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The Oasis Trust
UK News

Oasis UK academy student spared deportation

A Christian MP is leading a campaign to stop the deportation of a 19-year-old asylum seeker who's facing removal to her home country without the rest of her family.
 
Tory MP David Burrowes for Enfield Southgate says Yashika Bageerathi should be allowed to finish her A-levels before any decision is made about her future.
 
Miss Bageerathi came to the UK from Mauritius to escape domestic violence. Since applying for asylum, her application has been treated separately from her mother, sister and brother as she is considered an adult.
 
She was was given a temporary reprieve earlier today to remain in the UK following a high-profile social media campaign to keep her with her family.
 
The teenager, who's been described as a maths genius, attends the Oasis Academy Hadley - an Oasis UK academy school founded by the Revd Steve Chalke.
 
The deportation team was taking Yashika to Gatwick Airport when a telephone call asking she be returned to a Yarl's Wood immigration centre in Bedfordshire, was reportedly received.
 
Her mother Sowbhagyawatee hopes it means they may soon be reunited: "I want her back to me; I miss her lots. She's everything for me, she's my other daughter and my little son is crying for her."
 
Zoe Thompson, Deputy Principal at the academy, told Premier's Victoria Laurence during the News Hour that the teenager is now in legal limbo.

According to a petition page set up by her school, Yashika arrived in the UK along with her mother and brother in 2012 to escape abuse and danger.
 
In that time it says Yashika has proved herself a model student and valuable member of the Enfield community.  
 
Yashika's headteacher Lynne Dawes said it is the right decision not to send her back: "We've been so relieved to hear the news that she is back in Yarl's Wood, but obviously there is a lot more that we need to know."
 
On Sunday, a protest march to the Home Office was held by dozens of school friends, teachers and neighbours.
 
Her local MP Mr Burrowes - who's a Christian - told Premier's Des Busteed why he's been campaigning for her to stay in the UK.

In a statement to Premier, a Home Office spokesperson said: "The UK has a proud history of granting asylum to those who need it and we consider every application on its individual merits.
 
"We do not routinely comment on individual cases."
 
An online petition by Yashika's fellow students calling on Immigration Minister James Brokenshire and Home Secretary Theresa May to stop the deportation and allow the student to complete her A-levels has so far collected over 73,000 signatures.

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