Walthamstow means Welcome
Hussein must stay!

Hussein, his mother and siblings fled Syria in 2015, after his father was arrested for his opposition to the brutal Assad regime. His father died at the hands of the Syrian authorities. Amnesty International published a detailed report about the killing of thousands of people in custody. Amnesty’s research shows that murder, torture, enforced disappearance and extermination carried out since 2011 have been perpetrated as part of an attack against the civilian population. 

Read the full report here https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde24/5415/2017/en/

After his fathers’ death the Syrian authorities tried to force Hussein into the army to take part in the mass slaughter of his people. Hussein and his family had no option but to flee. They escaped to Turkey and tried to survive there for 5 years. But Turkey is not safe for refugees. Turkey has repeatedly been forcibly returning refugees to Syria and Afghanistan. 

Driven by hope and the belief that the UK would protect their Human Rights the family continued the dangerous journey full of unbearable hardship finally arriving in the UK in June 2022. Their joy of having found safety was short-lived. This month Hussein received a letter from the Home Office threatening Hussein with forced removal to Rwanda and offering “voluntary” return to Syria. Hussein can not return to Syria.

Syrian intelligence officers have subjected women, children and men returning to Syria to unlawful or arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment including rape and sexual violence, and enforced disappearance. Based on these findings, Amnesty International concludes that no part of Syria is safe for returnees to go back to, and people who have left Syria since the beginning of the conflict are at real risk of suffering persecution upon return.

Separating Hussein from his mother and siblings and forcing him to survive on his own in Rwanda, thousands of miles away is an unfathomable cruelty and would break his and his mothers heart.

Walthamstow says Hussein must stay! 

The Walthamstow Hussein must stay campaign group is supported by Care 4 Calais, Waltham Forest Stand up to Racism, Walthamstow Migrant Centre, WARN Walthamstow Anti Raids Network, CLR Jennifer Whilby and more.