little eris interview with shroukie

Shrouk - El Atter is 18 years old and lives Cardiff. UK borders are currently trying to deport Shrouk to Egypt despite dire consequences for her future if she is forced to return there

Eris: Hello Shrouk please tell us a little about yourself

Shroukie: Hey :) well friends call me Shroukie.

At the moment I am doing Art and Textiles at Cathays 6th form just because I couldn't go to uni this year as asylum seeker's aren't allowed student loans.

I like playing guitar (which I'm really bad at but I like to pretend!) and I listen to all sorts of music, mainly rock, especially Jrock! In my free time I volunteer for groups like WSSAG and STAR. I also volunteer as an interpreter sometimes and help people speak English.

Eris: Cool! I understand that you came here from Egypt, how long have you been in the UK now

Shroukie: I have been here since Novemver 2007. Although this might not sound like a long period of time in which a person can build a life here I would like to add at that I was barely 15 at the time so it feels a lot longer. It feels like I lived here most of my life, I have amazing friends that I wouldn't want to lose for the world! I have people that I consider family; people who accept me and love me the way I am when my own "blood" family woudn't.

Eris: Now that you have turned 18 the government want to deport you, why do they want to do this?

Shroukie: Well I claimed asylum based on my orientation and religion. They said that it's okay to be gay in Egypt and that I won't be persecuted for my sexuality or religion when there are clear cases of persecution, a humble Google search can show that. They said that I have no real grounds to remain in the UK and that I will be deported.

Eris: What would life be like for you if you were forced to leave UK

Shroukie: I won't be able to express myself freely, I will not be able to be openly gay, I will have to accept an ID card with "Muslim" written in the religion section thus having to be treated under shari'a law. I will have to change the way I look; piercings, hair, dress sense and basically not be my self. I will have to spend my life in hiding from my family which will be very hard as some of them work within the government and if my name is registered anywhere, i.e. University, it would be very easy to track me down. At this point I could suffer FGM, non-consensual arranged marriage, submitted into mental hospital or even an honour killing. 

Eris: There is a Save The Shrouk event on 24th November organised by Folk Against Fascism at Gwdihw  in Cardiff . Are there any other events being planned? 

Shroukie: Well this gig will be our Campaign launch gig, there should be more events in the future. We hold meetings regularly as well and hold film nights occasionally. We always send invitations via Facebook to all our members on the group "Save The Shrouk" for any events. 

Eris: Along with coming along to the events how can people learn more about this campaign and how else can they support you.

Shroukie: The first step would be to join our Facebook group, through that we ask people to write letters, send petitions and any ideas are suggested and discussed.

Eris: Thank you very much for sharing what's going on Shroukie! Best of luck with the campaign , look forward to the forthcoming 'Save The Shrouk' events xx  -_-  xx 

Shrouk: Thank you Eris! (^_^) 

The first 'SAVE THE SHROUK' event takes place 8pm - 1am,  Wednesday 24th November at the Gwdihw,  Cardiff, thank to Cosmo for putting it together!

And don't forget to join the SAVE THE SHROUK FB group   !!!

Every time someone sends a letter / email or signs a petition it's a step closer to keeping Shroukie in the UK where she is safe to live the life she chooses.  We should all be free to be who we want to be without living in fear!!!

Posted by Eris Kaoss at Tuesday, November 23, 2010