Student reveals
deportation despair
Mauritian student Yashika Bageerathi has revealed her despair at
having the threat of deportation hanging over her.
The
19-year-old, who had expected to sent back to her home country today, has been
held in Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre since March 19.
Last night
she was informed that she would not be put on an Air Mauritius flight leaving
Heathrow but was not told the reason why the removal was cancelled.
In a Channel
4 News interview said she felt alone in Yarl's Wood and added: "I hate
being here".
"I'm
just all alone, I can't go to school, the place where I'm always at. I'm just
away from everyone," she said.
Promising
student Yashika came to the UK with her mother, sister and brother in 2011 to
escape a relative who was physically abusive and claimed asylum last summer.
But the
family were told they all faced the threat of deportation after receiving a
letter from the Home Office.
"I just
keep thinking ... about what might happen, what will happen," Yashika
said.
She added
that she was scared and "I just want to get out from here".
She has been
given support by staff and students from her school, the Oasis Academy Hadley
in north London, and said: " I'm just hoping to get out from here and
complete my A Levels."
A petition
by the students calling on immigration minister James Brokenshire and Home
Secretary Theresa May to stop the deportation has garnered more than 165,000
signatures on website change.org.
The
principal of the Oasis Academy, Lynne Dawes, told Sky News that Air Mauritius
had refused to take Yashika on the flight, but had no official information as
to why she would not be leaving the UK today.
Ms Dawes
said: "We believe that Air Mauritius refused to fly her. But Yashika was
told by a Home Office official that there were technical problems with the
plane."
She added:
"I can only think that maybe they've listened to what the people are
saying and that they feel that it's wrong that she has to go back alone.
"But we
have no official information on this, and this is one of the hardest things,
just trying to understand what is happening to Yashika and her family."
She added
that lawyers representing Yashika were considering what their next step would
be.
Shadow
immigration minister David Hanson said he would ask the Home Office to review
the decision.
Mrs May has
said that the plight of the teenager had gone through the "proper
process" and she would not be stepping in to prevent her deportation.
Comments
Post a Comment