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African playwright avoids deportation

Lydia Besong and her husband said they would be 'tortured' in Cameroon
27/01/2012 12:45 PM

FREE: Lydia Besong and her husband Bernard said they will be 'tortured' in Cameroon

AN AFRICAN playwright and her husband have been released from a UK deportation centre a week after they were due to return their native Cameroon.

Lydia and Bernard Besong, who faced deportation last Saturday (Jan 21), allegedly told officials that they would be 'tortured and beaten' if they were forced to return, reports the BBC.

On Wednesday, the Manchester-based couple were released from Yarl's Wood Detention Centre in Bedfordshire following a last-minute reprieve.

Ms Besong, who is most famous for her critically acclaimed play How I Became An Aslylum Seeker, said she would face 'persecution' in her country because of her work.

She said: "You are not allowed to criticise the government. My writing is very political and you are always under threat of persecution and detention."

The couples solicitor, Gary McIndoe, told the BBC: "We hope the substance of the risks faced by Bernard and Lydia in Cameroon can now be looked at with greater care and clarity."

Posted on: 27/01/2012 12:45 PM

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Reprieve For Lydia and Bernard Besong

Angela Linton-Abulu's picture
Angela Linton-Abulu

While I welcome the reprieve and mercy shown to the Besongs. I am once again shocked at the way people are being removed from their homes to Detentions Centres.? In the above case they were very luckly, Thanks, to a good support group and a willing lawyer. I hope they will at some stage, give a full interview with the Voice Paper about their experiences of the above and how all this came about. Also how they were treated by UK Immigration Officals. For now I hope they will pick up their lives. And put this behind them.

Fri, 2012-01-27 17:23