Grizzly Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 This is a weird one. One would think that someone who has played 17 EPL games before turning 20 would not have a hard time staying in England regardless of the problems he would face returning home. Britain rallies round Sierra Leone player who fears mutilation by Guy Jackson December 19, 2007 LONDON (AFP) - A remarkable campaign of support is building in Britain behind a 19-year-old footballer who is facing deportation to his native Sierra Leone where he fears his life would be at danger from a witchcraft cult. Alhassan 'Al' Bangura has packed plenty into four years in his adopted country, establishing a promising career with Watford, a club near London who hope to return to the top-flight Premiership next season, and becoming a father this month. But Bangura is living on borrowed time, facing being sent back to the west African country he fled when he was 15 because he feared his father's links to a voodoo sect made him next in line for the men with the machetes. ADVERTISEMENT His appeal to stay in Britain was rejected last week and he must now take his case to the Court of Appeal. Refugees from Sierra Leone, which is still recovering from a brutal civil war, are not automatically eligible for asylum in Britain so each case must be individually proved. While Bangura anxiously awaits the next legal moves, his plight has gathered support far beyond a normal asylum case. There were extraordinary scenes on Saturday when Watford hosted Plymouth at the club's Vicarage Road stadium. Fans of opposition teams tend to boo their hosts, but Bangura was given a rapturous welcome from both sets of fans. When he was handed the microphone to thank the crowd, he was so choked with emotion he could hardly speak. Thousands of people have signed a petition calling for him to be allowed to stay in Britain and Watford's honorary life president, rock superstar Elton John, has written to the government urging a rethink. "We have been extremely heartened by the support he's had from the Watford fans but also from the wider footballing public," Scott Field, the club's head of media, told AFP. "We would be hugely disappointed as a club if Al loses the appeal, but our main concern is for him because he has worked so hard and he has done everything we expect from a young player." Bangura says his late father was chief of a secret society, the Soko, which practises witchcraft. His family were told that he was expected to succeed his father and would be forced to undergo an initiation ceremony involving mutilation. Watford have stopped Bangura speaking to the media because of the sensitivity of the case, but he told The Guardian newspaper what he feared his fate would be if he was delivered back into the arms of the cult. "They're not good things that they are doing; they cut off bits of their body," he said. If he were forced to return home, "it would be like someone is just taking my life away." Bangura came to Britain after first making his way from Sierra Leone to neighbouring Guinea, helped by a mysterious Frenchman he knew only as "Pierre" whom Bangura thought wanted to help his budding football career. When he arrived in London, two men tried to rape him, and he said he only realised then that he had fallen victim to a people trafficker. But he escaped their grasp and lived in a hostel while he applied for asylum. His fortunes changed when he was spotted playing amateur football by a Watford talent scout. He made his first-team debut at the tender age of 17 and went on to play 16 games in the Premiership last season although he was unable to prevent Watford from being relegated. Currently injured, the midfielder is working hard to regain his fitness and struggling with the demands of unexpected fatherhood after his Sierra Leone-born girlfriend whom he met in London gave birth this month to a son, Samal. Meanwhile, his club, lawyers and politicians are working overtime to keep Bangura in Britain. Claire Ward, a lawmaker for the ruling Labour party who represents Watford, arranged a meeting this week between Bangura's representatives and an immigration minister. She believes he has a good chance of winning an appeal. "There are a number of factors in his favour such as the age he came into the country and the constructive way he has used his time here -- he has been a role model and has taken part in youth projects and he has contributed to the British economy. "He has a strong case." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desigol Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 This is disgraceful. A promising Young Footballer is at the Mercy of crackpots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted December 28, 2007 Share Posted December 28, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Desigol This is disgraceful. A promising Young Footballer is at the Mercy of crackpots. And yet the politically correct term is still "African American" and not "Black". I'd rather be associated with a colour than that continent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soju Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Right you got it. All of Africa is a disgrace because there is a voodoo cult in Sierra Leone. Would you have written that if an English man was facing a gang that was going to chop him up if he returned to London? Would you have said British Americans should just call themselves white people? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Soju Right you got it. All of Africa is a disgrace because there is a voodoo cult in Sierra Leone. Would you have written that if an English man was facing a gang that was going to chop him up if he returned to London? Would you have said British Americans should just call themselves white people? Well, most African Americans are not African. That's why its so silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonovision Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 quote:Originally posted by amacpher Well, most African Americans are not African. That's why its so silly. Explain. Do you mean this in the same way that most Italian Americans are not Italian? Or are you proposing some other land of origin for American blacks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 quote:Originally posted by jonovision Explain. Do you mean this in the same way that most Italian Americans are not Italian? Or are you proposing some other land of origin for American blacks? Just seems like a silly term to insist people call you by if your roots in America goes back 500 years. If they are African, then so am I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soju Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Interesting point. I first thought you were going in another direction entirely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SthMelbRed Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 quote:Originally posted by amacpher Just seems like a silly term to insist people call you by if your roots in America goes back 500 years. If they are African, then so am I. I honestly don't see the relevance of this side discussion in this thread. The kid is African, from Sierra Leone. What do Black Americans have to do with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soju Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 In the west we're brainwashed to think Africa is a backwards and hopeless continent of crazy voodoo so people come up with weird knee jerk responses to hearing about any problems there. And now for something completely different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Soju In the west we're brainwashed to think Africa is a backwards and hopeless continent of crazy voodoo so people come up with weird knee jerk responses to hearing about any problems there. And now for something completely different. Well, it is hopeless to some degree. Not all of it as there are some places that are somewhat safe and comfortable (Mauritius, Seychelles and Dar es Salaam, for e.g.). But look at what's going-on now in Kenya. Everytime there is an election there, many of the wealthier people have to take long vacations outside the country for obvious reasons! There are a whopping 34 least developed countries in Africa (GNI per capita $825 or less per year [:0]). By comparison, all of the Americas (North AND South) only has 1 (Haiti). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonovision Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 Africa may be 'backwards' but the West has a large part in making it so. Never mind the types of economic control exerted by things like the IMF and the World Bank, which encourage things like the growth of cash crops (coffee, etc.) instead of sustainable, local agriculture. How about a simple stat that African nations as a whole pay more in debt servicing to the west than they receive in aid. Some countries have been held back by corrupt leaders, but others simply haven't had a chance to get a fair start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 How about the fact that they also end up paying double back to the world bank because the interest is so high, so they cant develop anything since all their cash goes to paying back debt with really high interest rates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Alex How about the fact that they also end up paying double back to the world bank because the interest is so high, so they cant develop anything since all their cash goes to paying back debt with really high interest rates. The WorldBank gives grants to Africa too. There's no interest on grants. But I'm not sure how the grants and interest on loans balances-out. Lets not portray the WorldBank as some sort of evil monster though. Both grants and loans are nice to be on the receiving-end of. If the interest on loans is what's crippling Africa, then why do they accept the loans in the first place? Unless I'm missing something, it's no more the WorldBank's fault than it is CIBC's fault when Joe Blow gets into trouble because he can't pay-off his credit-card bills. Religion and tribe-culture (closely related I might add) are the biggest culprits for Africa's problems, but of course you all knew that already... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonovision Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 When you get loans/aid/grants from a bank, you can spend it as you please. Almost all aid to Africa is tied aid. In many instances, aid from a Western country has to be spent primarily on development contractors from that Western country, so there is very little in the way of trickle down effect, which is supposed to be the way capitalism works. At this points, African countries need the loans just for cash flow. I would add a history of brutal and oppressive colonialism to the religious/tribal problems you cite. You may be right that religious and tribal conflicts are the reason for conflict, but even relatively peaceful African nations like Zambia are profoundly underdeveloped, for reasons that have everything to do with the world economic and political system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 quote:Originally posted by jonovision When you get loans/aid/grants from a bank, you can spend it as you please. Almost all aid to Africa is tied aid. In many instances, aid from a Western country has to be spent primarily on development contractors from that Western country, so there is very little in the way of trickle down effect, which is supposed to be the way capitalism works. It's true that most aid is earmarked (although I wouldn't say "almost all" -- maybe 70%), but at the same time, un-earmarked aid shouldn't be underestimated. I don't understand your point about the development contractors. Assuming those contractors do their job (help with relief & development, organize and carry-out humanitatian work, peacekeeping, study environmental issues, etc.) how would there be no trickle-down effect?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonovision Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 quote:Originally posted by amacpher It's true that most aid is earmarked (although I wouldn't say "almost all" -- maybe 70%), but at the same time, un-earmarked aid shouldn't be underestimated. I don't understand your point about the development contractors. Assuming those contractors do their job (help with relief & development, organize and carry-out humanitatian work, peacekeeping, study environmental issues, etc.) how would there be no trickle-down effect?? If development money was spent in the developing country (spent on local food instead of buying food from American farmers to give to Africans), the whole economy would have the chance for a little more action than the way it often is now. As it stands, the development industry is a Western industry that operates in the developing world, but they besides spending money ON places like Africa they could also spend money IN Africa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 quote:Originally posted by jonovision If development money was spent in the developing country (spent on local food instead of buying food from American farmers to give to Africans), the whole economy would have the chance for a little more action than the way it often is now. As it stands, the development industry is a Western industry that operates in the developing world, but they besides spending money ON places like Africa they could also spend money IN Africa. Wouldn't that be a lot more expensive? Is it even possible? Cape Verde, for example, only has a tenth of their land suitable for farming. It has almost zero natural resources and being a group of small and isolated islands imposes severe constraints. Their public debt burden was 80% of GDP a few years ago. Also 30% of cocaine enroute from South America to Europe passes through these islands. In other words, Cape Verde has everything going against it. Yet it has a stable government for 15 years now and receives the highest aid per capita in the world. Result? It’s the second-nation ever to graduate from a least developed nation group to lower-middle income group (after diamond-rich Botswana did so over 30 years ago). If foreign aid plus having stable government can get Cape Verde to these heights (it has overtaken South Africa in the human development index to become #1 in Africa), then there's hope for everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 And the final verdict was: He is allowed to stay in Britain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthAfricaOrBust Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Mogadishu is beautiful at this time of year. Now, being careful not to throw a blanket over the entire continent, but it's a dump where the value of life is nil in to many countries. It's a scary place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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