As one of the Stansted 15 activists, I was moved to read Koye Adebakin’s letter (21 June), in which he told how his partner had been on the deportation flight that our direct action stopped and was later given leave to remain in the UK after the Home Office was found not to have acted in accordance with the law.
To be reminded that the action had such impact is spiritual sustenance in these dark times. The oppressive terror prosecution of the Stansted 15 affected all our lives profoundly, but the action was the best thing I’ve ever done.
As Paulo Freire said, to stand with the oppressed is to suffer with the oppressed and fight at their side. I still believe the hostile environment can be defeated by the determined long-term organising efforts of a broad-based movement, including those affected by the policy.
The migrant justice movement was strong around the time of the Stansted action, the Grenfell Tower fire and the Windrush scandal – injustices that must be kept in the public mind. We must rekindle the powerful bonds of solidarity once more and organise as a broad-based movement.
We must also fight the state’s use of deportation as a repression tool against climate defenders. Right now, Marcus Decker is serving a two-year, seven-month prison sentence and has been issued with a deportation threat, which will permanently separate him from his partner and stepchildren.
Please sign the petition and raise your voice against this: www.change.org/p/stop-the-deportation-of-a-peaceful-climate-activist
And keep in mind Martin Luther King Jr’s declaration: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Melanie Strickland
London
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