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
-
I know Rania and am friends with her mother and
-
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.