"THIS IS a sad and inhuman story of my family. We are the Ozbay family. In our country, Turkey, we were subjected to abuse and fled to Northern Cyprus.
«We are a Kurdish family and In Cyprus the police and soldiers beat my mother and father and put them in prison. When they took my mother, my brother was who only nine was crying too much. The Turkish soldiers beat him on his legs.
"We finally managed to escape to England. We have been here for three years and now the Home Office want to send us back to Cyprus. We have no house, no money no fiends and we are very afraid. Is It right to treat people this way? Is it fair? Please help us if you can, we are desperate people."
Ali Ozbay, 15 year old Kurdish refugee I have been involved in anti-deportation campaigning for a very long time but I was still moved to tears hearing the testimony of three young boys at a recent public meeting in support of the Ozbay family.
They talked of how they and their family were tortured, beaten and abused by the Turkish police. It was clear that remembering these outrages was and is a painful proCacc.
The Ozbays are Alevi Kurds from Turkey who were subject to brutal persecution by the Turkish regime. They fled to Northern Cyprus thinking things would be better there. Unfortunately the area is under Turkish control and their nightmare continued.
They fled to London 3 years ago and have become settled here. Now the Home Office is threatening to send them back to Northern Cyprus.
The family is Huseyin, Hanim, Ali and Vedi (15 year-old twins) and Semih who is twelve. When they came to London none of them sopke any English but now the boys are confident enough to talk about their case in public and to translate for their parents.
Hanim's sister's son was shot in January 1995 and two years before her brother's son was shot by Turkish police. Hussein's two nephews were killed in 1992 and his brother Hassan was so badly tortured that he is unadle to use nis arm His sister was beaten with truncheons several years ago and her arm broken. The arm then turned gangrenous and had to be amputated. Their only crime is that they are Kurds.
Hanim stated "The police and the gendarmerie in Turkey were persecuting us. They took my husband away for 15-20 days and they used to throw him back, his face and his feet would be swollen from beatings.
"l've been tortured a lot too. The same torture went on in Cyprus. The nolice would come and take my husband away all the time. I would rather kill myself than go back to those two places."
But the Home Office have so far remained unmoved. Local MP Jeremy Corbyn hit the nail on the head when he said that he wished Jack Straw had heard the boys speak - even he could surely not have gone on arguing that this is all an act.
The campaign has massive support from the pupils and teachers at their school who are very worried about what will happen if they have to go back to Cyprus.
The campaign is opening the eyes of many young people to the brutal realities of British immigration rules. Calls at the meeting for an end to all immigration controls received warm applause from an audience, most of whom were not at all regular meeting-goers.
Anti-deportation campaigns have often drawn in layers of people that other political activity by passes. While their involvement stems from their relationship with those under threat they are often open to wider political debate.
The left needs to put more resources into this area of work - both to win the campaigns which tell the story of so much human misery and to be able to talk to this broader audience. Contact the campaign c/o St Mary's Church, Ashley Rd. London N19 3AD. Tel 0171 263 2380 Currently the Campaign for Free Education is the only national campaign of any significance that has tried to launch such a fight, but it has so far failed to reach the wide layers of the student movement that are needed.
The Campaign for Free Education must actively see its role as uniting the whole of the student left, encouraging all sections to play a role in its leadership in a non-sectarian and democratic way.
All attacks on students have been phased in, in a way designed be to increase them.
We must fight for the idea that education is a right and an essential part of welfare provision, rather than a service that individuals pay for.
If these changes are introduced it will be a step towards bringing the same Thatcherite logic into Further Education, Schools, Hospitals, Benefits and throughout the Wel fare state.
Everyone who wants to defend free education and the welfare state should support and actively build the demonstration on 26 November.
Assemble London WC1 March to a rally at Conway Hall, red Lion Square, Holborn
EDITOI
6.00pm WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 29 ULU, Malet St