SHADOW IMMIGRATION minister Bell Ribeiro-Addy has criticised the treatment of Osime Brown, a young autistic man currently awaiting a final appeal against a Home Office deportation decision.

Osime Brown, 21, who has been clinically diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome with the mental capacity of a 5-6 year old, currently resides in Stocken Prison, Leicestershire, where he is serving a five year sentence. 

Last minute appeal

His deportation was set for December 3, until a last-minute appeal was lodged. That appeal has since been dismissed pending a final appeal with the Upper Tribunal, which is expected to be heard this month. 

Ribeiro-Addy said: “The government’s callous treatment of Osime Brown, a young man with severe learning disabilities, proves once again that the Hostile Environment shows no mercy, even to extremely vulnerable young people.

“Our Byzantine immigration system is confusing enough for anyone trying to navigate them and still more so for someone with learning disabilities. The government must seriously reflect on the mental health implications of expanding its detention and deportation policies.

‘Horror and confusion’

She added: “I can only imagine the horror and confusion Osime must have faced coming up against the inflexible and inhumane structures of the current system.”

Brown came to the UK aged 3 to join his mother Joan Fairclough, a qualified mental health nurse, and his three older siblings. 

He has been living in social care since 2014, and official court papers report that he has committed a series of offences since the age of 16 which “culminated in a sentence of five years’ detention in a young offenders’ institution for robbery, attempted robbery and perverting the course of justice,” in August 2018. 

In a joint statement, Osime’s older siblings Semoy Thompson, Yonique and Camile Strachan, said: “Our brother is a loving caring person however he fell in with the wrong crowd as he is easily manipulated and has ended up where he is now. We would be distraught if our brother was to be sent back to a country that he knows nothing about.”

Ribeiro-Addy said: “Whether it’s stripping away the rights of refugee children, failing in its duty of care to child slavery victims, or deporting young people with learning difficulties, we’ve seen again and again that this Home Office is willing to go one step further than its predecessors to appear tough on immigration.”

‘Breaching people’s rights’

The Streatham MP has taken a leading role in challenging the government’s deportation policy. 

She addressed protestors at an anti-charter flights demonstration at Windrush Square on Saturday.

“In its determination to drive ahead with charter flight deportations, the Home Office is breaching people’s basic rights again and again. Charter flight deportations lack due process, disregard deportee safety and ignore the right to a family life” she said. 

“As this government ramps up its inhumane immigration policies, so does our determination to stop it and end the hostile environment.”