To wonder how Theresa May can sleep at night - young girl being deported on Mother's Day

[NadiaWadia]

www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/the-rt-hon-theresa-may-mp-home-secretary-fightforyashika-stop-this-sixth-form-student-being-deported-alone-she-deserves-a-future

Yashika Bageerathi, an A-level student of 18 or 19, fled Mauritius with her family due to life threatening domestic violence, seeking asylum in the UK. She is very well thought of by both staff and students at the school and was just about to finish her A-levels. She has been taken alone to a detention centre and will be sent back to Mauritius, alone, tomorrow. Apparently she has nobody in Mauritius. Theresa May apparently feels it would be 'inappropriate' for her to 'interfere' in this.

British Airways refused to take part in this, good for them. So now the government are sending her back via Air Mauritius. Change.org are now asking people to email the Chief Executive of Air Mauritius, Andre Viljoen at [email protected] asking him urgently to do the same. Worth a try don't you think?

Personally I find the actions of the government sickening and inhumane. This poor girl (and her family). Sounds like she would have been an asset to the UK.

I have done a bit of reading on this case. It seems there has never been any report or claim of violence to the police in her home country. It is looking more and more like a made up tale to get residency.

Mean spirited is exactly the right word

No it isn't.

Will you stop harping on that? I have admitted it was a mistake to tell a poster to FO. Hardly unusual on Mumsnet though, I would have thought.

It is unusual actually and is, I believe, a delectable offense.

hercules As a failed asylum seeker if give her approximately 0% chance of ever getting a visa to come back on holiday.

Didn't know that trazzletoes, thanks.

Well, OK, I admit the mother's day thing is probably not relevant. It is probably not culturally applicable to this family (not sure about that) Newspapers used it first, though!

Yes, the Mothering Sunday reference roughly on a par with Live Aid's fretting that the good folk of Africa wouldn't be having snow in 1984.
(Which of the 50 odd counties troubled them particularly I wonder?)

Hopefully her school will have the sense to fundraise so that she can take her A level exams as a private candidate at a centre in Mauritius. That would give her a fighting chance of forging a decent life for herself.

In her shoes I'd not fight the deportation, but would EVERYTHING I could to be allowed to enter for exams as a private candidate and then to use that as a springboard to apply for overseas Uni scholarships ANYWHERE (tho the US is the obvious candidate).

Although Mauritius is a lower cost of living, I'd think more of the hand wringers if they could dip their hands into their pockets in order to provide her with her first few months living expenses/reach out to expats to locate safe accommodation for her etc.

There's a middle ground between armchair wailing at the unfairness and cruelty of it all and out right callous cruelty in sending an unprotected young female straight into a situation where she is at risk of exploitation. (Lone young women get exploited in the UK too - look at the Rochdale scandal!)

Hopefully some of those signatories will seek it and offer her practical, useful help quickly.

Ok, hadn't heard of this case before you posted, having done basic reading around it, I'm afraid I agree with those who've said she should be deported. It's sad for her that her life won't be as good in her home country as it would be in the U.K., but the world is full of people who could have a much better standard of living here. And she could complete her a levels as an overseas student, I assume living with whomever she lived with for the period between her mother leaving and her arriving in the uk.

I don't the May has done anything wrong here, bright, popular young woman with potential shouldn't get a more generous asylum system than thick, friendless, older woman. It's right that her claim is judged without consideration to her education potential or her career prospects, to do otherwise is very unfair on those with similar reasons to claim asylum but are less able.

I work with teenagers, several of whom are at risk of being returned Afghanistan. It's very difficult. I don't know what the answer is.

Brokenhearted Spot on. Go do it Nadia

Her mother's case has also been refused so likely the rest of the family will be on a plane soon.

Affording one-way longhaul flights is no measure of ongoing wealth - plenty of people fund their travel (if you use an agent it can cost many thousands of pounds for "guaranteed" safe passage) by selling absolutely everything they have, or taking out enormous debts. The fear of loan sharks then adds to their fear of return. I know of someone whose sister was taken by the agents when his parents couldn't make the payments. God only knows what happened to her but I can't imagine it ended well.

But Bookfairy a lot of Afghan refugees go to Pakistan and live successful lives (I'm friends with a couple) - that's only next door - why should they come to the UK?

I agree that you have "misjudged the average mumsnetter" OP, and their argument is far more compelling than yours. I also think that you have been far more insulting than anyone has to you, simply because posters a) disagree with you and (b) are more knowledgable.

broken no it isn't. People are given a 5 year visa and at the end of that, if they meet certain conditions (and most do) they get Indefinite Leave to Remain . The Home Office can certify a country as safe in the meantime which would lead to all refugees without ILR being returned there. That hasn't happened yet and almost certainly never will.

There is NO requirement for people to return to their home country. No principle that it's good manners. Nothing. And frankly no matter how "safe" it becomes if you didn't have to go back to the place you were gang raped and infected with HIV while watching the murder of your parents, siblings and children... Why would you ? Why should you have to?

I do see that domestic violence alone is not a reason to claim asylum, but surely for humane reasons exceptions can be made.

Why do you think an exception should be made in this case? What humane reasons are there which wouldn't also apply to the millions of other victims of DV around the world?

ROFL @ "delectable offence".

Mmm, yummy

broken where people are genuinely in need, yes we can and we do. I am proud to be British and to have the respect for Human Rights we have in this country.

It would also be massively expensive to enforce that - to have all cases repeatedly reviewed at regular intervals, and then have people's family circumstances change - say they marry a Brit, or have children etc etc. and how do you measure exactly when a country suddenly becomes safe.

Look at Zimbabwe - Robert Mugabe is still in power - it's less violent, but is it safe for people to return? Or must they wait til he dies. And then how long after that can an accurate assessment be made? And alternatively how far away must people move potentially from their home area. The man power to make these decisions would be huge and the tribunals would be clogged!

You offer people safety - what could be more safe than offering them the permanence of that? They have enough hardship without leaving the fear of the Home Office changing their mind hanging over them.

So Nadia will you be there tomorrow, all protesting and shit? Bemoaning the fact that you thought Mumsnetters would, you know, support your view, but gasp and wonder, they had their own take on the situation.

Good luck whatever you do