Asylum seeker and pandemic volunteer released by Home Office
- Published
Richard Nomba was taken from his Swansea home to Brook House removal centre
An asylum seeker who helped the vulnerable during the pandemic has been released from an immigration centre.
Richard Nomba, who fled the Democratic Republic of Congo, was taken from his Swansea home and detained at Brook House at Gatwick Airport on Tuesday.
Mr Nomba, who arrived in Swansea in 2018, said he was released on Friday evening to continue his appeal.
The Home Office said detentions were after careful consideration and people were held "no longer than necessary".
Mr Nomba said he fled DR Congo after escaping from custody.
During his imprisonment, he said he was denied access to a lawyer.
The 50-year old, who has been living in Brynhyfryd, Swansea, said he had been held as he was a political opponent to the DR Congo government and that he fears being locked up again if he is returned.
Prior to his release on Friday, he said: "I have been detained since Tuesday. They took me to Bridgend and then I went to Bedford.
"This morning they transferred me to Gatwick and to Brook House detention centre."
He said he was being kept in a room alone because he has high blood pressure and that the centre was noisy.
"You can hear the noise people are making," he said. "It is not good at all."
Mr Nomba, whose wife is in South Africa with the rest of his family, said he was expecting to be interviewed by officials next week.
The office of his MP, Swansea East's Carolyn Harris, confirmed it had been working with Mr Nomba on his asylum case since 2021.
"My office had made urgent representations to all appropriate bodies," Ms Harris said. "We are currently awaiting responses... [and] are doing all we can to look at this, as a matter of urgency".
Swansea Stand Up To Racism pointed out that now is Refugee Week, described online as "for people who have sought safety in the UK to share their experiences".
It said a friend of Mr Nomba's called it "cruel irony" the Home Office detained him this week.
Mr Nomba, was featured on the National Lottery Community Fund's website for his voluntary work.
It said after arriving in Swansea in June 2018 he started volunteering in a charity shop before helping at the Congolese Development Project (CDP), an organisation that assists Congolese immigrants.
Mr Nomba packaged up parcels and delivered them to people who were vulnerable, isolated and in need, said the National Lottery Community Fund.
It said on one occasion he helped a pregnant woman, quoting him as saying: "She had been in her room for two days without food because she couldn't stand up and had a prescription for medicine that she needed.
"So I said OK, tell me where your pharmacy is. I came back a couple of hours later with her medicine. She was very happy."
'System fair to those in genuine need'
Theodore Manzambi, from the CPD said Mr Nomba had been asked by immigration officials to sign a national return command form, one of the final stages of a deportation order, but had "refused to sign until he gets a solicitor".
He is now trying to get a legal firm in London to take on his case, Mr Manzambi added.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "Detention is an important part of the immigration system in order to help remove people who are here illegally, encourage compliance and to protect the public.
"All decisions to detain people are based on careful consideration of the facts and we are keen to ensure that individuals are detained for no longer than necessary.
"Our New Plan for Immigration will fix the broken system; making it fair to those in genuine need and firm on those who seek to abuse it."
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