Member of Scottish Parliament makes plea over family's Dungavel detention

November 19, 2009
By BBC

A Glasgow MSP has written to the UK Immigration Minister to complain about the detention of an asylum seeker and her daughter at Dungavel, Lanarkshire.

Florence and Precious Mhango, 10, from Malawi, were taken to the controversial detention centre after attending a routine immigration meeting.

The mother and daughter, who have been in the UK for more than six years, are due to be deported on Monday.

Anne McLaughlin MSP said the child faced harm if she returned to Malawi.

The SNP politician has written to Phil Woolas urging him to release the family on humanitarian grounds.

She claimed the mother and daughter were likely to be separated on their return to Africa, with Precious being taken to live with her father and at risk of possible female genital mutilation.

The UK Border Agency said the decision to detain a family before removal only happened as a last resort.

Ms McLaughlin said: "This is an extremely distressing case. There is no cause for this detention or deportation.

"This girl has been educated entirely in the UK, she has taken an English name, and knows only Scottish and English culture.

"She is well integrated in Glasgow - doing well in her education, joining the local church and making friends in the community.

She added: "This is not just a case of stopping the detention of a child in Dungavel, it is a case of stopping the deportation of a child to a situation where she may be at risk of harm."

The MSP has also asked the Scottish government to intervene and plead the family's case with the Home Office.

Precious Mhango is a pupil at St Maria Goretti Primary in Glasgow and she and her mother were actively involved in the Cranhilll Community Project.

The family have been held at Dungavel on a previous occasion and during her time there the 10-year-old wrote a short story about her experience, called Detention Day (D-Day).

Community development worker Sam Paterson said: "The story is heartbreaking. One woman who read it this morning was reduced to tears.

"Everyone is shocked and outraged by this.

"Florence and Precious were well-known, very popular and really played an active role in this community."

He added: "I spoke to Florence this morning and she is devastated, but trying to stay calm for her daughter's sake.

"Precious is 10-years-old so she knows what is going on and is scared about what lies ahead."

"Keeping them at Dungavel is like a form of torture."

It is understood the family is due to be moved to another detention centre south of the border over the weekend then flown to Malawi on Monday.

Linda Dempster, deputy director of the UK Border Agency in Scotland and Northern Ireland said: "We would much rather that a family whom our courts have found do not qualify for asylum or for humanitarian protection leave the UK voluntarily.

"Where they refuse to do so, despite being given every opportunity, it is our responsibility to enforce the decisions of the courts and send them home.

"The decision to detain a family before removal only happens as a last resort, because the parents refuse to take the opportunity to go home under their own steam with assistance from the Home Office and the International Organisation for Migration."

Medics drive to highlight mutilation risks posed by illegal op

June 28, 2009 A DANGEROUS and illegal medical procedure which is carried out on young girls has become the focus of a poster campaign. Health and social care bosses are taking steps to tackle the issue of female genital mutilation, a practice which can cause life-threatening bleeding, psychological damage and problems during pregnancy and childbirth. The procedure, which may be carried out for cultural or religious reasons, is normally performed on young girls by older women in some African and Asian communities. Medics in Derby are seeing an average of about six women a year who are suffering from complications as a result of the practice. They say that, of the patients they have seen, none had the procedure recently and all were operated on abroad. An on-going poster campaign, run by NHS Derby City, in partnership with other organisations, is under way to educate Derby's growing migrant population of the risks and, hopefully, prevent any new cases. Victor Chilaka, a gynaecologist at Derby City General Hospital, has treated a number of patients who have had complications as a result of the procedure. He said: "I don't think it's fair to wait for it to happen before we do something." Posters have been put up in Derby's GP surgeries and hospitals warning that the practice is illegal and can lead to serious complications. k3ywe4c9px And educational sessions have been carried out to alert health professionals. The campaign is aimed at Derby's growing migrant population. Between 2002 and 2007, approximately 13,000 new migrants moved to the city, including 1,430 black Africans and 4,940 Asians. About 13% of people in Derby were born outside the UK, an increase of 8.5% since 2001. Mr Chilaka said: "We've seen a progressive increase in the number of people presenting with genital mutilation." The majority of girls given the procedure are aged between four and 10 and are from Africa, the Middle East and South and South-east Asia. In some countries, such as Egypt, Somalia and Sudan, the practice is carried out on 98% of girls. But in others, such as Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal, it is much lower – between 20% and 50%. In the UK, it is illegal to carry out the practice and take a child abroad to undergo it. Despite this, about 6,500 girls in the UK are thought to be at risk.

Aid Agency Calls for FGM Legislation

June 25, 2009 An aid agency is calling for specific legislation on Female Genital Mutilation to protect women and girls in Ireland from the practice. World Vision Ireland says a large number of women and families from countries with high prevalence rates of FGM are continuing to migrate to Ireland. The issue came to national prominence in Nigerian woman Pamela Izevbekhai’s fight to remain in Ireland, Her deportation case is ongoing and her main argument is that if sent back to Nigeria her two daughters will be subject to FGM. Former Mayor of Sligo Veronica Cawley held a civic reception last year in order to highlight the dangers and prevalence of the procedure. World Vision Ireland is before the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee today. Spokesperson Eileen Morrow says legislation is vitally needed. And her is the rest of it.

Female Genital Mutilation Knows No Borders

PRETORIA, Feb 6 (IPS) - Laws against female genital mutilation are driving the practice underground and across borders, says UNIFEM. A study released in 2008 looked at the flow of girls traveling to be excised between Burkina Faso and its neighbours Mali, Niger, Ghana and Cote d’ Ivoire. Except Mali, all four countries in the study have laws against female genital mutilation (FGM), although enforcement varies widely. ... Female Genital Mutilation Knows No Borders http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=45696