An Iraqi journalist who has been living in Manchester for two years is facing deportation. Ghazi Ghareeb Zorab, who moved to the city as an asylum seeker, was detained earlier this week and is set to be forcibly removed from the UK.
The 42-year-old is currently at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre in London and will be put on a flight out of the UK tomorrow afternoon (July 1), according to the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) which is helping him. He claims he could be killed by authorities in the Kurdish region of Iraq if he is returned due to his past criticism of them through his work as a journalist.
However, his initial asylum claim was refused by the Home Office in June 2020 and an appeal was dismissed in April the following year, according to those helping him. A fresh asylum claim was submitted three days ago, they said.
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But speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service from the detention centre on Friday (June 30), Mr Zorab said this fresh claim has now also been refused. He is now hoping that an injunction or court order can stop the flight.
He fears that if he is forcibly returned to Kurdistan, he could be kidnapped, face persecution or be killed. He said: "This is frightening. I hope this flight can be stopped because it is terrible circumstances to be forcibly removed."
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has been urged by MPs to stop the flight scheduled for tomorrow so the fresh claim can be properly considered. The NUJ has called on the government to demonstrate its commitment to ensuring the safety and protection of journalists and not risk facilitating persecution.
Last year, Mr Zorab spoke at a demonstration in London, protesting about the visit of Masrour Barzani, the Prime Minister of the Iraqi region of Kurdistan. Mr Zorab has also spoken in Manchester at a protest outside the Iraqi Consulate.
Mr Zorab first claimed asylum in the UK at the end of 2019, according to those helping him. He has been living in Manchester since the start of 2021, he said.
Last year, he secured housing in Longsight through charity Boaz Trust which houses destitute people who have been 'failed' by the asylum system. He volunteers at an Oxfam shop in Withington and does voluntary work with Mustard Tree and Inspire in Levenshulme, including translating for refugees.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that Mr Zorab is due to be forcibly removed from the UK on a flight schedueled to Jordan from London Heathrow Airport at 5.05pm tomorrow (July 1), then onto the Iraqi Kurdistan. The Home Office said it does not routinely comment on individual cases.
A spokesperson for the Home Office said: "Each asylum claim is assessed on its individual merits and in line with the immigration rules. Only those people who both the Home Office and the courts are satisfied do not need our protection and have no legal basis to remain in the UK are ever returned."
