Month: April 2007

TURKEY DENOUNCES GRISLY MURDERS, CHRISTIANS DECRY ‘WITCH HUNT’

Turkish Press
April 19 2007

A Turkish man walks through Malatya. Turkey has condemned the gruesome
murder of three people at a Christian publishing house, as church
leaders warned of a "witch hunt" against their tiny minority in this
largely Muslim nation.

(AFP/File)

Turkey on Thursday condemned the gruesome murder of three people at a
Christian publishing house, as church leaders warned of a "witch hunt"
against their tiny minority in this largely Muslim nation.

Police detained 10 people over Wednesday’s attack in this conservative
eastern city in which three people, among them a German, were tied
to chairs and had their throats slit.

"This is an attack against Turkey’s stability, peace and tradition
of tolerance," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said in Ankara, as he
voiced concern for the country’s image abroad.

"There have been similar attacks in the past… We will certainly
take stricter measures," he added.

Turkey is under pressure to guarantee the protection and freedom of
non-Muslim minorities as part of its efforts to join the European
Union.

The Zivre (Summit) publishing house, which distributes bibles and
publishes Christian literature, had previously been the target of
protests by nationalists, media reports said.

In remarks to the Italian daily La Stampa, the papal envoy to Turkey
linked the killings to upcoming presidential elections, noting the
"presence of well-known fanatical, ultra-nationalist groups."

"Events like this have already happened during electoral campaigns,"
Monsignor Antonio Lucibello said.

Pope Benedict XVI made a landmark visit to Turkey in November — his
first to a Muslim country — during which he stressed that respect
for religious freedom must be a criterion for EU membership.

Ambassadors from the 27 EU member countries met in Istanbul on
Thursday, after which the envoy from Germany, which currently holds
the rotating EU presidency urged Ankara to take measures to protect
religious freedoms.

"We see the murders as an attack not only against individuals,
but also against the principles of freedom and tolerance," German
Ambassador Eckhart Cuntz said.

Turkish newspapers said all those arrested at the scene were carrying
copies of a letter that read: "We did it for our country. They are
trying to take our country away, take our religion away."

Protestant leaders here spoke of a growing intolerance towards
Christians, which they said was being fuelled by politicians and
the media.

"Today in Turkey, there is a missionary hunt, just like the witch
hunts of medieval times," Ihsan Ozbek, a leader of the Alliance of
Protestant Churches in Turkey, said.

"Turkey is facing dangers and threats unprecedented in its history.

The fact is that Turkey has become a place of unprecedented intolerance
and rejection," he said.

Speaking to reporters in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, European
Parliament member Joost Lagendijk said the killings would send Europe
a negative message.

"Europe will perceive the killings to mean that those who attempt to
seek converts to other faiths in Turkey will face a similar fate,"
Lagendijk said. "It is very important for the government to appeal
for the acceptance of different religions and ethnic backgrounds."

The dead were identified as German Tilman Geske and Turkish nationals
Ugur Yuksel and Necati Aydin, the pastor of Malatya’s 30-strong
Protestant community.

Proselytizing is not banned but generally viewed with suspicion in
Turkey, whose population is 99 percent Muslim; small Greek Othodox,
Catholic, Armenian and Jewish communities are concentrated mainly
in Istanbul.

The Protestant community consists of some 3,200 people, Ozbek said.

In February 2006, Italian Catholic priest Andrea Santoro was shot
dead as he prayed in his church in the northern city of Trabzon. A
teenager was convicted of the murder and jailed for nearly 19 years.

In January, journalist Hrant Dink, a prominent member of Turkey’s
Armenian community, was gunned down in an Istanbul street. A
17-year-old, detained along with 11 other suspected ultra-nationalists,
confessed to the killing.

ARMENIAN HOLOCAUST WILL BE NOTED
Lisa Leinberger

The Spokesman Review, WA
April 19 2007

St. Gregorios Syrian Orthodox Church of India, 2803 N. Lincoln St.,
will observe Armenian Holocaust Day on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

The event will include a lecture from James Waller, a professor at
Whitworth College who has done extensive studies of genocide.

During World War I, the Ottoman Empire began to kill off Armenians,
Syrians, Assyrian Christians, Greeks and Maronites.

A potluck dinner will follow the speech.

For more information, call the church office at 325-6432.

AZERBAIJAN PREFERS TO FACE ANY UEFA SANCTIONS THAN PLAY WITH ARMENIAN FOOTBALL TEAM IN BAKU AND YEREVAN

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
April 19 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku/ Trend , corr. I. Alizadeh/ Rafig Abbasov, Chief
of the Press-Service of the Azerbaijan Youth and Sports Ministry,
has stated today that Azerbaijan prefers to face any UEFA (United
European Football Federation) sanctions than to play with the Armenian
National Football Team in Baku and Yerevan.

He said that the Azerbaijani party could not guarantee the security
to the Armenian National Team, if Armenian football-players appear
on the field of the Tofig Bahramov Stadium.

The representative of the Azerbaijani Ministry said that Azerbaijan was
ready to play with Armenian football-players on any neutral field. "We
have proposed Armenians to hold the both football matches on football
fields of Ukraine, Sweden, and brought it to the attention of UEFA. If
the Armenian party will insist on the matches in Baku and Yerevan,
then we shall demand to hold the play in Khankandi, but under the
organization and security guaranteeing by the Azerbaijan party,"
noted Mr. Abbasov.

Mr. Abbasov also said that in any case the Azerbaijani party would
not give its consent on holding the forthcoming matches in Baku and
Yerevan. At the same time, Azerbaijan will not be scared by any
sanctions imposed on Azerbaijan and the national football, which
might follow then, since there is Asisn Footballs Cup, and all other
sanctions would be of a temporary nature.

According to him, Armenia, following its traditions, uses any possible
incident in its selfish ends. "Therefore, they are seeking to play
in Baku", added Mr. Abbasov.

Notably, in accordance with the rules of Europe Cup Qualifications
2008, the National Football Teams of the disputing conflict parties
are to hold the matches between each other first in Baku and then
in Yerevan. Due to Azerbaijan’s repudiating to play with Armenians
in Baku and Yerevan, the final decision on the place where the two
forthcoming football matches are to be played will be made by the
European Superior Football Organization – UEFA in June, 2007.

THE EIGHT STAGES OF GENOCIDE
By Gregory H. Stanton

Chomedey News, Canada
April 19 2007

EDITORIAL

April should be a month of reflection for humanity on the atrocities
committed throughout our history. We should all reflect on the Armenian
Genocide, commemorated April 24, and on the Holocaust Yom Hashoa,
commemorated April 15.

When Hitler was asked about what will the rest of the world do about
his ‘final solution’ (his attempt to exterminate the Jews) he replied
that it will be forgotten, like the Armenian Genocide.

History has shown that all genocides have something in common. All
start with classification and end by denial, stage seven which is
extermination…

As long as nothing is done to cut a genocide off as early as possible,
at the first stage, humanity will have more genocides to commemorate…

It is imperative to know the signs of these stages that lead to the
extermination of our fellow human beings.

1. CLASSIFICATION:

All cultures have categories to distinguish people into "us and them"
by ethnicity, race, religion, or nationality: German and Jew, Hutu
and Tutsi. Bipolar societies that lack mixed categories, such as
Rwanda and Burundi, are the most likely to have genocide. The main
preventive measure at this early stage is to develop universalistic
institutions that transcend ethnic or racial divisions, that actively
promote tolerance and understanding, and that promote classifications
that transcend the divisions. The Catholic church could have played
this role in Rwanda, had it not been riven by the same ethnic cleavages
as Rwandan society. Promotion of a common language in countries like
Tanzania or Cote d’Ivoire has also promoted transcendent national
identity. This search for common ground is vital to early prevention
of genocide.

2. SYMBOLIZATION:

We give names or other symbols to the classifications. We name people
"Jews" or "Gypsies", or distinguish them by colors or dress; and
apply them to members of groups. Classification and symbolization are
universally human and do not necessarily result in genocide unless they
lead to the next stage, dehumanization. When combined with hatred,
symbols may be forced upon unwilling members of pariah groups: the
yellow star for Jews under Nazi rule, the blue scarf for people from
the Eastern Zone in Khmer Rouge Cambodia.

To combat symbolization, hate symbols can be legally forbidden
(swastikas) as can hate speech. Group marking like gang clothing or
tribal scarring can be outlawed, as well. The problem is that legal
limitations will fail if unsupported by popular cultural enforcement.

Though Hutu and Tutsi were forbidden words in Burundi until the
1980’s, code-words replaced them. If widely supported, however,
denial of symbolization can be powerful, as it was in Bulgaria,
when many non-Jews chose to wear the yellow star, depriving it of
its significance as a Nazi symbol for Jews. According to legend in
Denmark, the Nazis did not introduce the yellow star because they
knew even the King would wear it.

3. DEHUMANIZATION:

One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are
equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases. Dehumanization
overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder.

At this stage, hate propaganda in print and on hate radios is used to
vilify the victim group. In combating this dehumanization, incitement
to genocide should not be confused with protected speech. Genocidal
societies lack constitutional protection for countervailing speech,
and should be treated differently than in democracies. Hate radio
stations should be shut down, and hate propaganda banned. Hate crimes
and atrocities should be promptly punished.

4. ORGANIZATION:

Genocide is always organized, usually by the state, though sometimes
informally (Hindu mobs led by local RSS militants) or by terrorist
groups. Special army units or militias are often trained and armed.

Plans are made for genocidal killings.

To combat this stage, membership in these militias should be
outlawed. Their leaders should be denied visas for foreign travel.

The U.N. should impose arms embargoes on governments and citizens of
countries involved in genocidal massacres, and create commissions to
investigate violations, as was done in post-genocide Rwanda.

5. POLARIZATION:

Extremists drive the groups apart. Hate groups broadcast polarizing
propaganda. Laws may forbid intermarriage or social interaction.

Extremist terrorism targets moderates, intimidating and silencing the
center. Prevention may mean security protection for moderate leaders or
assistance to human rights groups. Assets of extremists may be seized,
and visas for international travel denied to them. Coups d’¢etat by
extremists should be opposed by international sanctions.

6. PREPARATION:

Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or
religious identity. Death lists are drawn up. Members of victim groups
are forced to wear identifying symbols. They are often segregated
into ghettoes, forced into concentration camps, or confined to a
famine-struck region and starved.

At this stage, a Genocide Alert must be called. If the political will
of the U.S., NATO, and the U.N. Security Council can be mobilized,
armed international intervention should be prepared, or heavy
assistance to the victim group in preparing for its self-defense.

Otherwise, at least humanitarian assistance should be organized by
the U.N. and private relief groups for the inevitable tide of refugees.

7. EXTERMINATION:

Extermination begins, and quickly becomes the mass killing legally
called "genocide." It is "extermination" to the killers because they
do not believe their victims to be fully human. When it is sponsored
by the state, the armed forces often work with militias to do the
killing. Sometimes the genocide results in revenge killings by groups
against each other, creating the downward whirlpool-like cycle of
bilateral genocide (as in Burundi).

At this stage, only rapid and overwhelming armed intervention can
stop genocide. Real safe areas or refugee escape corridors should be
established with heavily armed international protection. The U.N.

needs a Standing High Readiness Brigade or a permanent rapid reaction
force, to intervene quickly when the U.N. Security Council calls it.

For larger interventions, a multilateral force authorized by the U.N.,
led by NATO or a regional military power, should intervene. If the
U.N. will not intervene directly, militarily powerful nations should
provide the airlift, equipment, and financial means necessary for
regional states to intervene with U.N. authorization. It is time to
recognize that the law of humanitarian intervention transcends the
interests of nation-states.

8. DENIAL:

Denial is the eighth stage that always follows a genocide. It is
among the surest indicators of further genocidal massacres. The
perpetrators of genocide dig up the mass graves, burn the bodies,
try to cover up the evidence and intimidate the witnesses. They deny
that they committed any crimes, and often blame what happened on the
victims. They block investigations of the crimes, and continue to
govern until driven from power by force, when they flee into exile.

There they remain with impunity, like Pol Pot or Idi Amin, unless
they are captured and a tribunal is established to try them.

The best response to denial is punishment by an international
tribunal or national courts. There the evidence can be heard, and the
perpetrators punished. Tribunals like the Yugoslav, Rwanda, or Sierra
Leone Tribunals, an international tribunal to try the Khmer Rouge
in Cambodia, and ultimately the International Criminal Court must be
created. They may not deter the worst genocidal killers. But with the
political will to arrest and prosecute them, some mass murderers may
be brought to justice.

cleTCN150808.html

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NANSEN AWARD WINNER KANAI USES PRIZE TO HELP IN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN

Reuters, UK
April 19 2007

Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this
article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are
the author’s alone.

GENEVA, April 19 (UNHCR) – Japanese optometrist Akio Kanai has used
all the prize money that came with his Nansen Refugee Award to assist
refugees and internally displaced in Azerbaijan and Armenia, countries
where he has been helping victims on both sides of the conflict for
almost a decade.

The UNHCR gives the annual award, consisting of a medal and a
US$100,000 monetary prize, to a person or group for outstanding
services in supporting refugee causes. Dr. Kanai was awarded last
year’s Nansen Refugee Award for providing free eye testing and
spectacles to almost 110,000 people over more than two decades.

Since receiving the award last June, Dr. Kanai has used the prize
money to fund humanitarian aid for people who became refugees
or internally displaced persons (IDP) during the conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan. The funds were evenly divided between aid in
Armenia and Azerbaijan, two countries where he and his devoted team
of specialists have been volunteering work for almost a decade to
benefit victims on each side of the conflict.

Dr Kanai and his Fuji Optical company had already donated vision
services and appliances to thousands of displaced people in
Azerbaijan. In his latest act of generosity, in addition to other
support, he helped UNHCR to fund a water supply project implemented
with the Norwegian Refugee Council in the IDP settlements at Yeni
Khojevend and Tug. The project would not have been implemented
otherwise.

The project, which began in October and ended in January, entailed
drilling a new artesian well and rehabilitating water distribution
systems in the settlements, which house some 2,000 people originally
from Khojevend in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Many fled
their homes in the early 1990s.

UNHCR worked closely with experts from Azerbaijan’s ministry of
ecology and resources on the project. After tenders were issued, an
experienced company was selected to conduct the successful drilling,
which followed failed attempts by other parties to find potable
water. The new well is estimated to produce six tonnes of water per
hour, more than enough to meet UNHCR standards.

Inhabitants of the two settlements expressed their gratitude for the
valuable assistance. For the past six years, they had had to pay for
water supplies brought by vehicle from other villages.

Fuji Optical is expected to conduct another Vision Aid Mission
to Azerbaijan in June, when it will be testing the eyes of IDPs,
and UNHCR hopes to bring Dr. Kanai to Yeni Khojevend settlement to
officially inaugurate the new well.

In neighbouring Armenia, the money donated by Dr Kanai enabled UNHCR to
fund a project aimed at helping 2,167 vulnerable refugees and former
refugees in Yerevan, Kotayk, Aragatsotn, Armavir and Gegharkunik
provinces starting from October.

These Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan – the bulk of them in Yerevan
and Kotayk – had been left out of earlier assistance projects handled
by implementing partner Mission Armenia because of a lack of funds.

Mission Armenia used some US$30,000 of Dr. Kanai’s gift to provide
supplemental food, furniture and hygiene goods, pay for electricity
bills, provide vocational training and organise community events.

Mission Armenia and UNHCR staff donated used clothes and provided
entertainment at Christmas.

The agency used the balance to construct a cottage for an extremely
vulnerable family of six, including two handicapped children, who
originated from Azerbaijan. They had been living for almost two
decades in a dilapidated shipping container in Ararat province close
to neighbouring Turkey.

In order to start the project, which began last October and wrapped
up earlier this year, Mission Armenia consulted refugees about their
requirements. This detailed needs assessment focused on refugees who
had been left out of prior assistance projects.

The project was designed and implemented by Mission Armenia in
close cooperation with UNHCR and community representatives. Mission
Armenia provided all administrative and human resources as well as
transportation needed to implement and monitor the project.

The model established in this pilot project will enable UNHCR to
design and implement in future years a countrywide programme addressing
social and economic needs of the most vulnerable refugees.

UNHCR hopes to continue assistance to extremely vulnerable refugees
in 2008 and 2009.

"The project implemented with the funds donated by Dr. Kanai should
be seen as a pilot and model for UNHCR’s strategies and activities
in the years to come," said the report on the project.

VYMPELCOME BECOMES 100% OWNER OF ARMENTEL

Arka News Agency, Armenia
April 19 2007

YEREVAN, April 19. /ARKA/. Russian Vympelcom (Beeline trade mark)
has bought 10% of ArmenTel’s stakes from Armenian government for EUR
38.6mln, RIA Novosti says referring to the Russian operator’s report.

After buying the state-owned 10% Vympelcom became the owner of 100%
of ArmenTel’s shares. The amount paid for 10% made one-ninth of the
sum paid for 90% bought in November 2006.

In addition, Vympelcom will pay 10% of ArmenTel’s not distributed
net profit for a period between 90% and 10% acquisition.

Vypmelcom bought 90% form Greek Hellenic Telecommunications
Organization (OTE) for EUR 341.9mln in November 2006 and assumed
commitments worth 40 million.

One of the tender’s conditions was renunciation of monopoly in Armenian
telecommunication market.

ArmenTel enjoys monopoly on stationary telecommunication and internet
services as well as one of hem country’s two mobile operators (GSM
900 and CDMA standards).

ArmenTel had some 608.5hnd stationary and 452 mobile telecommunication
subscribers by late 2006.

SERIOUS ECONOMIC PROGRESS RECORDEED IN ARMENIA

Arka News Agency, Armenia
April 19 2007

YEREVAN, April 19. /ARKA/. RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan believes
that serious progress has been recorded in Armenia’s economy.

Speaking at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna,
he said that it is for the seventh year that Armenia has recorded
two-digit economic growth, 3% inflation and increase in exports,
foreign investments and external reserves.

According to Oskanyan, these macroeconomic achievements allow the
country to start dealing with such problems as poverty reduction,
unemployment and population’s low incomes.

"Another serious problem we must deal with is to fill the gap between
urban and rural areas," Oskanyan said.

CHRISTIANITY UNDER ATTACK: CHRISTIANS SLAUGHTERED IN MUSLIM-DOMINATED TURKEY
By Judi McLeod

Canada Free Press, Canada
April 19 2007

Violence against Christians continues to claim innocent lives
worldwide.

Turkey’s tiny Christian minority is under attack. In the latest spate
of violence, persons unknown tied up three people at a publishing house
that distributes Bibles in Turkey then slit their throats on the same
day that the so-called "multimedia manifesto" of Virginia Tech mass
murderer Cho Seung Hui was televised with the 23-year-old Virginia
student staring into the camera and spewing anti-Christian rhetoric.

The killings in Turkey occurred in the City of Malatya, in central
Turkey. Malayta, the hometown of Mehmet Ali Agca, the gunman who
tried to assassinate Pope John Paul 11 in 1981, is notorious as a
hotbed of Turkish nationalism.

Malatya Gov. Ibrahim Dasoz confirmed that two of the victims at the
Zirve publishing house were found already dead and the third died
after being rushed to hospital. All three had their throats cut and
their hands and legs were bound.

Desoz said police detained four suspects and were investigating
whether another man who suffered head injuries when he jumped from
the window of the publisher’s office may have been involved in the
attack. He was reported undergoing surgery for his injuries."

One of the victims was Turkish, another was German, but the nationality
of the third person killed could not be confirmed.

Zirve employees recently had been threatened. "We know that they have
been receiving some threats," Zirve’s general manager Hamza Ozant said,
but could not say who made the threats.

Nationalists who accuse it of proselytizing in the Muslim dominated
country had targeted the publishing house.

Christians make up less than 1 percent of Turkey’s 70 million people
with Christians increasingly becoming targets.

Public outrage resulted when in February of 2006 a teenager fatally
shot a Catholic priest as he prayed in his church. Two more Catholic
priests were attacked within months.

Early in 2007, a gunman killed Armenian Christian editor Hrant Dink.

In November the Vatican worried about the safety of Pope Benedict XV1
on an official Turkish visit, after he had made comments in a speech
that Muslims said insulted them. The Pope, who refused to cancel the
trip, was greeted with nonviolent protests.

Canada Free Press founding editor Judi McLeod is an award-winning
journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has
appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck and
The Rant. Judi can be reached at: [email protected].

AZERBAIJANI FM: ARMENIA CAN NOT POSSIBLY JOIN REGIONAL PROJECTS UNLESS IT WITHDRAWS FROM AZERBAIJANI LANDS

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 19 2007

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov made speech at the
meeting of the foreign ministers of Black Sea Economic Cooperation
Organization in Belgrade, Khazar Ibrahim, spokesman for Foreign
Ministry told the APA.

He said minister Mammadyarov touched upon different issues and
commented on the development of the organization and new regional
projects.

Touching upon the regional cooperation, Azerbaijani minister stressed
the importance of this issue and said Azerbaijan is interested in
this cooperation. Elmar Mammadyarov stated Armenia can not possibly
participate in regional projects and Azerbaijani will not cooperate
with this country unless Armenia withdraws its troops from Azerbaijani
territories and Azerbaijani IDPs returning to their native lands
is ensured.

Elmar Mammadyarov had bilateral meetings in the framework of the
visit. He had negotiations with Foreign Ministers of Greece and
Romania, US representative, his Russian and Turkish counterparts
Sergey Lavrov and Abdulla Gul.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ASYLUM STRUGGLE REPORTER DEPORTED
By David Thomson

This Is Lancashire, UK
April 19 2007

Comment
A FOREIGN journalist who settled in Bury after fleeing her native
Armenia following death threats has lost her fight to remain in the UK.

Gina Khatcharyan, her husband Vahan and five-year-old daughter Elena,
who attended a local primary school, were put on an Armenian-bound
plane by Home Office officials last Friday.

The 30-year-old television reporter had arrived in Britain in 2003
and claimed asylum.

She had apparently witnessed ballot rigging during local elections in
Armenia and received death threats when she informed the authorities.

Fearing for her life and the safety of her husband and daughter,
Gina sought asylum in the UK.

The family lived for some time in Cateaton Street, Bury, before
moving to Salford last year. Her daughter was a pupil at Heap Bridge
Primary school.

Gina was a member of the Bury-based Castaways group which meets
regularly at the town’s Mosses Centre to provide support and social
activities for local refugees and asylum seekers.

Earlier this year, a Castaways Campaign was launched to try to persuade
the Government to grant a family amnesty to asylum seekers and their
children. The last one was granted in October, 2000.

Sue Arnall, who is attached to the campaign, said: "As far as I am
aware, Gina lived in Bury until last July before moving to Salford.

"I have known her for 18 months and she is a very bubbly, lovely
and glamorous person. She would come to our Castaway group to meet
friends."

She had been unaware that Gina was facing deportation. "She never
asked me to get involved in her campaign or to intervene in any way
in her immigration situation.

"But Gina rang one of our Castaways members on Tuesday of last week,
saying she and her family had been picked up during the early hours
of the previous day. Their street in Salford had been cordoned off.

They were then taken to a detention centre.

"I spoke to her on Friday when she was in the holding room at Heathrow
Airport and she was very distressed.

"Fellow journalists had raised money to get a human rights lawyer.

But Gina was refused access to a fax machine."

Prior to boarding the plane last Friday, the National Union of
Journalists had attempted an eleventh-hour intervention but were
unable to prevent the deportation going ahead.

It is understood that the Home Office felt the risks to Gina and her
family were not sufficient to allow her to remain in the UK.

However, there are conflicting reports as to the whereabouts of
the journalist.

Sue believes that Gina landed in Armenia and, despite fears, was not
arrested at the airport and has since gone underground.

But Jenny Lennox, a Manchester-based full time official of the National
Union of Journalists, understands that Gina has been allowed to settle
safely in Russia.

In the meantime, however, Sue says that Gina’s case reinforces the
aims and objectives of the Castaways Campaign in pressing for a family
amnesty for asylum seekers and their children.

She stressed: "There are hundreds of children living here and going
to Bury schools who are in the exact same situation.

"Children must not be used as pawns like this and must be allowed to
remain here."