Little girl with cerebral palsy to be deported

[AKissIsNotAContract]

www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/9032978.Deporting_little_girl_will_kill_her__family_say/?ref=mm

Such a sad story, hopefully with enough exposure she will be able to stay.

[Dropdeadfred]

This is sad, but her parents knew they were doing wrong when they left her hear...and don't they want her back?

[AKissIsNotAContract]

www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/9032978.Deporting_little_girl_will_kill_her__family_say/?ref=mm

Sorry forgot to press the link button

[AKissIsNotAContract]

Her aunt wants to adopt her. I wouldnt want my child living somewhere where they thought epileptic people were possessed. What kind of life would she have if she were sent back?

[MrsRhettButler]

I'm sure they would rather she was in a country that can look after her rather than being with them in a country where people are still quite backwards thinking about these types of conditions

If everything in this article is true then I think they should let her stay, she's just a little girl who needs help and it sounds like her aunt really loves her

[Dropdeadfred]

If they can prove she would die there they will let her stay..the HO almost always cave in over children's health cases

[wannaBe]

it is difficult.

I agree she is just a little girl whose quality of life (god I hate that expression) would be reduced were she to be sent back to Algeria. But where do we draw the line?

There are lots of countries whose disabled rights and resources are inferior to our own. And I've no doubt there are lots of people who, given the choice, would prefer their children come to live here in order to give them a better quality of life. Should we just accept them all because they're children and because their countries' treatment of the disabled does not live up to our own?

Already parents of disabled children in this country have to struggle to get the most basic resources for their children, if you allow one child in on the basis they have a disability, then you have to allow everyone in, surely? and we simply don't have the resources to do that.

[Dropdeadfred]

agree with Wannabe

[GypsyMoth]

agree with wannabe too

[maypole1]

Agreed I wonder if the parents sent the child over here as a health tourist disabled or not we cannot just allow people to stay just because they are disabled and over stayer is an over stayer.


Its not our fault that other countries have this attitude towards disabled people.

[SecretNutellaFix]

I'm being completely cynical here and wondering whether or not her parents would then try to come over to get indefinite leave to remain. With other children/ family members as well.

It does happen, and perhaps that is why she is being sent back? Surely the aunt should have adopted her earlier, unless the plan was to bring the rest of the family to Britain?

[Hammy02]

agree with wannabe too. There are millions upon millions of disabled children living in 3rd world countries. While individual examples are very upsetting to read, we cannot set a precedent in this instance. As someone else said, we already have disabled children born in this country that are not getting the treatment they need due to lack of public funds.

[Dropdeadfred]

i can almost guarantee she will stay though

[Gotabookaboutit]

We give aid to the 3rd world - it should be directed at projects to combat discrimination and help set up local help projects for children with disabilities. The money spent on appeals and legal aid for this one girl could help 100's in her home country. Sentimentality over good judgement

[diddl]

Could they have adopted by now, without waiting for it to come to this?

[raniamuststay]

they've been trying to adopt her for years, there's no official procedure in place with Algeria and it takes a long time for all the documents to be approved, mostly on the Algerian side I think

when she first came to the UK no-one had any idea of most of her complex health needs. It's quite common for epilepsy to be diagnosed later on, she had a lot of 'absences' that weren't noticed before, even by the doctors she saw before she got the visa to come over in the first place.

[raniamuststay]

this is the link to a petition - this is her last chance before she is deported from the only family she knows and the medical care she needs to live. It isn't a question of quality of life, but life at all

www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-the-deportion-of-five-year-old-rania.html

[Sariska]

I see what some of you are saying here but she's just a little girl who probably looks upon her aunt and uncle as her parents and her cousin as her sister. What will it do to her emotionally to send her back?

[Alibabaandthe80nappies]

I agree with WannaBe.

[raniamuststay]

this isn't about whether we should bring someone with complex health needs into the country though, it's about whether we should send a five year old girl who's lived here for more than half her life back to a country where she will die because there just isn't the medical care or even medicines she needs to carry on living
I know it's easy for me because I know her, but please try to see her as a little girl, not a 'statistic' and look beyond the wider issues to what it will mean to her if she is sent back.

[maypole1]

raniamuststay sorry don't buy it the parents stated that she was so ill the reason why they sent her was so they could get some respite.

they have had respite i am inclined to believe they want her to stay for the free education and free health care soon they will join her and claim right to family life then we will have to house a family give them benefits as they will claim they cant work as they have a disabled child


no thanks we have enough people here who we cannot even afford to support

[HRHShoesytwoesy]

I agree with Wanabee

[mumblechum1]

I do feel very sorry for this little girl but agree that we have to draw a line, we already give shelter to hundreds of thousands if not millions of unfortunate people from other countries and we simply don't have the resources to help everyone.

[raniamuststay]

Her family in the Uk have been trying to adopt her for years, she has a younger sister and will soon have a younger brother too
Her family in the UK want her to stay because they want her to live. The medicines and medical treatment she needs aren't even available in Algeria
Before she came to the UK she had to have a lot of medical examinations and none of those showed anything other than the cerebal palsy.

[HRHShoesytwoesy]

sadly with the cuts and stuff, the services for disabled people are already stretched to the limit, I assume the HO have to be careful not to set a precedent that will allow more people to come here and use up these services.

[greenmermaid]

I have posted the following on another thread on here but then came across this one and would like to copy my post here too. I hope it answers many of your questions.

I can see this argument from both sides of the coin better than just about anyone else here because

1. I know Rania and am friends with her mother and
   
   
2. I lost my own daughter - my only child, our IVF miracle - when she was born extremely prematurely and the hospital could not offer her life sustaining care because their neonatal unit was operating massively in excess of its capacity. My daughter died in my arms before she could be transferred elsewhere. It subsequently emerged that in the neonatal unit at the time of our daughter's birth were triplets born to a Nigerian lady who got off a plane and went straight to hospital to give birth to her triplets.
   
   I believe this country should take a hard line on health tourism and not make our NHS a soft option for people who come here to take advantage of our NHS. My family have paid the highest price possible because of a NHS tourist. My heart broke the day my daughter died and despite us being 5 years down the line our daughter is grieved for every single day.
   
   HOWEVER the situation with Rania is a very different one. RANIA WAS NOT BROUGHT TO THIS COUNTRY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR NHS. Rania came to the UK to stay with her aunt (who is English) and her uncle because her mother was unable to cope and needed a break and her father was recovering from an accident. When she came here it was believed she "just" had cerebral palsy.
   
   However during that visit it became evident that Rania's condition was not so straight forward. Rania has been diagnosed with quadriplegic cerebral palsy and has a number of medical conditions including epilepsy, is partially sighted and more recently diagnosed with reflex and anoxic seizures during which her heart stops beating.
   
   In 2009 Rania went back to Algeria where it was discovered the facilites and treatments she requires to sustain her life (and yes we are talking life or death and not just to enhance the quality of her life) are simply not available. Some of the drugs Rania requires are not even legal in Algeria. She was there for one month and all medication had to be sent out with her from the UK.
   
   The Home Office agreed Rania should be allowed back in to the United Kingdom for medical assessment and assistance. Her birth parents could no longer care for her and her aunt and uncle began adoption proceedings.
   
   Rania has thrived with her family in England. She has a parent child relationship with her aunt and uncle - a relationship she does not have with anyone else. Rania has done so well she now attends mainstream school. She is a delight to be around and courageously faces the very many challenges her medical conditions throw at her. She has fully integrated in to her family her. Since she first arrived here she has become a big sister to her aunt and uncles birth child and will soon have a little brother as well. Rania is as much a part of the family as the Talebs birth daughter and all her emotional ties are with that family. She does not know any other family.
   
   I don't accept that faced with a similar situation many families would send their sick child to the UK to live with relatives and I say that because I do not believe there are many people out there who would so selflessly care for a profoundly disabled and demanding child just to help out a member of their family overseas. I don't believe that because I know how much work is involved in looking after Rania. I am not sure too many people would be willing to look after a child they regularly have to resuscitate when she stops breathing, a child who's needs demand a huge amount of time and effort from the relatives looking after them. Jo and Moussa care for Rania as if she was their birth child because that is how they love her. Their relationship with each other and the relationship they have with their birth daughter are all impacted by the dedication and commitment to nurturing and developing a child with profound needs. That they do it - and do it freely and with so much love and dedication - shows this is not some convenient arrangement to help a family member living oversea use our NHS service.
   
   There is nothing convenient about this "arrangement". If you saw how Jo's life revolves around caring for Rania you would see that the easy option for her would be to allow Rania to be deported and she could have her life back.
   
   Except she is not willing to do that. Rania is part of her life. She is in the process of adopting her to formalise Rania's place with in her family. Jo's love for Rania is total. She couldn't love her more if she had given birth to her herself.
   
   I have felt compelled to write all this down here as I wanted to explain that Rania is a beautiful, much love five year old little girl who belongs with the only family she knows. They need her as much as she needs them. She is not a health tourist. Her medical needs may have become more apparent when she was in the UK but that was as a consequence of her being here - she was not brought here for that reason.
   
   Please believe me when I say she is not a NHS tourist. And I say that as a mother who watched my daughter die in my arms because of NHS tourism. I think my experience allows me to be able to tell the difference.
   
   There is a petition to the Home Secretary for a reversal of her decision not to allow Rania leave to remain. If you think Rania should be allowed to continue to live with the only family she knows please sign it.
   
   //www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-the-deportion-of-five-year-old-rania.html
   
   If you don't agree that's fine but please just move on to another thread. No matter what your views are, my post is about a 5 year old little girl who will be handed a death sentence by deporting her to a country unable to meet her life sustaining needs and to people she does not know.