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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Deportation of student halted hours before she was due to board plane | Deportation of student halted hours before she was due to board plane |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A talented student is hoping to finish her course at a British university after coming within hours of being removed from the UK by immigration officials. | |
| Shiromini Satkunarajah, 20, was arrested last week and was expecting to be put on a plane to the country of her birth, Sri Lanka, at 9pm on Tuesday. | Shiromini Satkunarajah, 20, was arrested last week and was expecting to be put on a plane to the country of her birth, Sri Lanka, at 9pm on Tuesday. |
| Late on Monday night, the Home Office’s command and control unit confirmed the removal had been deferred and Satkunarajah and her mother, Roshani, were freed from Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire. | Late on Monday night, the Home Office’s command and control unit confirmed the removal had been deferred and Satkunarajah and her mother, Roshani, were freed from Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire. |
| The decision followed a campaign with more than 100,000 people signing a petition calling for daughter and mother to be allowed to stay. | The decision followed a campaign with more than 100,000 people signing a petition calling for daughter and mother to be allowed to stay. |
| Academics, church leaders, students and politicians also demanded that the government let her end her studies in electrical engineering at Bangor University in north Wales. | Academics, church leaders, students and politicians also demanded that the government let her end her studies in electrical engineering at Bangor University in north Wales. |
| However, it remains unclear what happens next for Satkunarajah, who is on course to graduate with a first-class degree in three months’ time. | However, it remains unclear what happens next for Satkunarajah, who is on course to graduate with a first-class degree in three months’ time. |
| Satkunarajah’s legal team will write to the Home Office on Tuesday setting out why it believes the Satkunarajahs should be allowed to stay. The government will have 14 days to decide whether to press ahead and remove Satkunarajah. If that happens, her team is likely to seek a judicial review. | Satkunarajah’s legal team will write to the Home Office on Tuesday setting out why it believes the Satkunarajahs should be allowed to stay. The government will have 14 days to decide whether to press ahead and remove Satkunarajah. If that happens, her team is likely to seek a judicial review. |
| Her lawyer, Raja Uruthiravinayagan, of Duncan Lewis Solicitors, said: “It appears that these positive developments came about only because this case has seen a groundswell of public opinion and made a clarion call to the secretary of state. We hope that the secretary of state has not taken these steps with the view to temporarily assuage public outrage. | Her lawyer, Raja Uruthiravinayagan, of Duncan Lewis Solicitors, said: “It appears that these positive developments came about only because this case has seen a groundswell of public opinion and made a clarion call to the secretary of state. We hope that the secretary of state has not taken these steps with the view to temporarily assuage public outrage. |
| “We are inviting the secretary of state to restore a modicum of justice and fairness in our broken system and grant our client and her mother a more stable form of leave to remain the United Kingdom on a long-term basis. | “We are inviting the secretary of state to restore a modicum of justice and fairness in our broken system and grant our client and her mother a more stable form of leave to remain the United Kingdom on a long-term basis. |
| “We hope that there will not be prolonged litigation in this case during the period when Shiromini is studying.” | “We hope that there will not be prolonged litigation in this case during the period when Shiromini is studying.” |
| The student’s MP, Plaid Cymru’s Hywel Williams, who has campaigned for her to be allowed to stay, said: “This is the news we’ve all been hoping for. I’m so very glad that Shiromini and her mum have had this deportation order rescinded and released from the detention centre. I’d like to thank everyone who backed the campaign to have the deportation order lifted. So much has been achieved in so little time. | The student’s MP, Plaid Cymru’s Hywel Williams, who has campaigned for her to be allowed to stay, said: “This is the news we’ve all been hoping for. I’m so very glad that Shiromini and her mum have had this deportation order rescinded and released from the detention centre. I’d like to thank everyone who backed the campaign to have the deportation order lifted. So much has been achieved in so little time. |
| “The outpouring of support from across the country has been staggering, particularly from north Wales where Shiromini is highly regarded within the Bangor community. Sri Lanka is still a very dangerous place and Shiromini has had no real ties with the country since she was a child. | |
| “Of course, the campaign to right this unjust situation is not over. There is clearly something seriously wrong with the current system and it is an issue I intend to pursue.” | “Of course, the campaign to right this unjust situation is not over. There is clearly something seriously wrong with the current system and it is an issue I intend to pursue.” |
| Satkunarajah said she and her mother were arrested on Tuesday 21 February and told they would have to leave the UK. She said: “We were handed the refusal letter, which states: ‘You do not have a right to appeal or administrative review against the decision to refuse your application.’ | Satkunarajah said she and her mother were arrested on Tuesday 21 February and told they would have to leave the UK. She said: “We were handed the refusal letter, which states: ‘You do not have a right to appeal or administrative review against the decision to refuse your application.’ |
| “We were taken home straight away to pack a bag and taken to Caernarfon police station. My mother and I were separated and put into two private cells.” They were then moved to Yarl’s Wood. | “We were taken home straight away to pack a bag and taken to Caernarfon police station. My mother and I were separated and put into two private cells.” They were then moved to Yarl’s Wood. |
| Satkunarajah has lived in the UK since she was 12, when her parents fled the Sri Lankan civil war. Her father, who had a student visa, died in 2011. She was given leave to complete her secondary education but an application by her and her mother for asylum was denied, triggering the removal process. | Satkunarajah has lived in the UK since she was 12, when her parents fled the Sri Lankan civil war. Her father, who had a student visa, died in 2011. She was given leave to complete her secondary education but an application by her and her mother for asylum was denied, triggering the removal process. |
| Among those who urged the Home Office to let her stay was Bangor University’s vice-chancellor, John Hughes. The university said: “Our view is that it would be in the best interests of the student that she be allowed to complete her studies.” | |
| Iestyn Pierce, the head of the school of electronic engineering at Bangor, said Satkunarajah was an “exceptionally able and diligent” student, adding: “If allowed to graduate, Shiromini would be sure to be a valuable member of the workforce in what is a worldwide shortage subject. Undoubtedly, if allowed to continue her studies, she can contribute to society in areas such as low-carbon energy, communications and environmental technologies.” | Iestyn Pierce, the head of the school of electronic engineering at Bangor, said Satkunarajah was an “exceptionally able and diligent” student, adding: “If allowed to graduate, Shiromini would be sure to be a valuable member of the workforce in what is a worldwide shortage subject. Undoubtedly, if allowed to continue her studies, she can contribute to society in areas such as low-carbon energy, communications and environmental technologies.” |
| Pete Broadbent, the acting bishop of London, said: “To deport her weeks before she completes her degree and to remove her from the community that supports her seems draconian.” | Pete Broadbent, the acting bishop of London, said: “To deport her weeks before she completes her degree and to remove her from the community that supports her seems draconian.” |