APPEAL

National Union of Journalists
London Freelance branch

We are asking all journalists, and everyone who is concerned with human rights, to join our campaign to stop the deportation to Kosovo of our branch member, Besim Gërguri, and his wife Luljeta, and to allow them to remain in this country.

Besim is a Kosovo Albanian journalist who contributes to both Kosovan and UK media. He and his family have been threatened by organised criminal groups in Kosovo, as a result of his journalism, and in particular because of his work in exposing illegal trafficking of refugees. He and his wife Luljeta are also in danger because allegations have been spread about family members working for the Serbian regime, and because of Luljeta's mixed ethnicity.

Since Besim and Luljeta sought refuge in the UK, his family has received death threats from vigilantes. His widowed mother, brother and other relatives have fled Kosovo as a result.

The danger to journalists in Kosovo

The NUJ London Freelance branch, with the full support of the union nationally, supports Besim's case because the UK government is putting his life in danger by refusing him asylum. It is helping to deny freedom of speech to him and all journalists in Kosovo.

The reality for journalists in Kosovo under the current UN administration is that those who work on stories such as those Besim has covered are in danger, and most deliberately practice self-censorship in order to assure their own safety.

One of those who received the same type of threat as Besim was Bekim Kastrati, an investigative journalist. He was killed in 2001, his killers have not been identified and the police investigation has made little progress.

Reports by international organisations show the scale of the problem. A survey by the Media Issues Department of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) showed that 39 per cent of journalists had been threatened in the course of their work and 7 per cent physically assaulted. No less than 70 per cent of those surveyed said that they practiced self-censorship to avoid threats and reprisals - a result that AIM, a network of Balkan journalists funded by European institutions, deemed "particularly disturbing".

Anna Di Lellio, the OSCE's Temporary Media Commissioner for Kosovo, stated last year: "Nobody can protect journalists totally; they are very exposed. The police may not be perfect, but it is the next best thing." The Institute for War and Peace Reporting concluded that the media in Kosovo was "sterile" compared to elsewhere in the Balkans, mainly due to the activities of the very type of criminal gangs who have threatened Besim.

To send Besim back to Kosovo now would obviously put his life in danger. Evidence from an academic expert was presented to the immigration adjudicator explaining why, in detail - but the adjudication did not take those points into account. The NUJ fears that Besim is being made a victim of the current hysterical drive to repatriate eastern European asylum seekers in line with government targets.

Why Besim and Luljeta should stay

Besim and his wife Luljeta left Kosovo to seek asylum in the UK in January 1998. They have both settled here, have studied here and worked here; they have made friends and become an asset to the community. Besim has worked for Channel 4, BBC digital radio, PerseptionDM, Article 19, Refugee Action and others, and is working on a voluntary project creating a web site for the Albanian community in the UK. He is a regular contributor to the Albanian-UK e-mail list, a news service for the Albanian community. He has completed an MA degree in Digital Moving Image at London Metropolitan (former Guildhall) university. Luljeta has continued studying graphic design, in which she already has a degree. Besim is a member of the NUJ London Freelance Branch and the exiled journalists group organised by the Refugees and the Media Project and the Presswise trust.

Besim lodged his asylum plea five-and-a-half years ago. It was turned down in October 2002, and on 15 May this year his appeal against that refusal was dismissed by an immigration adjudicator. At the time of writing he is preparing a further appeal against that decision.

We are asking you to join us in lobbying the Home Secretary, who has powers of discretion within the immigration rules to determine whether there are compassionate grounds in any particular case, which would warrant the Home Secretary suspending any decision to remove.

Besim and Luljeta are a positive asset to their local community; they have the 100 per cent support of the National Union of Journalists; and should be granted leave to remain in the UK on compassionate grounds.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. Write to the Home Secretary, using the model letter, which you can copy and/or amend. Send the letter to the Home Office, but PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU ALSO return it to the NUJ London Freelance Branch c/o NUJ, Headland House, 308-312 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8DP. Or by fax to 020 7278 1812.
2. Get people to sign the petition; these will also be submitted to the Home Secretary. These need to be signed BY HAND and posted back to us; e-mail petitions are not accepted at the Home Office. We hope to persuade a Member of Parliament to take all the petitions to the Home Secretary (this will be towards the end of June).
3. Ask your MP to take up the case with the Home Secretary.
4. Please let us know of any progress.