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Bid to reverse terminally ill mother's deportation hit by legal ruling

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Published Date: 13 January 2008
By Antony Stone
A HIGH-level appeal to the Government to reverse a decision to deport a terminally ill mother to Ghana appears to have failed.
Mother-of-two Ama Sumani, 39, was taken from a hospital in Cardiff on Wednesday and flown back to Ghana. She had been receiving dialysis three times a week in the UK after her kidneys were damaged by cancer, but was forced to leave when her visa expi
red.

Since returning to Accra, the capital, it has emerged that she is unable to afford the £3,000 needed for the first three months of treatment.

Her plight promoted Annan Cato, the High Commissioner for Ghana in London, to appeal to the UK authorities to let her return to Britain.

He said: "Even now, I don't think it is too late for them to reconsider their position to allow her to come back and receive treatment. The UK has done this for many, many people and I am confident they could do it again."

But that appeal appeared to have been rejected when the Border & Immigration Agency underlined the legal grounds for the deportation.

A spokesman said: "Anyone seeking to remain in the UK needs to ensure they have the legal right to do so or face removal. We examine with great care each individual case before removal, and we assess fitness to travel and whether the necessary medical treatment is available in the country to which we are returning.

"The UK cannot offer healthcare to individuals with no legal right to remain in the UK solely because they would not be able to access a similar standard of treatment in their country of origin – this has been upheld in law.

"While it is preferable for those with no right to remain in the UK to return home voluntarily, it is regrettable that not all choose to do so and in those circumstances it may be necessary to enforce removal."



Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 12 January 2008 7:43 PM
  • Source: Scotland On Sunday
  • Location: Scotland
  • Related Topics: Immigration and refugees
 
1

yoric,

13/01/2008 00:12:07
We have English people denied Cancer and Alzheimer's drugs because of cost, WHY should we be paying to treat immigrants.
Time we started looking after our own.
2

BK,

Cyberspace 13/01/2008 01:01:07
This is the most despicable act so far of despicable men in a despicable and inhuman government. If Gordon Brown ever catches an incurable disease, I hope he is promptly shipped out to a country where it cannot be treated. If it's good enough for others, it's good enough for him.
3

Riley Hamish,

Edina 13/01/2008 01:01:25
#1 YORIC
I suspect that compassion is something that you sit on in your household sir !!
4

ochone,

Sauchie, Clack's 13/01/2008 01:02:16
yoric, since when did two wrongs make a wright?
5

ochone,

Sauchie, Clack's 13/01/2008 01:03:59
Come to think of it, it's the sort of thing that makes you proud to be british, that and yorics attitude, well doesn't it?
6

celticsnowdrop,

greenock 13/01/2008 11:01:06
it seems we only keep terrorist,rapist etc.......I think this is what is ment by keeping your enemies close......how sad is this country.......bring in all the crap,feed cloth and look after them, pity she never got the chance of the 4,000 pounds to leave the country. WORDS FAIL ME !!!!! but then so does the goverment and their lack of common sense.
7

Pavla,

Irvine 13/01/2008 12:44:17
I think any person with a degree of humanity would condemn this decision.How many times have deportations of convicted criminals been reversed by judicial reviews and how many despots have been given indefinite leave to remain while receiving treatment for serious illnesses.Only reason Pinochet left the U.K. was Spain was starting to initiate extradition proceedings.Irrespective of your opinion on immigration or asylum surely terminally ill people should be shown some compassion or have we become so intolerant of others we no longer have the capacity to use discretion when it's needed
8

lobout,

Edinburgh 13/01/2008 15:00:13
We should advertise-Come to Britain for free health care! Don't worry if you overstay your visa! I'm sure it would do wonders for the tourist industry, and there aren't any hospital waiting lists any more, are there?
9

Allan(handofgod137),

13/01/2008 15:29:23
"Her plight promoted Annan Cato, the High Commissioner for Ghana in London, to appeal to the UK authorities to let her return to Britain."

Alternatively he could pay for her treatment in Ghana himself.
10

truthsleuth,

South of the Border 13/01/2008 17:27:44
We cannot yet afford to look after our own.
This 'student' probably entered UK knowing of her illness in order to get 'free treatment' at our expense.
When all the do gooders get together and pay for her treatment or let one of their own forego treatment in oredr to pay for that treatment then I will listen to them.
Till then they should just SHUT UP.

11

truthsleuth,

13/01/2008 17:31:18
We certainly cannot play doctor and nurse to the whole human population. I have no doubt had she remained her children would have followed, then her husband, then their grandparents and other relatives, then the population ofv the local township ......
12

ochone,

Sauchie, clack's 13/01/2008 18:08:19
Truthsleuth,where does it say she knew she had this illness before she entered the country? or how do you know that thechildren etc up to and including the population of the local township would have followed?

Look, why don't you just be blunt but honest and just say, if she is dying anyway what's the problem where she dies, so just let it be ghana.

If you want to issue racist comments fine, but be open about it!
13

Isabel,

Edinburgh 13/01/2008 22:37:29
Whilst I feel sorry for this student, I believe our own people should be treated first. At a time when so many native born British people, because of lack of money, cannot get life-saving treatment, we should not have an open-door policy for allowing everybody from abroad free treatment. How would one of the do-gooders feel if one of their family couldn't get treatment because the money had been spent on everyone from foreign countries?

I agree with #10s last paragraph.
14

Horrible Cankers..dans le Cyber Shebeen,

13/01/2008 22:53:00
Scum man....pure sick scum.....
15

John Blackley,

Austin, TX 13/01/2008 23:30:46
Lots of lovely emo on this one. Of course, she's a mother, she's in renal failure, she can't afford healthcare where she lives, tragic, tragic, tragic.

But renal failure isn't a 'terminal illness'. Inability to afford dialysis is a terminal illness and the NHS can't afford to provide dialysis to everyone in the world who needs it.

So, to those for whom this decision is simply an "Aw, the poor woman!" piece of heartless calculation by a 'despicable' government, let me ask this. Let me ask you to go around the dialysis centers in the UK and choose which patients will have their dialysis discontinued so the the next "poor woman" from abroad can be treated.

You'll get to tell the dialysis patient to his or her face. You'll get to tell his-her family that their relative is going to die within months. You'll get to repeat the process over and over again because, apparently, you don't want any controls over who has access to Britain's NHS resources.

Or, alternately, you could grow up.
16

,

14/01/2008 12:00:46
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
17

Al,

14/01/2008 12:20:37
"Her plight promoted Annan Cato, the High Commissioner for Ghana in London, to appeal to the UK authorities to let her return to Britain"

Why doesn't Annan Cato just arrange for proper care for this woman in her own country? I'm sure he could easily stump up the money necessary from his diplomat wage.

 

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