Mr Titouche claims to have arriv

							                             Zahir, Hayat, Oulicia and Alicia Titouche


Liam Byrne MP
Minister of State for Immigration at the Home Office
House of Commons,
London SW1A 0AA.



Dear Mr Byrne,

Zahir Titouche T1096060/2, Hayat Titouche T1114271
Nesrine Oulicia Titouche (d.o.b. 3rd Dec 2001), Alicia Titouche (d.o.b 19th Nov 2000)

I am writing to you to express my concern and support for the Titouche family.

Mr Titouche is a member of the Kabyle people who are Berber and the family are part of a
Christian minority in Algeria. Mr Titouche took part in a demonstration requesting official
recognition of the Berber language, during which he was arrested. He was imprisoned and
tortured for 23 days.

Following a failed assassination attempt Mr Titouche fled Algeria and arrived in the United
Kingdom on 11th June 2004 and on 17th June 2004 he applied for asylum. His application was
refused on 25th June 2004 and his subsequent appeal was dismissed on 25th January, 2005. His
appeal to the Immigration Appeal Tribunal was dismissed on 5th December, 2005. On 6th
March, 2006 Mr Titouche was refused permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal and on 28 th
June 2006 his second direct action to the Court of Appeal was also refused.

Mr Titouche speaks little English and was poorly represented during his first court appearance.
He has a psychiatrist's report which outlines the traumatic effects on him of torture and
separation.

The police harassed the family in Algeria and they are in possession of numerous summonses
which have been issued against the father. During Zaire’s absence in the UK his family stayed
with relatives but Mrs Hayat Titouche was taken into custody and questioned.

Hayat fled Algeria and arrived in the United Kingdom on 18th September, 2005 with their two
children (now aged 5 and 6yrs). Hayat applied for asylum on 20th September 2005 but her case
is dependent upon that of her husband's and her application was refused on 14th November,
2005. A subsequent appeal was dismissed on 11th January, 2006. Hayat has been traumatised
by her experiences and is receiving psychiatric treatment.
The Amnesty International report confirms that Algeria has 'secret' prisons, that torture of
prisoners occurs and people disappear. Both Hayat and Zaire’s families have been visited recently
by the police in Algeria and disturbingly the Algerian authorities are in possession of
photographs of the children in their British school uniforms. The family are living in fear of
being deported.

This case is clearly one where clemency needs to be exercised. The Titouche family is well
known to many in the Bradford area. They have been poorly treated and their deportation
would represent a gross miscarriage of justice.

Thank you very much for your help with this and I look forward to hearing from you


Yours sincerely