A 19-year-old student due to be deported back to Mauritius on Sunday (30/03/14) was told at the last minute that she would not be leaving the UK on a flight that day.
Yahika Bageerathi would have been separated from her mother and siblings in the UK had she been returned to Mauritius. Her case is being dealt with differently from the rest of her family because she is now 19. Yashika still attends school, however, and is due to take her A levels in the summer at Oasis Academy Hadley in Enfield, north London.
Her deportation has led to protests from supporters, friends, pupils and staff at the school she attends. A petition in support of Yashika’s application to remain in the UK has collected 165,000 signatures.
Yashika and her family fled Mauritius to escape a violent relative with criminal connections. The teenager claimed asylum in the UK last year. If she is deported she will be alone in Mauritius and fears for her own safety because of her family issues there.
The teenager is being held at Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre in Bedfordshire until a decision is made about whether she can remain in the UK with her family.
No reason was given by the Home Office as to why Yashika was not put on a flight from Heathrow to Mauritius on Sunday, as planned.
Labour Shadow Immigration Minister David Hanson MP is reported to have said on social media that he would be personally intervening in the case, however.
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