OLYMPIC HOPEFUL FACES DEPORTATION

July 4, 2008 at 7:40 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

An asylum seeker “with the potential to represent Britain at the Olympics” is being kicked out of the country and being told to go back to Algeria.

Mohamad Lasladj says he faces being beaten and tortured if he returns to his homeland, which he fled as a 12-year-old.

Now his friend Iain Greenwood is starting a campaign to save him from being deported – as he thinks he could win a medal for his adopted country at the 2012 London Olympics.

 

Mohamad, 19, received a final ultimatum demanding he leave Britain last Thursday after four years of constant appeals to the Home Office to remain in Croydon.

He feels he has earned the right to stay, because he has excelled in sports and at school.

His friend Iain, a 17-year-old student from Sanderstead, agrees and is trying to “save him from a fate worse than death”.

He told the Advertiser: “Mohamad deserves to stay more than 99 per cent of the people of his age.

“He has been going to college and wants to become a pastry chef, showing that he is not a burden and wants to work hard.

“He is an amazing prospect for the British judo team but cannot be part of it as he does not have a passport and can’t travel to competitions abroad.

“With 2012 just a few years away, what would we be missing out on?”

Iain’s friendship with Mohamad dates back three years, to when he joined Croydon Judo Club.

Mohamad has never lost a bout and, as well as excelling himself, coaches youngsters there twice a week.

Mohamad, of Auckland Road, Upper Norwood, admits he spent his birthday on Tuesday crying and praying that immigration officers did not come knocking at his door.

He said: “If they send me back I’ll kill myself.

“When I was 12 I took a boat and left Algeria alone because I was being beaten and tortured by the police and the terrorists who accused me of siding with their enemies.

“I used to sell cigarettes to make money for my four sisters and mum who is paralysed – my father was unemployed, and I was vulnerable.

“I was beaten up so badly once I was lying in the road for five hours, unconscious, and was in hospital for six months.

“I can’t go back there. I’ve made a life for myself here in Croydon and I want to make my foster parents and my friends proud.”

After he left his homeland, Mohamad spent time living rough in Spain, France and Italy, before arriving in Dover aged 15.

The former Croydon College student has now almost completed a year’s course in catering at Lewisham College.

Iain said: “I consider myself patriotic and I love this country but what the Government is doing here is corrupt. They’re picking on Mohamad because he’s an easy target.

“They let violent criminals stay, but pick on him because they know he will comply with the law.”

A UK Border Agency spokeswoman confirmed that Mohamad would be escorted from the country if he does not leave voluntarily.

She said: “We only return those who the asylum decision making and independent appeals processes have found do not need international protection and who can therefore return safely.

“We consider it reasonable to expect an individual who has been found not to need protection to return to their source country.”