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<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left><FONT
face=Arial><FONT size=2>Leeds No Borders & <SPAN
class=709012019-23102006><FONT color=#000000><SPAN
class=964352311-24102006> </SPAN>School</FONT></SPAN> of Geography
present...<BR><BR>'Still in chains? The experience of African asylum seekers and
forced <BR>migrants in Leeds'<BR><BR>Public Meeting<BR>6-9pm (we start bang on
6pm!)<BR>Friday, 27 October<BR>Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre<BR>University of
Leeds<BR><BR>Next year, 2007, will see the commemoration of the bicentenary of
the <BR>parliamentary abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in the British
<BR>empire. But has African enslavement really ended? Leeds is host to
<BR>thousands of African people who have been forced to flee war,
<BR>persecution and poverty in their mother continent and come to Britain in
<BR>search of refuge and a better life. Yet most are living in day to day
<BR>destitution, fear of arbitrary detention and brutal deportations. Many
<BR>are trafficked as slaves, others are forced to work illegally to
<BR>survive, while work carried out by<SPAN class=829430812-18102006>
</SPAN>immigration detainees is exempted from <BR>the minumim wage rule,
benefitting the global private companies <BR>operating detention centres. Worse
still, the recent Report by HM <BR>Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers exposed the
shocking conditions inside <BR>Britain's private-run detention centres with
African women rape <BR>survivors routinely locked up for months while fighting
efforts to <BR>deport them back to Sierra Leone, Uganda and the
Congo.<BR><BR>Why do Africans come to Britain to claim asylum? What is happening
in <BR>Africa? How are Africans treated when they arrive here? Do the legacies
<BR>of enslavement and colonialism continue today? How is Britain still
<BR>profiting<SPAN class=829430812-18102006> </SPAN>from the exploitation of
African people in the 21st century? <BR>This public meeting aims to explore the
issues routinely hidden by the <BR>mass media and politicians, and create much
needed public awareness on <BR>the appalling system of asylum and immigration in
the UK - and the <BR>particular experience<SPAN class=829430812-18102006>
</SPAN>of African people - in the run up to the slavery <BR>abolition hype in
2007.<BR><BR>Speakers and performances so far include:<BR><BR>Theatre under Fire
(TUF), exiled Zimbabwean<SPAN class=709012019-23102006><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT
color=#000000> group</FONT> </FONT></SPAN><BR>Kofi Mawuli Klu, Global
Justice Forum for Reparations<BR>Emma Ginn, National Coalition of
Anti-deportation Campaigns (NCADC)<BR>Steve Cohen, author 'Detention is
Freedom!'<BR><SPAN class=709012019-23102006>George Mwangi & Baba
Bari, ex-Colnbrook detainees and hunger
strikers </SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left><FONT
size=+0><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>Open mic for Africans to share their
experiences<BR><BR>Plus films, stalls, campaigning information<BR><BR>Organised
by Leeds No Borders and School of Geography<BR>For more details, please contact
Stuart Hodkinson <BR>(</FONT></FONT></FONT><A style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"
href="http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/g.fcgi/mail/new?CUSTOMERNO=24821873&t=de656548264.1161173292.6a9f463d&to=s.n.hodkinson%40leeds.ac.uk"><FONT
face=Arial color=#244e7e size=2>s.n.hodkinson@leeds.ac.uk</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial size=2>) or Leeds No Borders on 07748010691<BR><BR>How to get to the
Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre: <BR></FONT><A style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline"
href="http://service.gmx.net/de/cgi/derefer?DEST=http%3A%2F%2Ftldynamic.leeds.ac.uk%2Fcampusmap%2Fdetail.asp%3FID%3D193"
target=_blank><FONT face=Arial color=#244e7e
size=2>http://tldynamic.leeds.ac.uk/campusmap/detail.asp?ID=193</FONT></A><BR></DIV>
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