Yashika fled her native Mauritius with her family after they escaped an abusive relative in 2011.
But the schoolgirl, who’s been fighting deportation for months, was taken yesterday and placed on an Air Mauritius flight that took off from London Heathrow yesterday night.
Now, Yashika, who’s family are still in the UK, has spoken, saying she feels scared and alone.
“I am all alone here. Everyone is in England and I don’t know what to do,” she told ITV News.
And speaking about the moment she was taken from a detention centre in London, she said: “There were four people with me. I just did everything that was being asked.”
“I was really scared, I was feeling really alone.”
Campaigners hoped Yashika – who’s just two months away from sitting her A-levels and has been hailed as a ‘model student’ by her teachers – would get a last minute reprieve.
However, just hours before her flight yesterday, a last ditch appeal failed and she was forced to leave the country.
A petition to help Yashika has now reached 175,000 signatures and a host of celebrities have spoken out in the support of her.
Yashika’s future is still unclear, but her friends, teachers and campaigners hope she will, one day, be allowed to return to the UK.
We will keep you updated on this story as it develops.