Family in mosque raid wins reprieve.
Byline: Campbell DochertyAn Afghan family facing deportation after being removed from a Midland mosque in a 'military-style' police raid won a temporary reprieve last night.
Solicitors acting on behalf of Farid and Feriba Ahmadi sought leave to apply for a judicial review of the decision to take them back to Germany after they were seized from a mosque in Lye, near Stourbridge, where they had sought sanctuary.
Last night the Home Office confirmed the family would not be on a flight from Heathrow to Germany this morning as a result of the legal application.
Meanwhile, several arrests were made outside the police station in Lye last night as about 50 Muslim youths argued with officers and banged on the station door in protest over the raid.
Tensions had been running high as a result of the actions by West Midlands Police and the Immigration Service and senior police officers met community leaders at the mosque last night to hear demands for an apology.
Campaigners admitted they did not know when Mr and Mrs Ahmadi would be reunited with their daughter, Hadia, aged six, and son, Seera, aged four, who were taken into hiding by by family friend and school governor Soraya Walton.
She had agreed to care for the children after the Ahmadis asked for them to be spared the ordeal of the forcible eviction.
Mr Ahmadi, aged 33, and his wife, 24, were taken to a detention centre at Heathrow airport following the raid on the Ghausia Jamia Mosque, which was carried out shortly before 6am yesterday.
They had been taking refuge in the building for 28 days after immigration officials launched deportation proceedings.
Officers, some in riot gear and using a battering ram, forced their way through a locked rear door adjoining the main prayer area after Muslim elders finished their early morning worship.
West Midlands Chief Constable Sir Edward Crew defended the police tactics and said no offence had been intended to the Muslim community.
'Forced entry was used and two officers had the appropriate clothing, but they could not take off their footwear,' he said.
'No offence to the mosque was intended and the officers covered their boots with cloth.'
But Muslim community leaders condemned the raid on the mosque as 'inhumane and insensitive'.
Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, leader of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, said: 'I don't think the police would have gone in wearing riot gear if these people had been taking refuge in a church or chapel.
'If they wanted to arrest these people they could have done so in a simple, quiet way, after seeking the co-operation of the mosque committee and imam.'
Shahid Malik, a Labour Party activist and former member of the Commission for Racial Equality, likened the arrests to 'cracking a nut with a sledgehammer'.
'It seems like heavy-handed policing which is completely insensitive and will do nothing to ease fears of Muslims after September 11.'
The Ahmadis fled Afghanistan after claiming they were persecuted under the Taliban regime. They arrived in Britain from Germany nearly two years ago in the back of a lorry, but lost their claim for asylum because they breached the terms of the Dublin Convention, which states that asylum seekers have to remain in the EU state they first arrived in while their applications are processed.
The Government allocated them a home in Lye and Mr and Mrs Ahmadi enrolled on courses at a local college, while their children attended Wollescote Primary School.
Last night, a Home Office spokesman said: 'We can confirm the family have sought leave to move for a judicial review against the decision to move them to Germany and removal directions have been suspended as a result of this.'
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| Publication: | The Birmingham Post (England) |
|---|---|
| Geographic Code: | 4EUGE |
| Date: | Jul 26, 2002 |
| Words: | 625 |
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