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| IM SO SORRY MY OUR GIRL..FLORA LYIMO AND ALL YOUR TEAM YASHIKA WE DID ALL WE CAN'' HOPE YOU OK '' BE BLESS ALWAYS! |
An A-level student's last-ditch bid to delay her deportation so that she could appeal her case has been denied.
A judge at London's Law Courts refused to grant an emergency injunction to block the removal of Mauritian teenager Yashika Bageerathi from Britain.
The 19-year-old will now be sent back alone to her home country, separated from her mother and her siblings, after immigration authorities refused her claim for asylum.
The decision slaps down a high-profile campaign which had sought to reverse the decision to deport Ms Bageerathi, a promising student, before she was able to take her A-level exams.
The teenager had been held at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Detention Centre in Hertfordshire since March 19, and is due to board an Air Mauritius flight back to Port Louis, the Mauritian capital, tonight.
A spokesman for the Oasis Academy Hadley in Enfield, north London, where Ms Bageerathi was a student, earlier said that the youngster was 'very distressed and worried' at the prospect of her deportation.
'We’re encouraging everyone to tweet Air Mauritius and to phone them to stop this,' he added, speaking as Ms Bageerathi was being transported to Heathrow by immigration officials.
Ms Bageerathi has earlier sobbed as she told her school friends she 'feared for her life' when she was suddenly told at 3.30pm that she was due to board a plane in less than six hours.
Two previous attempts to deport her were stopped when airlines reportedly refused to let her board their aircraft.
Her deportation was branded 'outrageous' by her headteacher who said Ms Bageerathi was an 'exceptional' case that should stop her being kicked out of the country.
The teenager fled from Mauritius in 2011 and claimed asylum last summer alleging she suffered physical abuse from a relative. She was living in the UK with her mother, younger sister and brother.
The 'gifted' schoolgirl was due to take her A levels next month.
Ms Bageerathi was allowed one phone call before being made to leave and broke down as she told her teacher at Oasis Academy in Enfield, north London what was going on.
Lynne Dawes, headteacher of the school, said: 'She was crying and just doesn't know what to do. She's scared for her life right now.
'It's outrageous to send a young girl back to a really dangerous situation. It's not even common sense. People are rightly outraged.
'We are absolutely devastated at this news. We have not been given any notice that this was going to happen.'
Demonstrators gather in London, to protest against student Yashika Bageerathi being deported'
The move comes after a long campaign by teacher, students and politicians to try and convince the Home Office that Ms Bageerathi should be able to stay here with her family.
A petition calling for her deportation to be blocked attracted around 175,000 signatures.
'We are devastated, the students are devastated,' Ms Dawes said. 'They have all have worked really hard to keep their friend with them here in the community and we have supported them.'
Yashika was due to take maths, further maths, chemistry and French in her A levels in May and was predicted As or A*s.
'She's very gifted. She teaches the younger students and she teaches her peers. She did lots of fund raising for the school and helped out at out community events.
'She was very much involved in our school community,' Ms Dawes added.
Demonstrators with banners gather in Parliament Square, London, to protest against the deportation of student Yashika Bageerathi''
Despite the widely supported campaign, Immigration Minister James Brokenshire told a Commons Home Affairs select committee yesterday Ms Bageerathi must be deported.
The Conservative said all the facts of the case involving Ms Bageerathi had been considered but were not deemed to be of the 'exceptional nature' required for intervention.
She was due to be deported on Mother’s Day but her removal was deferred.
Mr Brokenshire remained steadfast on the controversial decision despite pleas from fellow MPs to show 'compassion' as he appeared before the committee.
Her tearful mother Sowbhagyawatee Bageerathi appeared briefly before the committee with David Burrowes MP and headteacher of Oasis Academy Hadley, Lynne Dawes, breaking down as she told the committee: 'I saw her (on) Mother’s Day.'
Support: The case sparked a petition which attracted 175,000 signatures but Ms Bageerathi was detained'
She called for the minister to free her daughter from Yarl’s Wood, adding 'it’s not a place for her, it’s a place that is cruel'.
Mr Burrowes, Tory MP for Enfield Southgate, had tweeted earlier today that Mr Brokenshire 'just replied to my reps and says he “can find no compelling and compassionate circumstances (in her case)'.
Mr Burrowes said the Home Office was in contact with the British Council, the UK's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations, and told him Ms Bageerathi could complete her A-levels in Mauritius.
He added the department said there were good universities in Mauritius for the student to attend.
But the MP said: 'Yashika needs to be able to finish with the support of her family and friends. The Home Office has ignored their own policy.
Demonstrators gather in Parliament Square, London, to protest against the deportation of Yashika Bageerathi'
Students at Oasis Academy Hadley, in Enfield, demonstrate against the deportation of their friend Yashika Bageerathi
'As her headteacher said, 80 per cent are over 18 when they take A-levels. The guidelines apply to people taking A-levels.'
Mr Burrowes said the options to stop the deportation were limited unless the teenager's lawyers get a last-minute injunction to stop it.
He condemned today's actions as 'far from compassionate' and that it was 'compelling she should stay'.
Immigration Minister James Brokenshire told a Commons Home Affairs select committee yesterday Ms Bageerathi must be deported
But a Home Office spokeswoman disputed Mr Burrowes' claims and said guidelines regarding deportation after examinations apply only to under-18s taking GCSEs and A-levels.
She added: 'We consider every claim for asylum on its individual merits and in this case the applicant was not considered to be in need of protection.
'The case has gone through the proper legal process and our decision has been supported by the courts on five separate occasions.'
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.
She was due to take her A-level exams next month, with the first on May 14 and the final one will be held on June 23.
The committee heard that her age means she is not protected by deportation rules that protect children sitting examinations.
But lawyers for Ms Bageerathi had hoped to make an application to the High Court today for the student to be given an interim period to stay in the UK to complete her A-levels, Ms Dawes said.
The headteacher said they were now trying to lobby support to stop tonight’s deportation and get 'the message as far as we can' that she should stay.
Ms Dawes said she had spoken to the student less than an hour before and that Ms Bageerathi was 'really upset and absolutely devastated'.
TUMECHOTA NA KUMIMINA KUTOKA DM'
BY:FLORA LYIMO FASHION POLICE BLOG
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