KEEP OUR FRIEND VICTOR MUJAKACHI SAFE

We are delighted that Victor was released from immigration detention and is back in Sheffield.

Of course, he is also immensely relieved that this nightmare is over - for now at least. The Home Office have only given him a temporary reprieve of three months. We are therefore keeping the petition open, until we can be absolutely sure that Victor is safe.

ASSIST is a small Sheffield charity, so we have been absolutely bowled over by the response to our petition - more than 70,000 of you have signed from all parts of the country and beyond. We have tried to keep up with the many comments and messages people have sent. Lots and lots of you speak with such warmth of Victor and about how he has touched the lives of so many through his community work. Many of you are also expressing your shock and outrage at the Home Office plans to deport anybody back to Zimbabwe, given the arrests and ill-treatment of anybody voicing their opposition to the government.

We at ASSIST hope that our efforts to keep Victor safe can feed into wider campaigning efforts to make the Home Office drop its callous plans to deport people, many of whom have put down roots in UK communities. If you would like to get involved, please watch this space and/or find out what you can do in your locality to protect Zimbabwean asylum seekers from deportation. One thing you can definitely do is to contact your MP and ask them to demand the Home Office drops their plans immediately.

To find out more about ASSIST Sheffield and how you can support the work of our charity, please have a look at our website: :www.assistsheffield.org.uk Please also look for us on Facebook and Twitter @ASSISTSheffield

We fear for his safety should he be deported, as he has been outspoken critic of successive Zimbabwean governments and there has been brutal crackdowns on anti-government protesters in the country.

Please help us call on the Home Office not to deport any Zimbabweans!

Here in Sheffield Victor has distinguished himself for his voluntary work in the community. He is a well respected volunteer at ASSIST Sheffield - helping asylum seekers and is part of church groups. He’s been in the UK for the past 16 years and has made many friends here.

In 2008 a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Zimbabwean authorities, following critical comments he made online about the re-election of Robert Mugabe. His application for asylum in the UK was turned down, as were two further asylum applications in the following years.

In spite of the uncertainties around his personal situation Victor directed his energy and considerable business acumen from his professional background in corporate banking towards helping others.

He is a board member of FURD (Football Unites Racism Divides) and Sheffield Conversation Club, and volunteers for several other organisations, including HARC (Homeless and Rootless at Christmas), the Sunday Centre, City of Sanctuary, and others. In 2017 he was awarded the Nether Edge and Sheffield Community Star Award in 2017, in addition to the South Yorkshire High Sheriff’s Award in 2013.

Victor is an indispensable volunteer at ASSIST Sheffield. I work with him and I know his absence will be most dramatically felt at our emergency night shelter where he has been the team leader for the shelter for the past eight years. The shelter has been a lifeline for several hundred asylum seekers who would otherwise have had to sleep rough on the streets of our city.  Without Victor, there is a real risk the operations of the night shelter will be severely disrupted in the short to medium term, putting at risk emergency accommodation for dozens of asylum seekers who currently depend on it.

We are in shock and disbelief that any UK government would even consider deporting anybody to Zimbabwe. We ask for no asylum seekers to be deported to Zimbabwe.

Please sign this petition and call on the Home Office to keep Victor safe from deportation.