Petition updateDeportation of Rafeeq and BolaFriday 6th
Kath HaywardGateshead, ENG, United Kingdom
6 Feb 2015 — https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/0w2ka/ab/94T1x5 Rafeeq and Bola flew out from Heathrow to Lagos two weeks ago. Since then they experienced the trauma of the first 36 hours until they were eventually provided with a bed for two nights by the Home Office. Bola has continued to gather evidence for her ID that will eventually allow them alternative accommodation. Rafeeq has had a lot of sitting around and is bothered by his itchy mosquito bites. Bola is quite ‘down’ and Rafeeq was asking his mum to go back to his old school today. Life is extremely difficult for them. Please find below a template for a letter to lobby your MP.This has been provided by a supporter. The MPs need to be aware of the ordeal that these individuals are going through. Dear I am writing out of grave concern for the child Rafeeq Atanda aged five years, who was removed to Nigeria with his mother Bola Fatumbi on the 23rd of January this year. Rafeeq had never been to Nigeria before and has a British birth certificate. Rafeeq and Bola were previously living in Gateshead as part of their tight-knit community, Rafeeq attended school there. Bola arrived over seventeen years ago seeking asylum after finding herself in the treacherous situation of being utterly alone as a young woman after a terrible car accident killed her family. The story has recently been covered by local as well as national press (The Mirror - see link http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/rafeeq-atanda-mum-makes-appeal-5026664 ) The Haywards, friends to the family and previous carers for Rafeeq, have done the sterling job of drawing this dreadful case to the attention of the public with a very successful Change.org campaign see link https://www.change.org/p/theresa-may-deportation-of-rafeeq-and-bola there are almost 10,000 supporters now and growing. They also started an emergency fund for them and have worked tirelessly to get NGO support on the ground for them in Lagos. It has been immensely difficult for Bola and Rafeeq. The pre-loaded card with money they were given by the Home Office did not work They were stranded at the airport in Lagos for 36 hours, with no means of contacting anyone because Bola’s English phone did not work. They were left destitute They had to rely on the charity of strangers for a bed for the night They later had only two nights stay in a hotel booked by the Home Office They have no family in Nigeria and no-one to contact there Rafeeq has suffered with mosquito bites and has been unwell since arriving. He was not allowed to take any toys with him. He is confused and very distressed and traumatised. The new environment he finds himself in is completely alien to him. There are a lot of questions raised by the awful treatment he has received - he was removed from his school and community and placed in a deportation centre before being taken abroad, without care or regard for his well-being as a British-born child. His (previous) local MP Ian Mearns will raise questions about Rafeeq to William Hague, in Home Office Questions. I urge you to support him as the press reported that Hague himself has suggested there are concerns around this case. Please help this child and plead the case for his return to his UK home, which is where he will be safe with his mother. Yours sincerely
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