See How I Land

"Come, talk, laugh and break isolation"

- Vahni Capildeo ("Filda's Workshop")

This book collects new writing arising from the Oxford Poets & Refugees project - an initiative of the Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre and the Oxford-based charity Asylum Welcome.

In See How I Land the intersection of arts and human rights is vividly demonstrated… It asks us to think again about what it is that we, as humans, value, what it is that we share, and what it is that we desire to protect and to celebrate: freedom, safety, family, and love.

– Shami Chakrabarti

Asylum seekers and poets are both searching. Refugees are trying to find a haven for themselves and their families, writers a home for stories, dreams and ideas… When Oxford Brookes brings these two worlds together they give us ‘outsiders’ a place where all our words, and all our lives, are valued.

– Benjamin Zephaniah

I'll be writing about it soon.

Weblog

As any fule no, a blog is a weblog, and it started out by being a list of sites visited. As an antidote to Blytonia, here are some of the more interesting items I've come across in the past few days.

Jim Murdoch ponders the dearth of modern nursery rhymes.

Lorna Watts is refused the loan of scissors by a north London librarian: They are sharp, you might stab me.

Anton Vowl suggests what Gordon Brown should have answered to that question from Andrew Marr.

Belle Waring has an impassioned post on Crooked Timber about sexual harassment in the academy, with a sideswipe at "look but don't touch" Kealey from Buckingham. Mary Beard isn't so bothered. Is Terence Kealey as misunderstood as Juvenal? (Or as contemporary? I'm inclined to add.) Yes, it may have been satire, but it's pretty lame satire.

In a post entitled Because Men are Stupid and Shallow, That's Why, Jeff Fecke demonstrates that some men are capable of seeing the person beyond the breasts. He challenges the Canadian Rethink Breast Cancer campaign (aimed at raising men's awareness by concentrating on breasts):

the thing about breasts that I generally like the most is that they’re usually attached to living, breathing women, and I like women, because, you know, they’re people. Many of them are people I like, and consider friends. All of them are worth far more than the breasts attached to them; that should go without saying.

Ben Goldacre considers the AIDS-denialist film House of Numbers, which was shown at Cambridge Film Festival and (temporarily) hoodwinked rationalist sceptic Caspar Melville. Goldacre starts a lively discussion about how to deal with moonbats - exposure, ridicule, debate? Or by ignoring them? (There's no widely accepted noun for that, but ignoral might suit.) This comment in particular struck me:

The best advice my late Dad ever gave me was; “Never argue with an idiot, because people watching lose track of which is which”. The older I get, the more I appreciate his words. Several times a week, I’m given cause to think of them.

Teach the debate is what creationists say.

Jack of Kent argues why English libel law is a danger and makes a proposal for reform.

Shuggy has a go at performative theists aiming for the class prize.

no man ever forsook his father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter and took up his cross in order to support the nuclear family, preserve the work ethic, reduce crime in the neighbourhood or foster charitable giving as an important ingredient in civil society.

Terry Glavin doesn't know how to handle the human tide, except that the handling should be humane. Who could disagree?

Right, I'm off to Oxford now for the launch of See How I Land.

Deji

What would you do if you were a political refugee and discovered that the country you thought was safe was anything but - in fact habitually refused asylum to people from your country then rounded up the unsuccessful applicants into camps before shipping them off back home as fast as it could? Would you trust them to deal with your case fairly, or would you weigh your chances and keep your head down, hoping to get by with help from friends, hoping even for an amnesty?

I know what I would do. And that's what Deji did too. I first came across Deji as a participant in the Exiled Writers project at Oxford Brookes University. He was a popular member of the group. The anthology we all contributed to is due to be published later this year, and there will be a reading from it tomorrow night in Oxford, as part of Refugee Week. Someone else will have to read Deji's poem though, because he was arrested in April and has been held in Oakington since.

In the Looking-glass Home Office world, failing to claim asylum on entry is evidence not of fear of the certainty of being sent back, but of lack of good cause to be here in the first place. He's from Nigeria. The Home Office almost always sends back Nigerian refugees whether they're fleeing political or religious persecution, gangsters, or FGM, even if they can prove those threats are real. You can read the Home Office briefing note on Nigeria here (pdf file). Deji's fear of persecution is real. For failing to toe the party line he has narrowly avoided an assassination attempt; his mother and small son have been kidnapped in an attempt to coerce him. A brother who tried to help him had his flat ransacked. Deji has been vocally critical of the ruling PDP, and they have agents everywhere, determined to stamp out opposition, utterly ruthless.

He is due to be deported tomorrow evening. Campaigners are trying to arrange a Judicial Review; meanwhile you can help by appealing to the Home Secretary to halt the deportation, and to the CEO of Virgin Atlantic appealing to them not to participate in the forcible removal. It will only take a moment. The National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns features Deji's case on its homepage today, with links to model letters specific to Deji's case, and the addresses to send them. Do it now.

Update
Sad to report that Deji was deported on Thursday. Right until the last minute his solicitor was prepared to go to the High Court with an application for JR, but the critical proof didn't arrive in time from the Nigerian solicitor. It appears that pressure had been put on him not to expedite Deji's claim. Now who could have done that?

At least Deji managed to get away from the airport. There is a lot more to say about all this.