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Pupils' bid to save pal from African war zone

Nov 22 2009 Sunday Sun

A BOY who faces being flown to a war-torn country in Africa could now be saved . . . thanks to a little help from his friends.

Adrian Atkinson’s school pals have helped raise a 5000-name petition to stop him and his mum being deported to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Six-year-old Adrian, who was born in Sunderland and has never been out of Britain, now lives in Byker, Newcastle, with mum Anna.

They faced being thrown out of the country next week because his parents split up and Anna’s visa has run out.

But now the deportation has been put on hold after their MP promised to raise the case with the Home Secretary.

Adrian told his pals from Welbeck Primary School: “Thank you for helping me. You’re my best friends forever.”

Adrian’s mum was born in DR Congo – formerly Zaire – but fled the country 10 years ago after her sister was killed in the war and her family were forced out of their home.

She went to live in the nearby state of Gabon, where she worked in a bar. It was there that she fell in love with Adrian’s dad Daniel, a British oil worker, and the couple moved to Millfield, in Sunderland.

They married in 2003 and Adrian was born the same year.

Marrying a British citizen does not give a foreigner automatic citizenship, and Anna had to apply for a visa.

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