March 31, 2017 – Activists are occupying DIBP offices in Canberra and Sydney in solidarity with Saeed who is in imminent risk of deportation to danger. The activists seek assurance from the minister that Saeed’s case will be urgently reviewed and that he will be granted protection.
Saeed was taken by road in a white van with 6 Border Force guards and a doctor from a detention centre in Melbourne to Villawood in Sydney last Friday in preparation for another deportation attempt. Activists in Melbourne had prevented his transfer to the airport previously. Saeed remains in a weak condition after being on a hunger strike for 3 weeks. He was sedated and force fed against his will in a suburban Melbourne hospital in preparation for deportation last week.
Community members are maintaining an around the clock watch at the gates of Villawood Immigration Detention Centre ready to alert the public should any attempt be made to transfer Saeed to the airport for deportation.
#FreeSaeed solidarity events have been held throughout the country over the past two weeks and will continue until the government commits to stop deportations of vulnerable asylum seekers to danger.
Saeed remains under threat of imminent deportation to danger of persecution and torture.
Saeed says ‘Please do not deport me, I am a human being too’.