HAVE A HEART!

BY Trudy Simpson

The mum of a three-year-old girl with kidney problems last week begged the black community to help save her sick toddler from being deported.

The mum and 3-year-old Adedoyin Fadairo could be deported to different countries. The mother is currently fighting deportation to Nigeria while Home Office officials want to deport the little girl to the United States where she was born, even though the child has no family there.

The Home Office has since been forced to temporarily stop the order on the childs deportation after the European Court of Human Rights began its own investigation into the childs case.

The Voice has learned that the European Court is expecting answers from the Government by this Friday, January 11.

In the meantime, 3-year-old Adedoyin Fadairo, who currently lives with her grandmother in west London, and her 32-year-old mum, detained at Yarls Wood Immigration Detention Centre in Bedfordshire, wait in limbo.

The 3-year-olds mum, who says she fled from persecution to the UK 10 years ago, was detained in 2007, accused of passport fraud and breaking other immigration rules. One of the broken rules included seeking NHS medical care for Adedoyin when the 3-year-old, who has a kidney disorder, was not entitled to such care.

I try to be strong but I have cried. I keep looking for relief but I cant get any, grieved the 32-year Nigerian mum, who said she has rarely seen her sick daughter in the last 10 months.

The Home Office claims that some parents use their children to try to frustrate immigration rules but that it takes the welfare of children seriously and handles cases involving children with care and sensitivity.

But the mum, who does not want her name used to prevent victimisation, argued: If the Government says it cares about children, why is it doing everything to separate mothers from children?

The mum added: Any little that can be done by the black community can go a long way to helping me and other black women in here, she said.

Amanda Shah, of campaign group, Bail for Immigration Detainees, told The Voice that being locked up in immigration centres leads to emotional distress in adults and children.

We have supported families where the children have suffered weight loss, developmental difficulties and regressive bedwetting or soiling as a result of being in detention, she said.

Published: 07 January 2008