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Lobbying against deportation
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Friends of a Sri Lankan man from Easton, UK who is being held in a detention centre and threatened with deportation have lobbied a Bristol MP to call for his release.
More than 40 people met at the Council House on College Green to hand an 800-signature petition to Bristol West MP Stephen Williams in support of Sivarajah Suganthan.
Mr Suganthan, 26, came to the UK in 1999 at the age of 14.
His initial claim for asylum was refused in 2003, and dismissed a second time in 2004 following an appeal.
He now has two children and was settled in Bristol and volunteering at the Refugee Welcome Centre in Easton, signing on with police every month, until he was detained on December 7.
He has since been held at the Dover immigration removal centre, and had a bail hearing via video link on December 31. But his supporters claim the bail hearing was flawed.
Caroline Beatty, manager of the Refugee Welcome Centre, who was at the hearing, said Mr Suganthan had not been given a copy of the Home Office's argument; he did not have a legal representative, and that the hearing failed to take into account a number of factors. These included, she said, the fact he had children in the UK and no family in Sri Lanka.
Ms Beatty said: "Siva had no lawyer and he didn't even have the bail summary to outline the Home Office's position, so he had no idea about what they were going to say.
"They have held him in detention since December 7 because his last attempt to make a claim for asylum was refused in October."
"The bail hearing was meant to release him until they have an intention to actually remove him. To hold him until they have clear process for removal is against their own regulations.
"The bail hearing needs to be held again. We want Siva to be legally represented and for him to make a fresh claim for asylum that recognises the community support that he has."
Supporter Jo Benefield told Mr Williams: "We don't think Siva is a special case but it demonstrates how bad the system is here and shows what is happening to other people. We want another hearing and him out of detention and to make sure he is not deported.
"People would be ashamed if they knew what was happening in their name, and we don't want these things happening without us speaking out about it."
Liberal Democrat MP Mr Williams said he had already raised the matter with immigration minister Damian Green, but promised to do so again.
He said: "The fact that Mr Suganthan has children raised in the UK and he has been here for a substantial period of time should be taken into account.
"But only the minister can decide whether these factors outweigh the fact that he did not have grounds to stay in the first place.
"I will take this new information to Mr Green and I will endeavour to get the petition presented in parliament next week." (Evening Post)
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