Manchester backing for asylum seeker
Friends in Manchester are supporting asylum seeker Nestor Sylla
Manchester Quakers and members of the human rights organisation Refugee and Asylum Seeker Participatory Action Research (RAPAR) gathered recently outside Dallas Court, the Home Office Reporting Centre, in support of asylum seeker Nestor Sylla.
Manchester Quaker Margaret Gregory told the Friend that Nestor Sylla has been in the UK for twelve years and is involved in helping many people. However, he is caught up in inconsistent Home Office bureaucracy and each time he has to report to Dallas Court the fear is that he may be detained.
Margaret Gregory explained that Nestor Sylla fled Guinea after he was attacked and his sister murdered in 2006.
He got to know Elizabeth Coleman, a Manchester Friend, and has gradually made friends and done a great deal to help other people in Manchester, including caring for Elizabeth Coleman while she has been ill.
He was making an application for leave to remain under the legacy arrangements in 2012, but his solicitor failed to send the papers in time and since then Nestor has been caught in ‘a whirlpool of bureaucracy’, with the Home Office making a number of errors.
In 2017, Nestor Sylla was unlawfully detained at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre at Gatwick Airport.
Nestor Sylla came safely out of Dallas Court on 16 August. He has to report there again next month.
***
Correction (12 September 2018): In the story ‘Manchester backing for asylum seeker’ on page 4 (31 August) it should have been made clear that members of staff at Brook House Detention Centre were suspended because of claims of abuse and assaults against asylum seekers. This was not because of Nestor Sylla’s illegal detention and his case was not referred to in the BBC Panorama programme.
You need to login to read subscriber-only content and/or comment on articles.