kemi Ayinde, Taiwo Salami and Yasim Salami on Virgin Nigeria Airways Flight (VK292) on July 08, 2008 from London Gatwick to Lagos.

We empathize with Kemi Ayinde and the circumstances surrounding her migration to the United Kingdom, as recounted by your goodself, and her subsequent pending deportation there from. We have noted the suggestion proffered by your goodself regarding the manner in which VNA conducts itself in this matter and we believe same to be tantamount to non-cooperation with the Government which is inimical to the interests of all concerned parties.

We also do not wish to be perceived by your good selves as over-simplifying or embellishing the facts/issues, which we are not privy to, surrounding the deportation of any person(s) deemed an illegal immigrant or any person(s) denied Asylum in any country we operate from. We hope that Kemi Ayinde will seek relief in the Asylum process and we sincerely hope this will result in the best solution for her and her family.

It is pertinent to mention that we do not tolerate the inhumane treatment of any person onboard any of our flights as we ensure that all our passengers are treated with dignity and respect firmly recognizing that Asylum Seekers are not criminals but law abiding persons found to have no right or entitlement to remain in that particular country.

Furthermore, Virgin Nigeria does not make any special profit from these operations and has never operated a removal flight before. We only carry passengers booked on our reservation systems.

We appreciate your letter to us in this regard and we welcome your future comments.

Thank you for your understanding and co-operation.

Yours faithfully,

For: Virgin Nigeria Airways Ltd.

Stella Allen
Customer Relations Executive
 
Obviously I have replied to this, particularly this: "be tantamount to non-cooperation with the Government which is inimical to the interests of all concerned parties" by commenting that if British Airways could refuse to carry Kemi Ayinde, Taiwo Salami and Yasmin Salami then there is no reason that Virgin cannot do likewise - unless they want to get a reputation of being the only airline in Britain that will deport a pregnant woman who can barely stand up.
 
Udo Erasmus said:
Dear Mr. Erasmus,

Thank you for contacting us at Virgin Nigeria.

We note, with great concern, your email in respect of Virgin Nigeria’s alleged role in the forceful removal to Nigeria of Kemi Ayinde, Taiwo Salami and Yasim Salami on Virgin Nigeria Airways Flight (VK292) on July 08, 2008 from London Gatwick to Lagos.

We empathize with Kemi Ayinde and the circumstances surrounding her migration to the United Kingdom, as recounted by your goodself, and her subsequent pending deportation there from. We have noted the suggestion proffered by your goodself regarding the manner in which VNA conducts itself in this matter and we believe same to be tantamount to non-cooperation with the Government which is inimical to the interests of all concerned parties.

We also do not wish to be perceived by your good selves as over-simplifying or embellishing the facts/issues, which we are not privy to, surrounding the deportation of any person(s) deemed an illegal immigrant or any person(s) denied Asylum in any country we operate from. We hope that Kemi Ayinde will seek relief in the Asylum process and we sincerely hope this will result in the best solution for her and her family.

It is pertinent to mention that we do not tolerate the inhumane treatment of any person onboard any of our flights as we ensure that all our passengers are treated with dignity and respect firmly recognizing that Asylum Seekers are not criminals but law abiding persons found to have no right or entitlement to remain in that particular country.

Furthermore, Virgin Nigeria does not make any special profit from these operations and has never operated a removal flight before. We only carry passengers booked on our reservation systems.

We appreciate your letter to us in this regard and we welcome your future comments.

Thank you for your understanding and co-operation.

Yours faithfully,

For: Virgin Nigeria Airways Ltd.

Stella Allen
Customer Relations Executive
Click to expand...

I got the same email from them.
 
I was on the phone to V N for 15 minutes this morning, the young lady who fielded the call was very polite but clearly had no idea what I was on about (handled it very well though). I asked her if she thoughtshe worked for a moral organisation - she tried to make the best of it but was on a sticky wicket and got her supervisor. She'd no idea about this whole thing either.

It's clearly not an issue within the airline. (based on my huge sample:))

Is there any way of getting to the staff? Union?
 
From VIRGIN UNITE

Seems promising

Dear Udo

Your email regarding Kemi Ayinde has been forwarded to me at Virgin Unite.

I just wanted to clarify that Kemi will not be deported tomorrow on a Virgin Nigeria or Virgin Atlantic flight. Virgin Nigeria was approached but refused to carry her both now or in the future. It seems the story was printed without consulting Virgin Unite or Virgin Nigeria so we were not able to set the record straight.

Should you wish to discuss the matter further please feel free to contact me.

Warm regards

Joni

Joni Watson
 
I assume & hope so, that's what the message seems to imply. I assume the angle of contacting the Stop the Traffik organisation and copying into Virgin was what was effective, as the earlier email seemed to imply that they intended to ignore messages on the line that non co-operation with the government would be inappropriate.

I was hoping for confirmation from people in touch with the family on here.

The story has even made it into the Daily Mirror: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topsto...-nigerian-victim-of-sex-trade-89520-20635586/

South Wales Echo article: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w...ful-kemi-will-not-be-deported-91466-21300911/

Also heard a piece on local commercial radio this morning - well done to campaigners.
 
Looks like the family haven't been deported! result!

Virgin are coming out with some right old nonsense about always refusing to deport, hopefully we can turn this into a commitment to stop doing removal flights.

Will update the blog will more info later (bloody employment getting in the way right now)
 
Brief update... it's still a bit sketchy but this is what we've got:
The family are NOT being deported today, and are still in Yarl's Wood.
The process of beginning a judicial review at the high court has been begun by their lawyers, and the home office cannot deport while that is underway. So they have some breathing space and a shot at staying.
Virgin seem to have done a spectacular U-turn on the deportation, and are claiming they were never going to accept them on the flight in the first place.
:)
 
Asylum woman's deportation halted

from bbc
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7493908.stm
bbc said:
The deportation of a pregnant woman from Nigeria along with her partner and 18-month-old daughter has been halted, supporters have said.

The Home Office had booked Kemi Ayinde, 24, on a Tuesday flight from Gatwick, but her ticket was cancelled.
Click to expand...
also
Neil McEvoy said:
He added: "Kemi's solicitor is hopeful that he will be able to apply for judicial review as the family were not given the right to appeal against the decision to deport them.

"Kemi and her family are feeling very depressed and it is disgusting that a woman who is pregnant and ill is being deported.

"We believe that Kemi's health in particular is at high risk if she is forcibly removed."

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) in Wales has already said it would "never remove anyone who had been diagnosed as medically unfit to travel" or who faces a real risk of persecution or serious harm on return to their home country.
Click to expand...
 
Dear Udo,

Thank you for your email and your support of Stop The Traffik.

I must say, since the issue of Kemi Ayinde was bought into the public sphere, I have been flooded with emails asking us to step in expressing dismay about the current political situation which sees trafficked, vulnerable persons deported. It’s incredible how the tide is turning, how people are beginning to stop and think about the safety, hope and choice of those who fall into the hands of traffickers.

As we have not been directly involved with the case of Kemi Ayinde I can only give you the information which has been given to us. Virgin have stated they are not going to deport Kemi. In light of recent events, Ruth Dearnley, STOP THE TRAFFIK’s CEO, has scheduled a meeting with Virgin Unite to discuss the issue further.

Obviously, the UK government can now and ask any other airline to deport Kemi and her family. As a very passionate organisation, we are pushing the Government to live up to its obligations under the Council of Europe Convention on Human Trafficking concerning the protection of victims.

Thank you so much for expressing your concern and sharing your thoughts with us.

Best wishes

Victoria Kuhr

This e-mail has been sent by Victoria Kuhr, STOP THE TRAFFIK Project Officer
t: 020 7921 4252 f: 020 7921 4201.
STOP THE TRAFFIK, 1 Kennington Road, London SE1 7QP

www.stopthetraffik.org

We got 1.5 Million sign ups to the Stop the Traffik Global Declaration - thanks so much for your support to stop Human Traffiking
 
Nice one Udo.
There are three more updates on the No Borders blog. Firstly, one about Kemi, and how she's slightly less likely to be deported at short notice now a judicial review is underway. Secondly, two articles about Virgin Nigeria's slippery handling of the affair - suggesting to people that they never intended to fly Kemi and family out in the first place after saying they were going to, etc.
http://noborderswales.wordpress.com/
 
have you seen the mirror today?!? :D
no i don't buy it, i get press cuttings. it's mostly about Virgin Nigeria refusing to fly her out on their airline.

massive headline 'WE WON'T DO HOME OFFICE'S DIRTY WORK' with some hard facts made big and bold with 2 more statements in big type 'Virgin will not fly sex slave home' and 'Trafficked mum fights to live here'
with a pic of the 3

even better is Neil McEvoy's "Jaqui Smith needs to take a long hard look in the mirror. Kemi had got her life back together afer years of abuse. She had settled in Cardiff and is a valued member of the community. The Home Office accepts she was trafficked. She should be allowed to stay"
 
Yeah Journo's are funny people, I spoke to the mirror last night, they said they were going to go with an article about Virgin Nigeria Airlines turning down the Home office for a deportation. I pointed out that they only said that after 6pm on monday, after the deportation was cancelled anyway, and that they were reacting to the level of public pressure they had received, etc, etc (read all about it on noborderswales.org.uk). She agreed it was hot air from VNA, but they were going with the article anyway...

Still piles the pressure on the Home Office don't it! :D
 
This is amazing, it's so good that a reasonably positive story about a refugee has been put in the press.

Can the tide really be turning?

Imagine how different public attitudes to this kind of thing would be if the tabloid papers printed stories about how refugees & asylum seekers had succesfully become part of local communities.
 
This has been happening for a while now, and it's all been about individuals with individual stories. It's no match for the dehumanising drip drip of the right-wing press, unfortunately.
What gets me is that this story is a complete lie.
Virgin said in the Mirror they had originally refused to fly Kemi and her family out of the country, and made it look like a big moral thing they'd done.
This is pure bollocks and we've got a string of e-mails from Virgin Nigeria saying they were going to deport her no matter how much people complained. All last week and up until late monday they were saying they couldn't possibly go against the government.
So when they claim to be champions of the dispossessed they are telling a big fat whopping porkie pie. Scoundrels.
At least it's a broadly positive story, though.
 
llantwit said:
This has been happening for a while now, and it's all been about individuals with individual stories. It's no match for the dehumanising drip drip of the right-wing press, unfortunately.
Click to expand...

On a tangent, not an organisation I'm usually a fan of, but I thought this leaflet produced by Workers Power was an excellent one that poses the issue in terms of class and power. It's very straightforward and too the point, maybe an updated version could be useful to mass leaflet houses.
 
I remember liking that when it came out - a good idea that, Udo. Ta. Will put it to the group and get onto WP/PR to see if they mind us using bits of it if it needs updating.
 
Kemi Update

Hello,

Kemi and family are still in Yarlswood detention 'centre'/prison.
Their solicitor has lodged a Judicial Review of their asylum application. So while this is being processed, the solicitor has applied for bail (surety provided by a kind contributor to this very forum). The hearing is likely to be early next week so lets hope for good news and that we'll be able to welcome the family back to Cardiff soon.
 
Rhi said:
Hello,

Kemi and family are still in Yarlswood detention 'centre'/prison.
Their solicitor has lodged a Judicial Review of their asylum application. So while this is being processed, the solicitor has applied for bail (surety provided by a kind contributor to this very forum). The hearing is likely to be early next week so lets hope for good news and that we'll be able to welcome the family back to Cardiff soon.
Click to expand...

thanks for the update

*crosses fingers*
 
Kemi and family to return home

I spoke to the family this afternoon and they are being released today back to Cardiff! Of course, they still risk deportation in the future if the judicial review rejects their appeal but for now, they will be safe in Cardiff.

Letters of support still needed to ask the Home Office to allow them to remain in the UK.

Cheers
 
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