‘Activism’ archive

Marches, petitions and protests


Iraqi Employees: wrong place, wrong time, wrong site

Imagine you are an Iraqi former employee of the British government. The death squads with their power drills might be on your doorstep at any minute.

Frantic, you turn to the internet, the Yahoo search engine of all places, and type ‘where to apply for the assistance to iraqi locally engaged staff’.

Do you find the British Foreign Office website? A dedicated website offering reassurance, advice or hope? No, you find the blog of Alex Harrowell, The Yorkshire Ranter. Now, Alex is a stand up bloke - one of the good guys - but he can’t help you.

Is help coming or is this issue, like so many unfortunate Iraqi employees, dead? Or is the plan to dawdle until there’s nobody left to rescue?

UPDATE: As Philip points out in the comments, Early Day Motion 2057, which MPs were asked to sign in support of the Iraqi Employees, has gone. Google cached it on October 19 so it’s disappeared some time in the last four days. Anyone able to provide any information?

UPDATE UPDATED: It’s back. A “technical problem” apparently. Write to your MP and ask them to sign it.

Posted on October 23rd, 2007 at 1:46 pm

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Iraqi employees: A different angle
Iraqi Employees: Round 2
Iraqi employees campaign latest MP responses
   
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Iraqi Employees: Round 2

Still not fully fit and will hopefully blog on this in more detail soon (in the interim, see Dan, Davide, Robert, Sunny, Daniel, We Owe it To Them and all the other s) but need to point to this:

  1. David Miliband’s written statement outlining the Government’s woefully inadequate scheme to assist its Iraqi employees past and present is here.
  2. Dan Hardie has a list of talking points for another round of letters to MPs here. Ask your MP to sign Early Day Motion 2057.
  3. David Miliband has written about his statement on his blog and is taking comments here. I urge you to get across there and have your say. Please be polite. I enjoy saying horrible things about government ministers as much as the next blogger but insulting them on government forums will only be harmful to this campaign.

We’ve got a foot in the door on this, we just need to keep pushing.

Posted on October 12th, 2007 at 2:40 pm

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One to watch…
Iraqi Employees: wrong place, wrong time, wrong site
From here to paternity
   
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Iraqi Employees: Channel 4 News TONIGHT

Mark Brockway will be appearing on Channel 4 News tonight to speak about the Iraqi Employees campaign.

Mark is a former Warrant Officer in the Territorial Royal Engineers, who ran the British Army’s Quick Impact Reconstruction Projects in 2003, when he hired a great many Iraqi staff in 2003. Mark has been in close contact with them since and knows of at least one who has been recently murdered.

To say that many of us campaigning are less than impressed with the Prime Minister’s paltry offer is an understatement. Dan Hardie spells it out: this announcement abandons people to the threat of torture and death.

Posted on October 8th, 2007 at 6:09 pm

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Iraqi Employees campaign coverage
Iraqi Employees Campaign: Come to Parliament on October 9 UPDATED
Iraqi employees campaign: not over yet
   
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Iraqi Employees: A statement by the Prime Minister

Gordon pipes up at last:

Mr Speaker, I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the work of our civilian and locally employed staff in Iraq, many of whom have worked in extremely difficult circumstances exposing themselves and their families to danger.

And I am pleased therefore to announce today a new policy which more fully recognises the contribution made by our local Iraqi staff who work for our armed forces and civilian missions in uniquely difficult circumstances.

Existing staff who have been employed by us for more than twelve months and have completed their work will be able to apply for a package of financial payments to aid resettlement in Iraq or elsewhere in the region, or - in agreed circumstances - for admission to the UK. And professional staff — including interpreters and translators — with a similar length of service who have left our employ since the beginning of 2005 will also be able to apply for assistance.

We will make a further written statement on the detail of this scheme this week.

I’ll wait for the details until commenting further as I’m sure will most people. I have to say though that I really, really, really don’t like the look of that ’staff who have been employed by us for more than twelve months and have completed their work‘ proviso. Don’t put that champagne on ice yet.

See you tomorrow?

UPDATE: And this shouts out as well:

And professional staff — including interpreters and translators — with a similar length of service who have left our employ since the beginning of 2005 will also be able to apply for assistance.

I might be wrong but I’m guessing that excludes teenage laundry workers.

Posted on October 8th, 2007 at 4:44 pm

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Good point
Iraqi employees campaign latest
Iraqi Employees: Fine words, shabby deeds
   
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Iraqi Employees meeting tomorrow: CHANGE OF VENUE

Urgent news for anyone coming to the meeting at Parliament tomorrow night (Tuesday October 9). Hope to see you there:

Over to Dan Hardie:

And another announcement: the meeting on Iraqi Employees will take place on the same day (Tuesday 9th October) at the same time (7-9pm) with the same speakers in a changed venue very close to the original one: the Attlee Suite in Portcullis House (MPs’ own office block, opposite Parliament). The long-suffering and highly efficient Mette Kahlin will be standing outside the door of the old venue (Committee Room 14 in Parliament) pointing the way to the new venue, which is the Attlee Suite in Portcullis House. How do you get there? Walk to Parliament and it’s the very ugly building at the corner of Bridge Street and Victoria Embankment, facing Big Ben (or St. Stephen’s Tower, if you really must). If you get lost, which you won’t, ask one of the police officers, who are actually very helpful, or just look round for the biggest eyesore. It is unmissably hideous.

Poor Mette had the job, a couple of hours ago, of telling me that - despite the fact that she booked the room back in the first week of September, despite the fact that not double-booking rooms is a task open to the simplest person capable of using something like Outlook, despite the fact that a struggling provincial hotel could manage to avoid doing something like this- a Cabinet Minister claimed that she had previously booked the room and so we were bounced out. Oh, imagine my joy. It quite took the pleasure out of learning that I was a qualified physician.

Salt in the wound: the Cabinet Minister in question is Hazel Blears. Silver lining: we can get TV crews in to film in the Attlee Suite, which we couldn’t in Committee Room 14. That’s Committee Room 14, our old venue. And of course our new venue is the Attlee Suite in Portcullis House.

Posted on October 8th, 2007 at 4:35 pm

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Iraqi Employees Campaign: Come to Parliament on October 9 UPDATED
Scotland Yard to investigate Blair and Goldsmith war crimes
Iraqi employees campaign latest MP responses
   
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Iraqi employees campaign: not over yet

If you saw The Times yesterday, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the campaign has been a success and we could all go home:

Hundreds of interpreters and their families are to be given assistance to leave Iraq, where they live under fear of death squads because they collaborated with British forces. Those wishing to remain in Iraq or relocate to neighbouring countries will be helped to resettle.

However, there has yet to be a formal announcement and the word is that the Foreign Office doesn’t know about this change in policy. As we’ve seen this week, stories spun to the media shouldn’t necessarily be taken at face value.

The speaker meeting at Parliament on October 9 (this coming Tuesday) is still going ahead. It’s still not too late to invite your MP along. The tireless Dan Hardie has all the details of what you need to do.

UPDATE: Dan Hardie: Wait and see

I have always said, when writing to Jacqui Smith and other Ministers, that to pre-announce asylum for Iraqi employees before they’d actually been taken to safety would increase the risks to them and to the British soldiers who would have to evacuate them. I hope desperately that this won’t happen. I also hope that we will see a genuine promise of resettlement for all who are identified as being seriously at risk for having worked for the British in Iraq.

Posted on October 7th, 2007 at 2:31 pm

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October 9th: Bring your own MP
Iraqi Employees Campaign: Come to Parliament on October 9 UPDATED
Iraqi Employees meeting tomorrow: CHANGE OF VENUE
   
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Burma: Day of Action

MARCH FOR BURMA
GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION

SATURDAY 6th OCTOBER 2007

Join us for a march and rally in solidarity with the monks and peaceful demonstrators in Burma and demand international action.

Assemble at Tate Britain, SW1P 4RG at 11.00am
Nearest tube Pimlico

March to Trafalgar Square for a rally at 12.45pm

For more information visit www.burmacampaign.org.uk, call 020 7324 4710 or email demo@burmacampaign.org.uk or call Crisis Action on 020 7324 4752/4758

Organisations supporting this march include: Amnesty International, Avaaz, British Muslim Forum, Burma Campaign UK, BDMA UK, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Crescent Network UK, Federation of Student Islamic Societies, GMB,GNNSJ UK, Hindu Council UK, Human Rights Watch, Muslim Council of Britain, NUS, Prospect, Sikh Aid, Sufi Muslim Council, ‘Support the Monks in Burma’ (Facebook), TUC, United Nations Association of the UK, Unison, Unite the Union, Waging Peace.

Update: Ten Percent is doing a fine job of blogging the ongoing atrocity in Burma.

Posted on October 3rd, 2007 at 6:39 pm

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The black dog descends again
The Guardian: UK accused of complicity in torture
Courage: still a no show
   
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Iraqi Employees Campaign: Come to Parliament on October 9 UPDATED

It’s still not too late to get involved in the Iraqi Employees campaign. Dan Hardie, who has worked incredibly hard on all this, has some tips and a form letter for inviting MPs to the speakers meeting at Parliament on October 9 next week:

There will be a meeting at Parliament on Tuesday October 9th, to call for the British Government to recognise its responsibilities and give shelter to the Iraqis endangered by their work for this country’s troops and diplomats. You can invite your MP. And if you care about these people, you should.

The more MPs we get in the meeting, the better. They are not going to listen to Mark Brockway, who is getting desperate emails from the Iraqis he hired, and walk away indifferent; they are not going to listen to Richard Beeston of the Times and decide that they can ignore this. We are going to make it impossible for the Home Office to carry on with its delaying tactics.

This is how to invite your MP:

1) Find your MP: type your postcode into They work for you.

2) Copy-and-paste or better still, adapt this form invitation below (and make any changes you want, but we have to keep these letters courteous). Also; make sure that your address and postcode are on the letters

3) You can then either email it to your MP (email addresses for MPs take the form surnameinitial@parliament.uk- thus Gordon Brown is BROWNG@parliament.uk ) or you can post it to ‘MP’s name, The House of Commons, Westminster, London, SW1A 0AA.’ If you have the time, printed letters are better than emails: and it’s not that hard to write a letter, is it? If you get a bounceback from an MP’s email address, get in touch with me (danhardie.blog@gmail.com ) as I have a bunch of alternative contact details now, or -better still- write the print letter and post it. Please make sure that your address and postcode are clearly written on either emails or print letters, so that the MP realises they are dealing with one of their own constituents.

4) If you are in London on the evening of Tuesday 9th October, please come along to the meeting in person. Go to St Stephen’s entrance, facing College Green (the police tend to be helpful here) and ask for admission. There will be at least one campaigning blogger at the entrance, ready to point you in the right direction: remember the meeting starts at 7pm.

Thank you- and, hopefully, see you there.

FORM INVITATION:

Iraqi Employees of British Forces – Parliamentary Speaker Meeting, Tuesday October 9th

Dear NAME

As your constituent, I am writing on behalf of ‘We can’t turn them away’, an online campaign for resettlement for those Iraqis threatened by death squads for their work with British forces. We would like to invite you to a meeting in Committee Room 14 of the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday October 9th from 7 to 9pm .

As you may well have seen in The Times, Iraqi citizens who have worked as interpreters for British forces are being tortured and murdered by death squads for having worked with the occupying forces.

Speakers will include:

Mark Brockway (a former Warrant Officer in the Territorial Royal Engineers, who ran the British Army’s Quick Impact Reconstruction Projects in 2003, when he hired a great many Iraqi staff in 2003. Mark has been in close contact with them since and knows of at least one who has been recently murdered;

Richard Beeston, senior Foreign Correspondent for ‘The Times’ newspaper.

Ed Vaizey MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

Lynne Featherstone MP, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for International Development.

A senior Labour MP.

A number of reporters from television, the national press and BBC Radio will attend the meeting.

This is a cross-party, moral issue, on which both opponents and supporters of the Iraq war can agree. Whilst the Government has said that it is reviewing the policy, no change has yet been made, and further delay is likely to leave Iraqi employees at the mercy of the local death squads. Attendance at this event certainly does not imply any agreement with the aims of our campaign: you are welcome to come and ask searching questions, or to send a Researcher to represent you.

If you cannot come to the meeting, I would also ask that you write to the Home Secretary, and to the Immigration Minister, Liam Byrne, asking for an explanation of why policy has not changed despite the announcement of an ‘urgent review’ of the matter on August 8th this year.

Thank you very much for your time.

I’ll just add two things: A personalised letter goes a lot further than a cut and pasted letter (which often just go in the bin). By all means use the excellent points from Dan but do try to tailor your letter. Secondly, you can also email your MP using WriteToThem,com.

Also a new precedent has been set. The British government have been given a lead in saving these people’s lives:

Late last night, to the amazement of refugee advocates, the Senate approved by unanimous consent an amendment by Senator Kennedy to a defense bill that will make it easier for America’s Iraqi friends to be admitted as refugees to the United States. The Administration lobbied against it this week—the talking points included complaints about infringement on executive-branch authority—but Kennedy’s office agreed to a number of compromises, and won the support of holdout Republican senators.

Hope to see you on October 9.

UPDATE: The Facebook event.

Posted on October 2nd, 2007 at 8:10 am

See also
October 9th: Bring your own MP
Iraqi employees campaign: not over yet
We can’t turn them away UPDATED
   
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You just made the list

The list of people who declared their support when Alisher Usmanov’s lawyers, Schillings, managed to take down Craig Murray’s, Boris Johnson’s, Tim Ireland’s and Bob Piper’s blogs has now moved here.

The original post has served its purpose and only became the information hub by accident - it was only really meant to be a heads-up message - but it was very heartening to see so much support become linked to it. It’s right now however that the list be based somewhere else. Many thanks to everyone who blogged, linked, emailed and slashdotted while the list was here. It was quite the exciting and busy few days.

Anybody who has blogged in support about all this and hasn’t yet made the list (we’re watching Google Blogsearch as well) can let me, Tim Ireland (bloggerheads DOT com AT googlemail DOT com) or Aaron (tyger AT tygerland DOT net) know and we’ll see that you’re added. Ditto for anybody who hasn’t yet blogged and would like to - your views, ideas and support would be extremely welcome.

Posted on September 28th, 2007 at 1:41 pm

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Twitter daily digest
Twitter daily digest
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Not too late

October 9 2007.

Posted on September 27th, 2007 at 8:14 pm

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A minister writes
October 9th: Bring your own MP
Take courage, Gordon
   
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Myanmar

Just look at them. Most of us can’t even be bothered to summon the energy to change the channel if there’s something crap on the telly. These people are walking and walking and walking, not even knowing if they’ll be coming back.

It remains to be seen just how we can help with what’s happening in Myanmar right now. Who knows? The protesters may yet prevail. It’s a question of hoping that the junta don’t on this occasion give into their baser instincts and kill more people that they already have. It’s also to be hoped that something comes out of the discussions at the UN for a change.

In the mean time, there’s the small matter of a petition (via Rachel). If anybody has anything else we can do, I’d love to hear about it.

Jamie Kenny’s keeping tabs on some of the best blogging that’s emerging. Read the bit about Buddhist psychological warfare. Just amazing.

UPDATE: An excellent post from Davide.

UPDATE UPDATED: Just had an email which might be of interest to anyone based in Brighton:

In support of the peaceful protest by monks and nuns in Burma.

* This Sunday (30th Sept), and the following two Sundays *

Organised by Stephen H. and supported by the Free Burma Coalition.

All info: Stephen on 01273 746351 / 07816 865355 / henntsp@yahoo.com:

This is to inform you of three peaceful Dharma Yatras (silent walks) taking place on Sunday 30th September, Sunday 7th October and Sunday 14th October in support of the monks and nuns who are peacefully demonstrating in Burma. The walk will leave the Palace Pier at 12 noon and end at the Peace Statue (Hove lawns) each day. Please assemble at the pier entrance between 11.30am – 12 noon. Members of the Free Burma Coalition will attend the walk.

For a brief explanation of what Dharma Yatra are see.

For an example of how Buddhists use Dharma Yatra see.

Unfortunately, the last time the monks led peaceful demonstrations in Burma, in 1988, hundreds were shot and thousands of innocent men women and children were murdered. Since then tens of thousands have been systemically tortured.

Various Buddhist groups and organisations are supporting this peaceful Dharma Yatra.

Yours in Dhamma,

Stephen

The email also came with links to some YouTube movies:

Channel 4’s Despatches: Burma’s Secret War

BBC News: Oppressive government in Burma

UPDATE: I like this.

Posted on September 27th, 2007 at 2:10 pm

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Burma: Day of Action
Walking the walk
More shared values
   
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291

That’s how many bloggers are now on the case of Alisher Usmanov a week after the initial blog takedown. The updated list is here. Keep the links coming.

(Update: A lot of bloggers on the list are now following up on their original posts - there’s a lot of great stuff put there if you do a little browsing. I’ve noticed one or two people apologising about ‘coming late to the party’. Please, don’t. This isn’t a race, this about sharing views and showing solidarity. If you haven’t blogged this yet and would like to, or have but haven’t let us know, please do.)

Tim Ireland is now well and truly back in the saddle over at Bloggerheads: The Alisher Usmanov Affair. He now has a timeline of events describing everything that has a happened so far. Plenty of juicy detail in there with many a twist and turn.

Also worth a look is EM Daily’s Cyberactivism 101, with 10 tips for effective web activism drawn from lessons learned in the last week.

UPDATE: Tim Ireland again:

Watch for… a cross-spectrum evolution of this campaign once the fact-finding process nears completion; if you’re hesitant because you think you’ll be marching under my banner or Craig Murray’s, think again.

Everyone should have the right to take part in open and honest debate online; this is going to be your best chance to fight for that right, secure it in law or precedent, and finally establish the importance of blogs in general.

Update @ 4.45pm: It’s 301 now.

Posted on September 27th, 2007 at 9:33 am

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The Mainstream Media and Alisher Usmanov: Fair and Balanced
Tim’s temporary territory
It’s been a privilege
   
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Sunny Hundal: Keyboards at the ready

Excellent piece by Sunny on Comment is Free about the Iraqi Employees campaign, the spot of bother with Mr Usmanov, and what it all means for blogging and activism.

If you’d like to get involved with the Iraqi Employees campaign, here’s a few things you can do:

  1. Watch the video.
  2. Write to your MP. Ask them to refer your concerns to the Home Office, Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence. Invite your MP to the meeting at Parliament on October 9.
  3. Let us know in the comments if you get a response.
  4. Join the list of supporters.
  5. Spread the word. If you have a blog, why not help yourself to one of Unity’s lovely blog banners?
  6. Keep up with latest on the Iraqi employees’ plight with Google News Alerts.
  7. Sign the petition.
Posted on September 24th, 2007 at 11:41 am

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Iraqi employees campaign latest MP responses
A minister writes
Iraqi employees campaign latest MP responses
   
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Withdraw your support

unsubscribe from human rights abuse in the war on terror

Update: I’ve been told in the comments in no uncertain terms that, despite this being my blog to run as I see fit, it is incumbent on me to explain just what that link is for, the destination website’s self-explanatory page being a bridge too far for some, clearly.

Unsubscribe is Amnesty International’s new initiative to register concern and protest at the way The War Against Terror has been/ is being conducted. You know, torture, extraordinary rendition, those kind of things.

This has been a public service announcement for the time-poor, lazy and/or misanthropic.

Posted on September 23rd, 2007 at 11:56 am

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Moral flexibility
Nick Barlow: MIA
A nutter, yes, but for a different reason
   
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Iraqi Employees campaign coverage

Dan Hardie was on Five Live’s Pods and Blogs slot on Monday night along with Mark Brockway, a former solider who had hired Iraqi staff while stationed out there. It was an excellent piece and Unity is hosting an MP3 of the full exchange - get over there and give it a listen.

Disturbingly, Mark Brockway tells of Iraqi employees who have managed to escape to other Middle East countries being tracked down and murdered by militias. It seems refugee status is offering no protection.

If you’d like to help, here’s what you can do.

Posted on September 19th, 2007 at 10:56 am

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Iraqi Employees: Channel 4 News TONIGHT
Iraqi Employees Campaign: Come to Parliament on October 9 UPDATED
Get out or die
   
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Iraqi Employees - still dying

From today’s Times:

A man said to have been an interpreter for the British Army in Basra has been killed by militia gunmen on the very day that his wife learnt she was pregnant with their first child.

Nine or ten masked men went to the home of Moayed Ahmed Khalaf in the al-Hayaniah district of Basra and beat him in front of his wife and mother, four sources told The Times. They then dragged him away, telling the frantic women that they would bring him back shortly. Khalaf’s body was found on Al Qa’ed Street later that night. He had been shot multiple times, according to Colonel Ali Manshed, commander of the Shatt-al-Arab police station.

A cousin, a close friend and two other interpreters all told The Times that Khalaf, 31, had worked for the British at their Basra airport base. Colonel Manshed said that everyone questioned by the police had said Khalaf was an interpreter, adding: “He was a good man, everyone liked him and there was no other reason to kill him.”

However Major Mike Shearer, a spokesman at the airport base, said that the army could find no record of Khalaf having worked for the army.

Here’s more links. A Radio 4 Fact The Facts documentary (RealPlayer required - a text transcript is here); a Facebook group.

I’m grateful again to my MP Celia Barlow, who has forwarded to me another response she’s had, this time from the Home Office. There’s no need to transcribe it because it is exactly the same as the responses received by Garry and Tim. Go see if you have a love of boilerplate.

(I have to add that, while I’ve had my reservations about Celia Barlow, on this matter she has been excellent. She has also said she will be attending the meeting on October 9.)

If you’d like to help, try the following:

  1. Watch the video.
  2. Write to your MP. Ask them to refer your concerns to the Home Office, Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence. Invite your MP to the meeting at Parliament on October 9.
  3. Let us know in the comments if you get a response.
  4. Join the list of supporters.
  5. Spread the word. If you have a blog, why not help yourself to one of Unity’s lovely blog banners?
  6. Keep up with latest on the Iraqi employees’ plight with Google News Alerts.
  7. Sign the petition.

Hope to see you on October 9. If the Government would only get their act together, they could make the event redundant for any reason other than a celebratory drink.

Posted on September 17th, 2007 at 6:02 pm

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Iraqi employees: one down
Get out or die
October 9th: Bring your own MP
   
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Get out or die

security force chief tells interpreters for British Army:

Iraqi interpreters working for the British Army have been advised to leave Basra or be killed.

The warning was issued by a leading member of the city’s security forces after militiamen attacked and destroyed the home of one interpreter and narrowly failed to kidnap another. There were unconfirmed reports yesterday that a third had been killed.

“All the interpreters have to leave Basra because these militia will never let them rest. They will kill everybody they know [who worked for the British],” Colonel Saleem Agaa Alzabon, who leads Basra’s special forces, said. “The interpreters have to leave. They have no choice.”

(via Dan)

Unfortunately, another escape route has been closed:

Officials of the United Nations Refugee Agency in Damascus have sounded the alarm over Syria’s new visa rules for Iraqis after a survey found the border “virtually empty” for “the first time in months, if not years.” Before Sept. 10, no visa was required to enter the country.

“The regulations effectively mean there is no longer a safe place outside for Iraqis fleeing persecution and violence,” Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the agency, said.

A spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner For Refugees told Radio Free Europe that fleeing the country is now “difficult if not impossible” for many Iraqis, especially the poor.

(via Jamie)

The UK government have a moral responsibility towards these people.

If you’d like to help, try the following:

  1. Watch the video.
  2. Write to your MP. Ask them to refer your concerns to the Home Office, Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence. Invite your MP to the meeting at Parliament on October 9.
  3. Let us know in the comments if you get a response.
  4. Join the list of supporters.
  5. Spread the word. If you have a blog, why not help yourself to one of Unity’s lovely blog banners?
  6. Keep up with latest on the Iraqi employees’ plight with Google News Alerts.
  7. Sign the petition.

Update: Garry:

Still, I’m sure the militias mean get out or die after the Prime Minister’s trilateral ministerial review to consider the options has presented recommendations to Ministers in late September. At this stage, surely the militias realise that it would not be appropriate to pre-empt the recommendations…

Posted on September 14th, 2007 at 11:48 am

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Basra: testing to destruction
Iraqi Employees - still dying
Iraqi employees campaign latest
   
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A minister writes

I’m grateful to my MP, Celia Barlow, for forwarding a letter from the office of Foreign Office minister Kim Howells on the subject of the Iraqi employees living under the shadow of the power drill.

To save me the time of typing out his response for your delectation, I’ll merely point you towards the boilerplate text received by Tim Ireland and Curious Hamster from the Home Office, the two being almost identical in content.

It’s good to see that all the various government departments working on this matter have managed to come up with a unified message for public consumption if not, you know, an actual plan for saving these people’s lives.

So, as you were. See you on October 9.

If you’d like to help, try the following:

  1. Watch the video.
  2. Write to your MP. Ask them to refer your concerns to the Home Office, Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence.
  3. Let us know in the comments if you get a response.
  4. Join the list of supporters.
  5. If you think your MP might be sympathetic, visit their constituency surgery, explain the matter of the Iraqi employees, and ask if your MP would be willing to co-sponsor the meeting at Parliament on October 9.
  6. Spread the word. If you have a blog, why not help yourself to one of Unity’s lovely blog banners?
  7. Keep up with latest on the Iraqi employees’ plight with Google News Alerts.
  8. Sign the petition.

Posted on September 8th, 2007 at 8:58 am

See also
Iraqi employees campaign latest MP responses
Sunny Hundal: Keyboards at the ready
Iraqi employees campaign latest MP responses
   
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Bruises that won’t heal

Shock horror:

The government has officially confirmed it will not hold a public inquiry into the 7 July London bombings.

Write to them. Sign the petition.

Posted on September 7th, 2007 at 11:13 pm

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July 7 petition
Demand for a Public Inquiry into the July 7th 2005 London Bombings
Charles Clarke is unwell
   
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Filed under Activism, The home front
 
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October 9th: Bring your own MP

The campaign keeps rolling. If you’ve already written to your MP, write or email him or her again and this time invite them to a speaker meeting at Parliament on the second day of the new session, Tuesday 9th October.

Via Dan:

If you haven’t already written to your MP, please do so: outline what’s happening and why we should be concerned, ask them to contact the relevant Ministries (particularly the Home Office but also the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office) and also invite them to the meeting. Talking points for both letters are here. Any blogger who has participated in this campaign is invited as is any blogreader who successfully invites their MP. Just email Dan Hardie at danhardie.blog@gmail.com and an invitation will be heading your way.

Stress to MPs that mainstream print and TV journalists will be present: that is the kind of thing that tends, for some reason, to attract them. And stress that this is the first blog-based campaign in the UK. This is how politics is going, and they need to see what it looks like.

Dan spoke to an ex-Royal Engineer yesterday who told him of an Iraqi employee murdered since this campaign began. Now that the British contingent has withdrawn to Basra Airport, we can probably expect more power-drilling, cigarette-burning and shooting of Iraqi employees. These people are dying right now. The pressure needs to be maintained on MPs and the various ministries involved.

Hope to see you on October 9.

Posted on September 5th, 2007 at 4:05 pm

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Sunny Hundal: Keyboards at the ready
Iraqi Employees Campaign: Come to Parliament on October 9 UPDATED
Iraqi employees campaign: not over yet
   
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Iraqi employees campaign latest MP responses

Updated list is here.

If you’d like to help, try the following:

  1. Watch the video.
  2. Write to your MP. Ask them to refer your concerns to the Home Office, Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence.
  3. Let us know in the comments if you get a response.
  4. Join the list of supporters.
  5. If you think your MP might be sympathetic, visit their constituency surgery, explain the matter of the Iraqi employees, and ask if your MP would be willing to co-sponsor the meeting at Portcullis House in October.
  6. Spread the word. If you have a blog, why not help yourself to one of Unity’s lovely blog banners?
  7. Keep up with latest on the Iraqi employees’ plight with Google News Alerts.
  8. Sign the petition.

Update: Tim and Garry get responses from the Home Office. Of a sort.

Posted on September 5th, 2007 at 2:41 pm

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Sunny Hundal: Keyboards at the ready
Iraqi employees campaign latest MP responses
A minister writes
   
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Iraqi employees campaign latest MP responses

The MPs’ responses so far stand at:

Conservatives (7):
Mark Field
Michael Howard
Anne Milton
Patrick Mercer
James Paice
Ed Vaizey
Theresa Villiers

Labour (19):
Diane Abbott
Charlotte Atkins
Celia Barlow
Hugh Bayley
Alistair Darling
Wayne David
Frank Dobson
Jim Fitzpatrick
Ian Gibson
Helen Goodman
Patricia Hewitt
Sadiq Khan
David Lammy
David Lepper
Tony Lloyd
Chris Mole
Andrew Smith
Dr Rudi Vis
Paul Truswell (via Ian Clenshaw)

Lib Dems (8):
John Barrett
Malcolm Bruce
Lynn Featherstone
David Howarth
Don Foster
Greg Mulholland
Robert Smith
Stephen Williams

If you’d like to help, try the following:

  1. Watch the video.
  2. Write to your MP. Ask them to refer your concerns to the Home Office, Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence.
  3. Let us know in the comments if you get a response.
  4. Join the list of supporters.
  5. If you think your MP might be sympathetic, visit their constituency surgery, explain the matter of the Iraqi employees, and ask if your MP would be willing to co-sponsor the meeting at Portcullis House in October.
  6. Spread the word. If you have a blog, why not help yourself to one of Unity’s lovely blog banners?
  7. Keep up with latest on the Iraqi employees’ plight with Google News Alerts.
  8. Sign the petition.

Posted on August 29th, 2007 at 2:00 pm

See also
Iraqi employees campaign latest MP responses
Sunny Hundal: Keyboards at the ready
A minister writes
   
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Iraqi employees campaign latest

The campaign to help secure safe haven for the Iraqi employees of the British forces in Southern Iraq moves on apace. Thanks to the tireless Dan Hardie, Lib Dem MP Lynne ‘The letters, eh? We have all been having a lot of them and we’ve been writing to the Home Office about it’ Featherstone and Conservative MP Ed ‘My support is unconditional‘ Vaizey have agreed to co-host a at Portcullis House in October (date to be confirmed). Mr Vaizey has also offered to make public statements on behalf of the campaign.

More responses from MPs are coming in. And Philip Challinor received this from the Home Office via his MP:

Thank you for your letter to the Home Secretary of 26 July on behalf of Mr Philip Challinor. I have been asked to reply.

Mr Challinor asks us to grant asylum in the United Kingdom to locally engaged staff who have helped the British Forces in Iraq. we are extremely grateful for the service of locally employed staff in Iraq and take their security very seriously. We recognise that there are concerns about the safety of locally employed staff. We keep all such issues under review and we will now look again at the assistance we provide. The total number of Iraqis who have worked for us since 2003 with a claim to assistance could be at least 15,000. We therefore need to consider the options carefully in this genuinely complex area.

The Prime Minister has commissioned a trilateral Ministerial review to consider the options. The Home Office, Ministry of Defence and Foreign & Commonwealth Office are the members of the review group, which will present recommendations to Ministers in late September. At this stage it would not be appropriate to pre-empt the recommendations. I hope this reassures you that we are taking seriously the issues that have been raised surrounding locally employed staff working for the UK in Iraq.

(Signed) Tony McNulty, pp Meg Hillier.

The MPs response so far stand at:

Conservatives (1):
Anne Milton

Labour (15):
Celia Barlow
Hugh Bayley
Alistair Darling
Wayne David
Frank Dobson
Jim Fitzpatrick
Ian Gibson
Helen Goodman
Patricia Hewitt
Sadiq Khan
David Lammy
Chris Mole
Andrew Smith
Dr Rudi Vis
Paul Truswell (via Ian Clenshaw)

Lib Dems (4):
John Barrett
Lynn Featherstone
Don Foster
Robert Smith

If you’d like to help, try the following:

  1. Watch the video.
  2. Write to your MP. Ask them to refer your concerns to the Home Office, Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence.
  3. Let us know in the comments if you get a response.
  4. Join the list of supporters.
  5. If you think your MP might be sympathetic, visit their constituency surgery, explain the matter of the Iraqi employees, and ask if your MP would be willing to co-sponsor the meeting at Portcullis House in October.
  6. Spread the word. If you have a blog, why not help yourself to one of Unity’s lovely blog banners?
  7. Keep up with latest on the Iraqi employees’ plight with Google News Alerts.
  8. Sign the petition.

Lastly, with thanks to Chris Brooke, there’s this.

The Times, August 23: Britain ready to back down on asylum for its interpreters in Iraq
The Government has accepted privately that interpreters who face persecution and death for helping British troops in Iraq must be given sanctuary in Britain.

Posted on August 24th, 2007 at 5:12 pm

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Iraqi employees campaign latest MP responses
Iraqi employees campaign latest MP responses
Iraqi Employees: wrong place, wrong time, wrong site
   
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Iraqi employees roundup

A collection of media coverage so far of what’s happening to the Iraqi employees and their families is below the fold. (Thanks to Chris Brooke). People should feel free to cut and paste the list into their own blogs if they like.

The campaign is continuing. Please remember that this is about a wider group than the 91 interpreters that the media has largely focussed on.

If you’re able to help, here’s a few things you could do:

  1. Watch the video.
  2. Write to your MP. Ask them to refer your concerns to the Home Office, Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence.
  3. Let us know if you get a response.
  4. Join the list of supporters.
  5. Spread the word. If you have a blog, why not help yourself to one of Unity’s lovely blog banners?
  6. Sign the petition.

The responses from MPs currently look like this:

Conservatives (1):
Anne Milton

Labour (14):
Celia Barlow
Hugh Bayley
Wayne David
Frank Dobson
Jim Fitzpatrick
Ian Gibson
Helen Goodman
Patricia Hewitt
Sadiq Khan
David Lammy
Chris Mole
Andrew Smith
Dr Rudi Vis
Paul Truswell (via Ian Clenshaw)

Lib Dems (3):
John Barrett
Lynn Featherstone
Robert Smith

If you’ve received a reply from your MP, blog it, let me know and I’ll link to you from the list. Anyone not having a blog can send the reply here and I’ll reproduce it if you like.

More from Dan: Two teenage quislings.

(more…)

Posted on August 21st, 2007 at 2:01 pm