Dungavel Bail Victory

After a two week campaign to stop the deportation and detention of Julia Babayeva and her sons, Alex and Aziz, the family were granted a court petition to resume their asylum claim. They were released on Friday 1 October from Tinsley House, Gatwick Airport.

The Dungavel Bail fund, led by Peter Mullan and set up by Positive Action in Housing, stepped into provide a cautioner and bail funds of £500 provided by supporters in the last week. The Bail Fund's next target is to assist Aven Hung, a Chinese man held in long term detention for over two years in dungavel.

The campaign had to act quickly as the family were in danger of losing their home as the National Asylum Support Service were going to terminate their tenancy on Monday 4 October. This would have meant that they could not be released as all NASS support would then be terminated. Inside detention, the family received over 50 cards and letters.
Robina Qureshi, Director of Positive Action in Housing, the charity which led the campaign to release Julia and her children, said:
"Julia and her family are free because of the solidarity of everyone who took action to highlight her case and get her and her family back the basic human right of liberty to fight their case. We want to thank them first of all. There will be more people like Julia and we will show that solidarity again with the next case and the ones after that.
"The Home Office spent almost £5,000 needlessly detaining the Babayeva family for the past two weeks. They are wasting huge amounts of taxpayers' money on hounding refugees simply to prove the Home Secretary is getting tough. This bully boy treatment is absolutely unnecessary. In contrast, over the past three years, Gulshan threw herself into doing hundreds of hours of voluntary work. If she had been allowed by the Home Office to find work, she would have, if only to stand on her own two feet and support her kids. Yet, she tried to get as close to the world of work as possible."
"We need Julia and her sons, as friends, neighbours, workers, and as future generations to make up for Scotland's declining population - the fastest in Europe. Julia and her family were doubly persecuted, firstly by their own country, and then by ours when they claimed asylum. Scotland is complicit in persecuting its future lifeblood and that legacy will come to haunt future generations. It's time for a humane refugee policy rather than this cat and mouse game called asylum and immigration policy."
Julia and her family were released thanks to the hard work of her lawyers, Grace McGill of Wilson Terris & Co. and the many people who supported and donated towards Julia's appeal for freedom. It's because of the many individuals who came forward to express their outrage, call the family, write letters, cards and take action that Julia and her children are now free. Thank you for caring and showing your solidarity with the family. Julia, Alex and Aziz returned to Glasgow's Sighthill, their home for the past three years at 2 am on Saturday 2nd October.

But the story doesn't end there.

The family's joy at being released was hampered when they had to wait almost an hour before the concierge would hand over their house keys. When they got to their flat their front door had been broken in. Their home had been burgled and completely trashed. A television which Julia paid £5 for in the local Sunday market was stolen. Julia's personal jewellery - given to her by her late husband, who was killed by Azerbaijani soldiers for refusing to kill Armenians in the Karabach war - was stolen. Alex's prized computer given to him by the Princes Trust for computing studies at Glasgow North College was also stolen. The house smelled awful because when the immigration snatch squad left they turned off all the electrics. As a result all the food in the freezer and fridge was completely destroyed. Their flat was totally trashed. After all they have been put through, the family are devastated. Click here to read every step of the campaign including many messages of support.