Former Guantanamo guard deported by UK immigration
September 04 2009 by Rebekah Nahai
Prison guard held by UK immigration
UK immigration officials refused entry to a former Guantanamo Bay guard yesterday at Heathrow with intentions to deport him back to the US this morning.
Terry Holdbrooks had travelled to the UK to speak to a support group for former inmates but was detained at the airport. Officials said he was refused entry because he is unemployed and living in rented property in the US, raising suspicions he intended to move to the UK permanently.
The UK Border Agency said in a statement last night: "Visitors to the UK need to meet the requirements of our immigration rules.
"For example, they must provide financial evidence that they can support themselves for the duration of the trip without recourse to public funds or employment, and satisfy the entry clearance officer that they intend to leave the UK at the end of the visit."
After Holdbrooks disembarked the plane, officials searched his bags, refused him access to his luggage, and asked questions such as “do you have a girlfriend?” and “do you rent?”.
"I will never come back to Britain after this," he told the Observer last night.
Holdbrooks had arranged to participate in a Friday event by Reprieve, a prisoners’ rights organisation, which is suing the UK government over its role in mistreatment of Guantanamo prisoners.
Reprieve director Clive Owen-Smith said Holdbrook’s UK visit was for a “clearly appropriate purpose”. He called UK immigration officials to protest the deportation.
"I said this would not look good, as we were in the middle of litigation against the UK government, and this would look like vindictiveness,” Owen-Smith said.
Holdbrooks worked as a Guantanamo guard in 2003 and 2004 and openly criticises the harmful and sometimes “sadistic” treatment of detainees.
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