You have my full support for your excellent and highly principled initiative in protesting against the detention of nine cleaners at SOAS and I am dismayed that as many of five of them may already have been deported. You are acting in the very best traditions of student protest against the victimisation of the downtrodden and the oppressed. I am in Dallas, Texas, briefly with Viva Palestina US helping to raise $10 million in aid for the besieged population of Gaza but I am following developments at SOAS closely. I will be writing today to the Home Secretary to add my voice to those urging the release of the SOAS detainees and to Professor Paul Webley, the Director and Principal of SOAS. I wish you every success in achieving your demands.
With my best wishes,
George Galloway MP
It seems that a significant effort should also be made to contact and hold to account ISS - who in the end are much more responsible for this than SOAS. Will try and find a relevant email/phone number for people to contact...
ReplyDeleteMessage of Support from King's College London UCU
ReplyDeleteUCU at King's College London supports the action and demands of the SOAS students in occupation over the immigration raid on Friday 12th June. All universities should be a safe working and learning environment for both staff and students. The treatment of these migrant workers in a university goes against the values of equality and academic freedom that should be enshrined in these institutions.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHave found two pretty relevant contacts at ISS - the company that employed the cleaners and called in immigration - , who we should send our messages of protest to:
ReplyDelete1. Henrik Andersen, CEO for ISS UK (see http://www.issworld.com/press/news_stories/Pages/HenrikAndersennewCEOinISSintheUK.aspx)
henrik.andersen@uk.issworld.com
2. Perhaps even better:
Stephen Workman, ISS Corporate Responsibility Officer (see http://www.uk.issworld.com/news/press_releases/Pages/ISS_UK_Launch_CR_Review.aspx)
steve.workman@uk.issworld.com
Send them messages of protest - BUT HEY - LETS NOT GO DOWN THE ROAD OF HATEMAIL..that would just be completely unproductive and give them inroads to lable to protesters as fanatics etc. I'll try and draft a sample letter and will post it.