An asylum seeker who made Swansea his home and volunteered throughout the pandemic, leading to him being honoured by the National Lottery for his efforts, was plucked by the authorities from the city and placed in detention
Richard Tshimanga Nomba, aged 50, had been asked to report to a police station on a regular basis while his asylum application was being looked, but during one of the routine visits on August 8, he was detained, before being taken from the police station by law enforcement to Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre in Middlesex near Heathrow Airport.
It was the second time he'd faced detention, despite making a big impact on people's lives in Swansea - and, despite having since been released, he still fears it could happen again at any time. He was allowed to leave detention because he said he was a victim of torture in prison in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and is considered vulnerable due to his ill health which he believed had been made worse since he was detained. While in detention, Mr Nomba said he was depressed, anxious and suffered from nightmares and flashbacks of torture. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
Read more : Woman taken to hospital after being moved five times to different immigration detention centres
Mr Nomba fled the Democratic of Congo in 2018 after he escaped jail where he said was held as a political prisoner, sexually abused by prison officers and denied access to a lawyer. While in prison for six weeks, Mr Nomba said he was raped on three separate occasions by prison officers and tortured daily.
He said it was in 2018 that he was arrested in Kinshasa and jailed after he demonstrated against the government after it pushed back the presidential election. Joseph Kabila, who was president at the time, had been in power since 2001 and Mr Nomba said: "There was no progress, especially with the social condition of Congolese people and no safety. There was so many rebel groups and the country was not safe anymore and we didn't want him in power."
Mr Nomba said there were demonstrations happening across the country and that many people he knew were killed while taking part. In the last demonstration he attended, which he said was a peaceful protest, Mr Nomba's cousin, Rossy Tshimanga Mukendi, was shot by a police officer. Mr Nomba was filming on his phone at the time and it was this recording that led to his arrest. After hiding in a church from police following the shooting, Mr Nomba decided to leave and go home to his wife and children.
"At night, when we saw it was more safe I decided to go back home. So when I arrived home, that was a mistake I made. They had spied on me, and ten minutes after I was explaining to my wife what had happened, I heard the door break. It was the police. I was arrested from there and until I left the country I never saw my wife again." Mr Nomba's two children were sleeping at the time, and he said he did not get to say goodbye and had not seen his wife and children in person since. His wife was also arrested at the scene and she later fled to South Africa with their children.
He said he escaped jail after his family bribed a prison warden and he travelled across the country on a fisherman's boat to an airport from which he fled to the UK. He arrived in Swansea in June, 2018.
After his arrival he was originally sent to Cardiff for three weeks until accommodation was found for him in Swansea. As soon as he moved to Swansea, Mr Nomba started volunteering at Swansea's Oxfam shop and later at the Congolese Development Project, as well as at Swansea City of Sanctuary. Speaking about his voluntary work in the city, he said: "If they needed help I was there," adding: "I don't want to see someone struggling. It is my passion to help others."
He said he had made the city his home. "Swansea is my second home, I love it. The beautiful mountains and sea." And his contributions to the local community during the pandemic were recognised by the National Lottery and he was honoured for delivering parcels of food and cleaning products to those in need during lockdown. Mr Nomba told the National Lottery: "Volunteering has helped me a lot too, especially during this pandemic. It’s good to get out of the house and feel like I can be useful to people who have been through a lot."
Ever since his arrival in the UK he has been applying for asylum. Mr Nomba received legal aid from a solicitors based in Newport, but his claim for asylum was rejected by the court and he was unable to appeal. The solicitors were no longer able to provide free support and Mr Nomba could not afford to pay them to keep working on the case.
After being taken from his home in Brynhyfryd on June 21 by immigration law enforcement and sent to a detention centre at Gatwick Airport. He was then told he would receive free legal support from Duncan Lewis Solicitors and was released on Friday, June 24, while his case was reassessed. Then, on August 8, he found himself detained once more.
Mr Nomba still fears that he could be detained again at any time and deported to The Democratic Republic of Congo. The country is unsafe in many areas and politically turbulent and Mr Nomba believes he would be jailed as soon as he arrived. "As soon as you land in the airport, they will just take you straight to custody", said Mr Nomba.
The UK Government advises against all travel to certain regions of the country and opponents and critics of the Democratic Republic of Congo are particularly at risk. Ms Greenlees of Stand Up to Racism said: "Opposition of the government in the Democratic Republic of Congo is not welcome, he is likely to face heavy punishment and he would not be free to speak up for justice and democracy."
On his time at Harmondsworth Detention Centre, Mr Nomba said: "Some people were becoming very, very crazy there. When I was on my second week I couldn't take it anymore and I was in hospital for five days, my blood pressure went all the way up to 189 because of the stress I was going through."
"You don't feel free. Some had been to prison before and said prison is better. You go to hospital, explain your situation and they only give you paracetamol." Regarding the food on offer, he added: "You are eating something that is not your choice. In the morning, for breakfast, we have bread and milk. Every morning, same thing. Sometimes for lunch, you have dry rice with a piece of chicken or something like that. It depends. The food was not nice."
Mr Nomba said he sometimes shared a room with up to three people in the detention centre. "It was not really, really safe because the conditions we were living in - you can't rest properly," he said. "At night you have teenage boys running in the corridor, making noise and smoking. All those things were not good for my health. Everyday they bring people in, it was so busy you can't believe."
On the people he met while he was detained, he said: "We normally shared stories about people who had been detained, they were very sad. You keep someone there who has got a family, who has got a wife here. They are taking a long time just to treat a case so it is painful. Some people had been there for more than three months. I left them there."
He said he struggled to see the doctor at the detention centre who could assess if he was eligible to be released due to his dwindling mental and physical health. He claimed that as far as he was aware there was only one doctor who saw just two people a day and he was number forty two in the queue.
He said that, eventually, a nurse managed to fast track him to see the doctor as his blood pressure would not go down despite medication and he was later released while his lawyer made a fresh claim for his asylum as he was considered at risk. However, Mr Nomba said he no longer had accommodation to go back to in Swansea as his housing officer had been told that the Home Office had deported him to the Democratic Republic of Congo and had already packed up his stuff. Needing appropriate accommodation in Swansea in order for the Home Office to release him, a trustee at the Congolese Development Project in Swansea helped him find temporary accommodation.
Kokisa Buka, chair of the Congolese Development charity which helped Mr Nomba with his case said: "The government needs to support people like Richard. He is hardworking, he is already integrated in the community and I think he can contribute to the UK. If he can just have papers, he can contribute to the UK and get a job. For us, in the community, we support him because we need him to stay here."
Alice Greenlees, a Stand Up to Racism volunteer who campaigned for Mr Nomba's release, said: "I think it's particularly cruel and hard for him because he was released and had expected that his case would be allowed to proceed through the legal channels and, suddenly, he was arrested again. To me, that's not a fair and democratic process and it's particularly hard on the individual."
"It’s brilliant that Richard has been released and we are so pleased to have him back in Swansea. Richard was fortunate that his friends and supporters in Swansea knew of an excellent solicitor who was able to refresh and resubmit Richard’s claim for asylum - that made a real difference. The petition and the publicity were also a key part of the campaign - letting people know about Richard’s situation and what people could do to help was so important. That also helped to keep his spirits up.
"Swansea is a City of Sanctuary and has a brilliant track record of welcoming and supporting asylum seekers and refugees. In the face of this country’s cruel and vindictive immigration system we should be proud to stand up and say ‘Refugees are welcome here!'"
A spokesperson from the Home Office said: “We do not recognise the description of Heathrow Immigration Removal Centre. We take the welfare of people in our care extremely seriously and we have a range of safeguards in place, including round the clock access to healthcare professionals for those in detention.
“Detention is an important part of the immigration system in order to help remove people who are here illegally, encourage compliance and to protect the public.”
Mr Nomba added: "The future is a little bit difficult as I am still going through this situation. It is very, very hard at the moment. According to my release papers, they write that I can be detained at any time. It is painful, it could be anytime."
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