YUSU wades into row over girl facing removal

YUSU has backed calls by the NUS to stop the removal of an A-level student back to her home country of Mauritius.

Union president Kallum Taylor said on Twitter that YUSU would ‘join’ the NUS in asking airline Air Mauritius to block the removal of teenager Yashika Bageerathi back to Mauritius where she is due to fly to tonight.

The 19-year-old is being driven to Heathrow Airport from Yarl’s Wood immigration centre in Bedfordshire, where she has been staying for the past two weeks.

She is due to be deported from terminal 4 on a flight at 9pm.

A spokesperson for the Oasis Academy Hadley in north London, where Yashika studies, said the teenager was “very distressed and worried”.

“She is on her way in the van but I really hope we can keep her here. We’re encouraging everyone to tweet Air Mauritius and to phone them to stop this,” they said.

This is the third attempt to deport the teenager after a previous try by officials was stopped by Air Mauritius who refused to fly her on Mother’s Day.

“We’re completely up for lending our support to this campaign,” YUSU President Kallum Taylor said.

“For the sake of a few seconds on social media it’s well worth spreading the word. I don’t expect Air Mauritius will have too heavy a sway here, but the worst that can happen is that nothing changes, and last time around Yashika’s supporters managed to delay the action.”

A petition to stop the deportation of Yashika has so far clocked up more than 176,000 signatures on petition site Change.org.

Campaigners are calling on the Home Office to allow the girl to stay so she can “return to her studies”.

But immigration minister James Brokenshire told MPs that government intervention would only occur in “exceptional” cases and this did not fulfil that criteria.

He added that the case had been through the appropriate legal channels and resulted in a decision that the 19-year-old did not need protection from violence and abuse.

NUS President Toni Pearce tweeted to say: “Tweet them. Call them. Stop them. #FightForYashika.”

NUS International Students’ Officer Daniel Stevens added: “Call on @AirMauritius to do the right & not board Yakisha.” [sic]

In a statement, Air Mauritius said: “Yesterday 1st of April, Air Mauritius received a directive from UK authorities for the repatriation of Miss Bhageerathi. All conditions having been satisfied, the company had no other choice than to abide by the directive.

“The company has taken all steps to ensure that the flight of Miss Bhageerathi takes place in the best possible conditions.

“Air Mauritius regrets this situation, but as all airline companies cannot but abide by decisions taken by relevant authorities.”

Students who want to lend their support to the campaign can tweet @AirMauritius and use the hashtag #FightForYashika.