Salim Rambo

Salim Rambo is a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was accused by his government of being part of the country's civil war. Rambo fled to England, where he was denied political asylum.

He was scheduled to be deported to Germany on July 18, 2000. Germany had already denied him asylum status, and Rambo would then have been deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he feared he would be killed. Rambo had been denied legal counsel before his deportation, which may have been a violation of international law.

Before his deportation, Rambo contacted CAGE, an organization critical of England's deportation practices. CAGE protested at the ticket counter of British Airways, the airline which was going to carry Rambo. They also bought a ticket for one of their members to take the same flight as him.

CAGE's protests failed to cancel the flight. After the passengers boarded the plane, the CAGE member stood up and announced the flight was carrying a refugee who would be killed upon return to his country. The member refused to sit down or leave the plane.

The captain refused to fly with Rambo on the plane. After two hours, authorities removed both Rambo and the CAGE member. Salim Rambo was sent back to Harmondsworth detention centre, and has since been released on bail.

References

Salim Rambo's airplane incident was portrayed in slightly fictionalized form in Robert Bruce Newman's book "The Fountain at the Center of the World", published 2004.

External links

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4044017,00.html A "UK Guardian"] article about Salim Rambo's cancelled deportation
* [http://no-racism.net/article/119/ A web page] about Salim Rambo's cancelled deportation

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NAME=Rambo, Salim
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SHORT DESCRIPTION=Refugee and asylum activist from the Democratic Republic of Congo
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