On 8 August 2008 Nader Zarebi, an asylum seeker from Iran, hanged himself in a park in Longsight, Manchester after being made homeless from his accommodation. Forced into destitution and homelessness, with no legal way to support himself, fearful of losing his life if returned to Iran where hundreds of political prisoners are executed every year, Nader, like many other asylum seekers saw no way out.

Destitution and homelessness leave many immigrants with no way out, forcing some into the hidden economy and others to take the most desperate measures. Yet the lives of the hidden underclass – which the BBC estimates is over half a million – rarely make the news unless something dramatic happens such as the deaths of the 23 cockle pickers in 2004.

Nader Zarebi’s death did not even make the local news. A demonstration this Saturday 18 October, called by the Manchester-based International Organisation of Iranian Refugees, seeks to end this silence!

For a full public enquiry into the events surrounding Nader Zarebi’s death! Stop the media silence!

For the right of all to work! Against deportations and destitution!

Assemble 12 noon Saturday 18 October, Platt Fields Park, Wilmslow Rd, march to the BBC Oxford Rd