First person: 'I was illegally deported from Britain'
In the run-up to the 2001 elections in my country in East Africa, I was campaigning for an opposition group when some government soldiers kidnapped me in front of my children. I was raped and tortured and they starved me. After about a month, one of the soldiers accidentally left the door open and I escaped. I decided that I had to leave the country with my children. After we had been in England for a few years, we were woken up at 5am by a loud bang at the door. A man shouted: "Open up! Immigration." We'd had no warning we were going to be deported. We were caged in the back of a van like prisoners and they wouldn't let me take my medication for depression. When we got to the airport, the immigration escorts told me I had to hand over my eight-month-old son. They just grabbed him. I was pulling his legs and they were pulling his arms. In the end I let go because I didn't want to hurt him. Then they threw me on the floor and handcuffed me. One officer wa