Nigerian mother Afusat Saliu faces deportation after the Home Office rejected new evidence that suggested her young daughters were at risk of having female genital mutilation (FGM) performed on them if they are returned to Nigeria.
Ms Saliu, 31, who has two daughters aged three and one, fled Nigeria in 2011 after her stepmother told her she would get her oldest daughter, Bassy, cut. In addition, her parents were also forcing trying to force her to marry a man 40 years older than her, who she believed also posed a risk to her children.
Despite the risks she faces, Ms Saliu, who lives in Leeds, has been ordered to report to Heathrow for deportation, having exhausted her legal efforts to fight against removal. More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Home Office to halt her planned deportation.
In spite of her last-minute legal challenge and the strength of public support for Ms Saliu, the Home Office appears determined to force her to return to Nigeria. It is likely that if she does not comply that she and her children, one of whom was born in the UK, will be taken into a refugee holding centre within the next two weeks.
On Wednesday, the Home Office rejected new evidence presented by Ms Saliu's legal team from her former boyfriend and her cousin, who testified that her daughters would be subjected to FGM if the family were deported to Nigeria. Her lawyer, Felicity Gerry, had hoped to halt the move with an emergency injunction and a judicial review but that proved to be impossible for legal reasons.
As the countdown to Saliu's deportation began, George Mudie, the MP for Leeds East, wrote to James Brokenshire, the Home Office minister, calling for the deportation plans to be halted. Ms Saliu said she wanted to protect her daughters from suffering the mutilation she had suffered.
She added: "I don't want my daughters to be mutilated like I was. That will happen if I take them back, I know it because it is the culture of my family as they believe in it and I will not be able to do anything.
"It happened to me and I don't want my daughters to go through the same thing. Every woman should stand up for her children and do whatever is necessary to protect them from something like this."
Her campaign has grown rapidly over the past 48 hours, with the number of people signing a petition on change.org/afusat exceeding 100,000. Ms Saliu said she first applied for asylum in 2012 but was denied and an appeal has been subsequently dismissed, with her recent application to the Home Office presenting new evidence similarly rejected on Wednesday.
Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland, said: " I was very concerned to hear about the treatment that Ms Saliu has received from the Home Office. I have written to the UK Border Agency and requested that they urgently investigate Ms Saliu's case and ensure that the deportation is put on hold until the matter has been thoroughly looked at again and to allow Afusat and her supporters to submit fresh evidence about the problems she and her children would face if they are returned to Nigeria."
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