An asylum seeker says she was sent to hospital as a result of being moved to five detention centres in the space of six days. Christine Josee Mbuta Kibikula, 47, fled the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2017 due to her opposition to the government and lived in Swansea until 2020 when she was moved to Roath, Cardiff, by the National Asylum Support Service.
Ms Kibikula fled the Democratic Republic of Congo as the country is politically turbulent, with certain regions recognised as "unstable" by the UK Government's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. People living there who oppose the government are particularly at risk and Ms Kibikula worked in a prison where many of the country's political prisoners were held. After she opposed the poor treatment of the political prisoners and refused to carry out inhumane acts, Ms Kibikula was helped to escape to the UK by an agent from MONUSCO, which is a United Nations peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Ms Kibikula is a mother of two and has said she is at high risk if she is deported. She explained that her twenty-year-old son has been moved to a secret location as the secret service police wanted to arrest him due to his connection to his mother. Her youngest son is nine and still lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo with her sister and Ms Kibikula said if she returns she would face imprisonment.
Whilst living in Swansea and Cardiff, Ms Kibikula has volunteered at the Congolese Development Project and volunteers at her local church in Cardiff. At 11.45am on Tuesday, August 30, Ms Kibikula reported to the immigration department at Cardiff Bay Police Station and was detained. That day she said she was sent to Manchester Short Term Holding Facility where she was held for two days before being sent to Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre in Middlesex on Thursday, September 1.
Ms Kibikula said she was then taken to Gatwick Immigration Removal Centre on Friday, September 2 and was there for only one day before she was taken back to Manchester at around 1am on Saturday, September 3 to return to the holding facility she had originally been held in. In the short time that she was in Gatwick detention centre, Ms Kibikula claims it was very busy, unclean and had "a very dirty toilet". Ms Kibikula spent three days in Manchester and was then moved to Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre in County Durham on Monday, September 5, where she is now being held.
According to Home Office guidance, detention must only be used "sparingly, and for the shortest period necessary". It is expected that individuals in detention are held in safe and decent conditions, have access to 24-hour primary healthcare, and that centres have procedures to safeguard vulnerable people.
The 47-year-old claims that the long journeys and uncertainty has caused her to feel unwell and due to persistent vomiting and emotional trauma she said she is "very, very sick" and has not ate or slept in three days. Ms Kibikula said she was sent to a hospital in Durham due to her ill health and has now received medication but wants to go back to her home in Cardiff as "here [in the detention centre], there are no people to help me." Ms Kibikula's solicitor has processed a new claim for her asylum and she is asking for temporary release due to her current health condition.
Commenting on Ms Kibikula's case, a spokesperson from Welsh Refugee Council said: "We are saddened to hear of Christine’s tragic experience. This is a contemptuous way to treat people who have come to this country seeking sanctuary. Christine’s story continues to demonstrate the lack of joined up thinking from the Home Office, where people are treated as statistics, rather than humans. Sadly, we see many people treated similarly.
"The Home Office needs urgent reform. The backlogs of cases are creating real life tragedies, such as Christine’s. We hope she makes a safe recovery, and if she needs any further support, we are here to help her.”
The Home Office is unable to routinely comment on individual cases.
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