Schoolgirl facing deportation gets last minute reprieve after airline refuses to take her

A teenage girl facing deportation from Britain has been handed a last minute reprieve, after an airline that was scheduled to take her back to Mauritius would not let her board the plane.

YMAIN

by Ellie Henman |
Published on

Yashika Bageerathi, 19, was turned away from Gatwick Airport earlier today, and has returned to the deportation centre where she is being held.

The schoolgirl, who’s been offered a place to study maths at Queen Mary University in London, moved to the UK with her family in 2012, after they fled a violent relative in their native Mauritius.

She was detained, without warning, earlier this month, after officials rejected her application for Asylum.

Her case is being considered separately from her mother, sister and brother, as she is classed as an adult.

The public are appealing to the Home Secretary, Theresa May, to help Yashika
The public are appealing to the Home Secretary, Theresa May, to help Yashika

Yashika – who is set to take her A-Levels in the coming months – has previously spoken from her cell in the deportation centre, saying:

“I’m really scared. They would find me easily. They were very violent towards me and my mum since I was a child.

“I didn’t have any friends out there because of that situation. I never thought I would have so many friends as I do now.

“I came to know what it’s like to interact with people. I was a girl who never had a voice but here I am free.”

Yashika's teachers have described her as a 'model pupil'

Yashika’s MP, David Burrowes, has been attempting to delay the deportation, saying: “The Home Office will now consider all the options: whether she should be removed, all the circumstances and whether to consider her as part of her family rather than cutting her off from her family."

Despite the uncertainty over Yashika’s future, he welcomed the decision made today.

A petition, which has been signed by over 100,000 people, is still circulating and celebrities, including Cara Delevigne have pleaded with Home Secretary, Theresa May, to re-think the deportation plans.

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