BritCits

The trials of Roseline Akhalu

http://www.newstatesman.com/alan-white/2013/01/trials-roseline-akhalu

'Why is the Home Office continuing this cruel and ludicrous campaign? It seems the department is concerned about growing case law that would facilitate health tourism. Under the present laws it is acceptable to deport someone even if they’ll become terminally ill on arrival in a new country, and this is why Rose’s case has been argued under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights: a right to a private and family life.  But this is an exceptional case: is the fight against case law really worth a human being’s life, not to mention the massive legal cost? And as representatives from the National Kidney Foundation have said, donors would think their efforts were a waste of time if a recipient was allowed to die.'

A great piece on an appalling case - the Home Office seems determined to send a human being to her death, stalking her through the courts.

Thanks to https://twitter.com/aljwhite for raising this.

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Graduate with kidney failure at risk of deportation to Nigeria :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2013/jan/12/graduate-kidney-failure-risk-deported-nigeria-video?CMP=twt_gu

'Roseline Akhalu, a university graduate from Nigeria, was diagnosed with kidney failure a few months after arriving in the UK in 2004. After a successful transplant, the UK Border Agency rejected her claim to remain in the UK, but if sent back to Nigeria she will be unable to afford the life-saving drugs she needs.'

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https://twitter.com/DanRebellato tweets: 'Seriously, what the hell? How can this possibly be justified? This is murder by the British state. http://bit.ly/XAEjEa '
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Roseline Akhalu's support page on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/315098168561449/?ref=ts&fref=ts

We recommend you join and show your support.

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Out of sight, out of mind: The heartlessness of the Home Secretary:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/michael-allen/out-of-sight-out-of-mind-_2_b_2228818.html

The case of Roseline and the cases of families broken up by the new, draconian rules (background here : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/introduction.html ), as well as those of London Metropolitan students facing effective deportation ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-19419395 ) are interlinked and expose the true inhumanity of the implementation of the system.

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A petition in support of Roseline. Please sign!
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-the-deportation-of-transplant-patient-roseline-ak.html

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In the context of this case, it is also worthwhile reading this report from the Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency, from November :
http://icinspector.independent.gov.uk/the-independent-chief-inspector-publishes-a-report-on-the-uk-border-agencys-handling-of-legacy-asylum-and-migration-cases/

'Inefficiency, poor customer service and a lack of security and data checks were identified as key failings in the way the UK Border Agency’s dealt with the legacy of unresolved asylum cases. The findings were published in the Independent Chief Inspector’s report on the handling of legacy asylum and migration cases. The Chief Inspector also raised concerns that his findings did not correlate with the information that was provided by the Agency to Parliament.'

[...]
 
'The flawed implementation of a policy change in July 2011, coupled with poor customer service, adversely affected a number of applicants. It led to lengthy and distressing delays for affected asylum applicants, including former unaccompanied asylum seeking children, whose cases should have been dealt with in a timely fashion.'

'Such was the inefficiency of this operation that at one point over 150 boxes of post, including correspondence from applicants, MPs and their legal representatives lay unopened in a room in Liverpool.'