This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-26856434
The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Student Yashika Bageerathi to be deported later | Student Yashika Bageerathi to be deported later |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| An A-Level student is set to be deported later from north London to her native Mauritius despite protests to allow her to stay in the UK. | |
| Yashika Bageerathi, 19, is being driven to Heathrow, according to a spokesman for the Oasis Academy Hadley in Enfield, where she has been studying. | Yashika Bageerathi, 19, is being driven to Heathrow, according to a spokesman for the Oasis Academy Hadley in Enfield, where she has been studying. |
| The Home Office said it had received assurances the student would be able to complete her studies in Mauritius. | The Home Office said it had received assurances the student would be able to complete her studies in Mauritius. |
| Ms Bageerathi's principal Lynne Dawes said the student was "petrified". | Ms Bageerathi's principal Lynne Dawes said the student was "petrified". |
| Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, has written to the Home Secretary asking her to "urgently reconsider" the "needlessly cruel" decision to deport the student. | |
| Her solicitor has also lodged papers at the High Court seeking an emergency injunction to block her deportation so she can take her case to the Court of Appeal. | |
| Ms Dawes, who said she had spoken to Ms Bageerathi at 14:00 BST, said: "I just cannot believe they would send her back six weeks from her exams." | |
| Speaking to BBC News, she added: "You know, why can't there just be some compassion and humanity to allow her to stay and do those A-Levels. | Speaking to BBC News, she added: "You know, why can't there just be some compassion and humanity to allow her to stay and do those A-Levels. |
| "I know there are laws but I just cannot get why, in effect, what is a few more months. It wouldn't hurt anyone over here, but it would make such a massive difference to her life." | "I know there are laws but I just cannot get why, in effect, what is a few more months. It wouldn't hurt anyone over here, but it would make such a massive difference to her life." |
| She said there was "no compassion being shown" and that she was "embarrassed to be British". | She said there was "no compassion being shown" and that she was "embarrassed to be British". |
| Failed asylum bid | Failed asylum bid |
| The student, who has been in the UK since 2011, is due to take the Air Mauritius flight MK057 at 21:00 BST, according to her school. | |
| The airline had originally refused to fly her. When asked why its position had changed, it refused to comment. | The airline had originally refused to fly her. When asked why its position had changed, it refused to comment. |
| On Tuesday, Ms Bageerathi's mother, Sowbhagyawatee, had asked the Home Affairs Committee to release her. | |
| In the letter to the Home Secretary, Mr Vaz said that neither a senior immigration official nor Immigration Minister James Brokenshire had offered a "compelling reason" why the student should be deported before being allowed to sit her examinations next month. | |
| "It is a hardship enough for this young woman to be separated from her family and returned to Mauritius where she claims she fears persecution," he wrote. | |
| "To interrupt her education at this late stage in order to do so seems needlessly cruel. | |
| "It is within your gift as Home Secretary to defer Yashika's deportation and I strongly urge you to do so." | |
| A Home Office spokesman said: "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. | A Home Office spokesman said: "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." | "The case has gone through the proper legal process and our decision has been supported by the courts on five separate occasions." |
| Ms Bageerathi has been held in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire since 19 March. | Ms Bageerathi has been held in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire since 19 March. |
| The A-Level student was due to fly on Sunday after a failed asylum bid, but the deportation was delayed. | The A-Level student was due to fly on Sunday after a failed asylum bid, but the deportation was delayed. |
| Her school friends held a protest in Parliament Square on Saturday. | Her school friends held a protest in Parliament Square on Saturday. |
| She had come to the UK with her mother and younger brother and sister from Mauritius in 2011 to escape a relative who was physically abusive. | She had come to the UK with her mother and younger brother and sister from Mauritius in 2011 to escape a relative who was physically abusive. |
| The family claimed asylum last summer, but all four now face deportation. But due to Ms Bageerathi's age, her application was considered separately and she faces returning to Mauritius alone. | The family claimed asylum last summer, but all four now face deportation. But due to Ms Bageerathi's age, her application was considered separately and she faces returning to Mauritius alone. |