| WAST Manchester- Mariam and her children Must Stay ! |
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MARYAM AND HER CHILDREN MUST STAY Home office ref: O1113796 Maryam Mojisola Fowewe Oderinde, arrived in the UK in November 2002 accompanied by her youngest son, fleeing ritual killing and persecution in Nigeria. Her father in law was a king and in her culture this meant that when he died, her husband was told he should bring one of his sons for ritual sacrifice. Her husband ran away with three eldest children to Ibadan and she fled with Fawz with her youngest child to Britain. Maryam’s husband returned to their house in the night but was caught and was killed. Her three elder children were left with friends and as orphans suffered incredibly; forced into slavery and were caught amidst the race riots which rocked Nigeria, sustaining grievous injuries. She was desperate to reunite with her three other sons and they ultimately arrived into UK in 2004 accompanied by friend of her deceased husband. Maryam did not apply for asylum immediately upon arrival as she did not know how to or even that she should until she was advised by the police to do so, many years later in 2007. The Home Office refused her asylum, and just appeared at her house one morning and gave her a paper saying that asylum was refused, and sent her immediately to a detention centre for 3 months. She was given bail because her son put in his own asylum claim in the detention centre but Maryam lives in fear of being be deported and having to face her husband’s family, a who want to kill her sons. We call upon the Immigration Minister to grant Maryam and her children the right to remain in the UK on compassionate grounds.
What you can do to help:Mariam and her children Must Stay Campaign is organising a letter writing and petition campaign to persuade the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, to allow Mariam and her children to stay in the UK.
1. Write a letter - Please print off the model letter which you can copy & paste on Microsoft document/amend write your own version (please quote Mariam's Home Office ref. no. O1113796), and send to: Alan Johnson, Home secretary Home Office 3rd Floor Peel Building 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF Please send copies of your letter to Mariam and her children Must Stay Campaign. 2. Sign Mariam and her children's petition - Please print off the petition, complete with signatures and send by post to the mariam and her children Must Stay Campaign. The campaign will gather completed petition sheets and present them to the Home Secretary. Contact the Mariam and her children Must Stay Campaign C/o WAST, Women's Electronic Village Hall ADA House, 77 Thompson Street, Manchester, M4 5FY Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |