Report of the delegation to Oona King, MP

Oona King, MP who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Great Lakes Region and Genocide Prevention, met with a delegation of over forty women from All African Women’s Group.  Organised by Black Women’s Rape Action Project and Women Against Rape, rape survivors from Burundi, Congo Brazzaville, Congo DRC, Kenya and Uganda were able to speak powerfully, movingly and with great courage about what forced them to seek asylum in Britain.  Every woman said that the arms trade was one of the crucial issues.  A woman from Uganda said “For anyone to arrive here is so hard, it’s a lot of struggle to get here.  The British government has a policy, since 1981, of backing Museveni.  There’d be no raping and killings in the DRC, Rwanda or any of these places if this support did not happen.  We wouldn’t have to come here to seek asylum.  But nobody condemns Museveni.  Why are we not entitled to asylum then? ”

Oona King was clearly shocked by the compelling description of what women, children and men suffer in the region.  In response to many questions, including what the APPG and in particular what she as a Black woman MP could do on behalf of African women, she agreed to:

• Arrange for the APPG to investigate the racist and sexist treatment women experienced, such as being disproportionately refused asylum from specific African countries;

• Arrange for delegation of women to put their concerns about the high rate of refusals from courts in the North East of England, the racist comments made by Adjudicators at Appeal Hearings, the shortage of immigration lawyers and the withdrawal of entitlement to legal aid to Harriet Harman MP, the Solicitor General.

• Write personal letters to each woman’s Member of Parliament, saying that “their case is deserving of proper attention.”

She ended by saying, “You deserve to have much better representation and I will make sure your voices are heard.”  We promised to hold her to her commitments.

Cristel and Sara
Email: bwrap@dircon.co.uk 

Letter to All Party Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes Region & Genocide Prevention: 
Rape survivors from Burundi, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda facing destitution, detention & forced return
and Case Histories of women from Congo Brazzaville & DRC

More about The All African Women's Group on www.allwomencount.net 

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