Border Agency picketed as campaign to save Babi grows

The campaign to prevent the deportation of artist Babi Badalov to Azerbaijan is rapidly picking up steam, with a militant picket of the Cardiff Border Agency today and AMs pledging their support.

Babi, who was seized yesterday when reporting to the agency office on Newport Rd (see report below), remains in Rhymney police station where he is reportedly being treated well – in contrast to his arrest by immigration henchmen yesterday, one of whom is reported to have commented “You make us sick – you’re going back to where you belong”.

Today’s picket, however, showed the strength of feeling amongst Babi’s friends and supporters that Babi belongs in the city he has made his home – the city where he has at last been able to live as an openly gay man without fear of physical or verbal attack.

Amongst the many protesters was Leanne Wood AM who is among those seeking to delay any deportation while vital new evidence is presented concerning Babi’s psychological wellbeing and the threats that have been made to him. The campaign to save Babi remain confident that Saturday’s threatened expulsion will not take place, but if necessary protesters will focus on the airline responsible for the proposed deportation, a tactic which has met with some success in recent cases.

We will keep all who are concerned informed with news of what you can do. Reports of the picket should be appearing on ITV Wales and local papers: hopefully this will reflect the barbarity of the actions of the immigration services and the unwillingness of reasonable people to accept this.

Ultimately, however, we should not need to beg favours of the Home Office to allow any person to live in the UK. As the recent radical socialist forum agreed, immigration controls are a sham which need firstly to be exposed, and secondly to be done away with altogether.

Latest: Bethan Jenkins AM has written to the Home Office opposing Babi’s deportation, since “there is an obligation on the Westminster government to defend those people who face persecution in their respective countries”.

ITV news coverage can be seen here. Click on “latest news bulletins” – the demo is about halfway through Wales Tonight, 17.9.