Ndeh Family Must Stay! Solidarity Gathering
John O | 06.08.2008 11:37 | Migration | Social Struggles | Workers' Movements
Claude,Majolie N'Deh, Gael,Jason Cyril
16-year-old Tilda Swinney and friends want to prove that every child matters - and are campaigning for Claude Ndeh and his young family to be given permission to stay in the UK. They are baking cookies this week and will give one as a thank-you to everyone who signs the petition for the Ndeh family to stay.
The application for a judicial review of their case has been refused and once more the family face imminent detention and deportation. Claude's solicitor, Amie Henshall of Parker Rhodes, Rotherham, and barrister no longer receive legal aid for this case but have decided to continue the legal fight for Claude and his family without payment.
Britain has been strongly criticized for breaching human rights, as the Government's existing reservation to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in relation to immigration means that children are excluded from its protection.
Yet one of the UK Government's latest campaigns is Every Child Matters. Its aim is to keep children safe from harm. In its summary it states: "We all share a duty to do everything we can to ensure every child has the chance to fulfill their potential… to prevent children slipping through the net."
The Refugee Council of Great Britain said of the campaign in 2004: "'Falling though the gaps' is a phrase that could have been coined to describe the experience of asylum seeking children in the UK. It is therefore imperative that policies aimed at vulnerable children do not simply repeat previous mistakes - as a society we must rise to the challenge of protecting those hardest to protect."
In Tony Blair's introduction to Every Child Matters, he writes that "(some) children's lives are filled with risk, fear and danger."
Children of asylum seekers face risk, fear and danger from the very Government that created this campaign.
Follow Nick Clegg's example and sign their petition! Gleadless MP Meg Munn and Cllr Paul Scriven are also supporting the Ndeh family, Claude, Majolie, three-year-old Cyril Jason and twins Kirsty and Gael, 18 months. The three children were all born in Sheffield's Jessop hospital. Jason and Kirsty have sickle cell anaemia and, if deported to Cameroon, are unlikely to live past the age of five years.
Claude's webpage is http://ndeh.wordpress.com/ with the background and media coverage of his case.
Contact: Joanna Petersen 07825 176873
Claude Ndeh. Majolie Ther, Yiah Cyril Jason, Kirsty Michel Tchos and Gael Lionel Atchom - Home Office reference number N1056909
End of Bulletin:
Source for this Message:
From: Joanna Sutherland
John O
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JohnO@ncadc.org.uk
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