Kazembe hopes to stay!

A CAMPAIGN highlighted by the Chronicle for immigration-seeking Jonathan Kazembe to remain in Glossop has gone to Westminster.

It was a story that touched the hearts of everyone in Glossop, particularly among members of St Luke’s Church, who held a peace march for Jonathan through the town.

As the stories of Jonathan’s help for voluntary organisations grew, so did the number of people wanting him to stay in the UK.

And this week, High Peak MP Tom Levitt handed a 5,000-name petition to immigration minister Phil Woolas in support of Jonathan’s campaign to stay in Glossop.

Jonathan fled the Congo after he bravely tried to stop government and rebel forces going into schools to recruit boy soldiers.

His country has had many years of civil war, in which thousands of people have died, and although one day Jonathan would like to return, it is not now safe for him to do so.

For the last few years he has been a registered asylum seeker.

Mr Levitt told the Chronicle: “I wanted the minister to know that Jonathan has become a very valuable member of society in Glossop.

“I have seen his volunteering work with older people at first hand.

“He even helped me out in the organisation of my day to celebrate Africa, which I held last year.”

Mr Levitt told the minister that Jonathan was living within the rules imposed on asylum seekers, but had huge local support, as the petition showed.

“He is a young man who has now been here a long time,” the MP said.

“The situation in his part of Congo is worse than ever today and for these reasons I think it would be unreasonable to send him back there.”

An appeal against refusal of full asylum status has been lodged for several years, and Jonathan’s case is being treated as an ‘archive case’, likely to be decided within the next 12 months.

“Obviously, Phil Woolas could not make a decision there and then, nor comment on the case, but I felt he was genuinely sympathetic when we spoke about Jonathan,” said Mr Levitt.

Jonathan has been involved with people of all ages since arriving in Glossop.

He has visited Glossopdale Community College telling students about the people and the cultures of the Congo.

He is also a valuable part of the volunteering team at Bradbury Community House, taking elderly and disabled people shopping in Glossop.