To ask you to please help these 2 little girls stay in the UK, they face FGM in Nigeria

[Topaz25]

This petition really moved me, please sign and share:
www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/uk-border-agency-please-review-the-fresh-evidence-submitted-for-afusat-saliu-s-asylum-case-properly

"Afusat Saliu, faces being returned to Nigeria. She has removal directions for 25th April. If she goes back, there is a real risk of forcible FGM on her daughters. She fled to the UK when her step-mother expressed a wish to have her daughter Bassy cut. Bassy will be four in May; two year old Rashidat was born in London - Afusat fled while she was heavily pregnant.

In Afusat's village, FGM is usually performed on babies, which is when Afusat herself was cut. If she is made to return and her family catch up with her, it is likely that she will be powerless to protect them from being mutilated. Afusat is also in danger as she escaped a forced marriage to a man 40 years her senior to whom her family is indebted."

[RuddyDuck]

Signed. And, as others have said, I would be very happy if everyone facing FGM was given asylum in the UK.

[Motherinlawsdung]

Signed, no hesitation.

[Redhead4]

What about everyone else?

The girls who at 12 years old have arranged marriages and get pregnant to which their bodies can't cope so they suffer?

Or the people who have to walk 3 hours to get dirty water?

Or the people who are proven not guilty after they have an amputation due to stealing?

Or the babies who are abandoned by their mothers on the street because they can't afford to keep them?

I can't help but see the bigger picture, why would this Mum not fight tooth and nail for this injustice to her girls?

Why is it left to us to accommodate them?

Why us and not the nearest country to them?

Shall we advertise for all those people above?

What happens to our children? These all come over for a safe haven and our children suffer with houses, jobs and expense of living.

There is injustice in the world, I have raised thousands of pounds to try and help them but we can't accommodate all cases.

[Topaz25]

Why would this Mum not fight tooth and nail for this injustice to her girls?

What do you think she is doing by trying to escape this oppressive, abusive situation and create a better life for them? It sounds like you are blaming the victim by saying why doesn't she fight harder! She was mutilated by her family as a child and has now been forced into marriage to a much older man they are indebted to. She is a victim of abuse and she is fighting to try and prevent her children going through the same thing by escaping that situation!

[Impatientismymiddlename]

Signed. And, as others have said, I would be very happy if everyone facing FGM was given asylum in the UK.

Where would we house them all? Educate them all? Give them medical care? How would we financially provide for them all? I don't know how many children face FGM every year, but given that 115 million worldwide are affected I'm not sure how anybody thinks we could logistically or practically have them all in Britain.
I will support any campaign to stop FGM across the world, but suggesting that we should bring them all to live in Britain is very unrealistic.

[Impatientismymiddlename]

Redhead put it much better than I did.

[Redhead4]

Precisely impatient.

These people who have told them that they need to return, they are doing their job like you do everyday.

They are here illegally; so their job is to take action.

[gordyslovesheep]

NIMBY hey

Thankfully 95% of people aren't twats xxxx

[LtColGrinch]

Nope, not signing that one. The system is creaking at the seams anyway without topping it up unnecessarily.

[QuietNinjaTardis]

You think that the potential to stop two tiny children being mutilated is unnecessary? Wow. Signed.

[FreudiansSlipper]

what happens to our children

the are protected by law stopping them being harmed in such a way, they have free health and education, we have a welfare system, we have opportunities open to us millions can only dream of

[FreudiansSlipper]

health care...

[Nennypops]

Redhead, provision for all those people you list can be dealt with under the normal laws on asylum. The point of the petition is simply that the Home Office should be asked to look at this issue again. What is wrong with that?

[Impatientismymiddlename]

Our children might be protected by a law that prevents them being harmed in this way, but it doesn't stop it entirely. FGM does happen to British children.
Our children do have lots of opportunities and billions of children can only dream of having the same opportunities but can Britain be responsible for the education, health and welfare of billions of children worldwide? Can Britain financially afford to be the saviour of every disadvantage child in the world?
If we brought every child into Britain who was at risk of FGM what would that mean for the health, education and welfare of British children?

I am happy to support campaigns and donate money to help put an end to FGM worldwide, but I just don't think that we can sensibly argue that every child at risk of FGM can be accommodated within our borders.
If the OP had asked for donations towards a fund to help this family be kept safe when they returned to Nigeria then I would have happily contributed what I can afford.
I don't know why the home office have decided that this family should return home but they have made that decision and I would presume that they have their reasons for not granting asylum.

Does anybody follow up on failed asylum seekers after they have returned home? Do the campaigners try to maintain contact with the families so they can update the supporters? Do we have any statistics on what percentage of failed asylum seekers are harmed after they return home? Whilst I understand that these statistics would be very difficult to obtain I do think it is worthwhile somebody at least attempting to gather some information of this nature as it would help people to determine whether our home office does a good job or not when they make their decisions.

[sashh]

Why is it left to us to accommodate them?

Why not? If Nigeria was suddenly empty of females don't you think it would change things?

Why did we accommodate children from the Kindertransport? What about Asians thrown out of Africa?

What about because it is the right thing to do?


Believe it or not we are not the only country in the world that offers asylum.

[StealthPolarBear]

Yes completely sassh. If we said the uk offers asylum to children at riak of fgm it would be a political move.

[summersoft]

Here is the wonderful charity FORWARD that works towards protecting women and children from FGM.

Hopefully one day people will not have to leave their mother country and all that they know to avoid this harmful practice.

link

[FreudiansSlipper]

yes I am well aware that British girls are subjected to FGM and not enough is done to enforce the law but any stand that can be made to protect young girls in this country has to be made

we are not going to have a sudden influx of girls leaving their families and all they know who will come here to seek asylum, it just does not happen that way

[Redhead4]

What I find wrong about the petition is that if we grant them this then what about every other case in the UK?

Shall we review every single case that crosses our boarders? These people who have the responsibility who take action against people who come over illegally cannot take their stories to heart otherwise no one would leave.

We were not the first country they reached, they were safe within the countries they crossed to get here so why should we review this case?

And yes, if we allow them to stay here what about all the other women and children all over the world who are at risk of FGM? They will head here and it will bring even more strain to our economy that we cannot afford.

Yes our children have healthcare but look at the bigger picture here. We let all of these women and children come to our country including pregnant women who are carrying children at risk. Not long ago some were being turned away from maternity wards in the UK due to lack of space, would you be saying the same if that was your daughter who needed a room to give birth in?

What about a family member who desperately needed a transplant but had to be on a waiting list so long due to the fact that most people in this country think with their hearts other than their heads? Would you say the same if your family member had to wait twice as long because x from this country and y from this country came over because they knew we would accept them?

When does it stop?

I have a heart, I feel desperately sorry for them girls and I have raised thousands of pounds to try and help countries who need it but I am not willing to take a chance with my children's future.

[Impatientismymiddlename]

I found this link that estimates that 3 million girls face FGM in Africa alone every year.

www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/fgm/prevalence/en/

I will be donating to an organisation which helps stop FGM in the countries affected, but I will not be signing the petition because (perhaps foolishly) I rely on our home office to make accurate decisions on granting asylum.

[FreudiansSlipper]

why tell us that you do so much for charity what has that got to do with the debate

[Impatientismymiddlename]

If we bring 3 million children to Britain every year (as someone suggested we should bring all potential victims to Britain) how long would it be before we cannot cope? How long before our education, health and welfare systems crumble?

[Redhead4]

Because I think in order to help them we should look more into donating to their country and charities who are fighting against FGM rather than keep them here.

[FreudiansSlipper]

it is not going to happen

like Rivers of Blood never transpired. and yes I do know he never actually said those words

[pizzachickenhotforyou]

We can't save the world so I don't care if two little babies are butchered? Wtf?