Nothing to deport?

Jul 2 2006 By Ian Robson, The Sunday Sun

I'm going to get into trouble for this . . . but that doesn't stop me from feeling what I feel.

A mother and her two sons facing deportation to Uganda have been given a reprieve at the 11th hour while they were waiting for a plane.

And I can't help wondering if that's not a good thing.

After their application to stay was rejected, Julie Namusoke, 40, and her two sons were taken to Gatwick to be put on a flight home.

I use the word carefully because Uganda IS their home.

Mrs Namusoke fled the African country four years ago with sons Joash Serrwadda, four, and two-year-old Jotham Naggenda.

Her application for asylum was rejected and she was moved to a detention centre last week pending repatriation.

The key information is that her application was properly turned down and, from that point, she was no longer entitled to stay.

But here's where emotion is allowed to get in the way of policies designed to control asylum.

A decision arrived at after a great deal of thought, taking into account all of the rules and regulations governing who stays and who goes, was put on hold.

Neighbours rallied round to provide a picture of a family who were part of the community in Washington, Tyne and Wear, where they had settled. Friends at the Bethany Christian Centre in Houghton-le-Spring said they were valuable members of the congregation.

MP Fraser Kemp rallied to the cause and was probably instrumental in securing the reprieve.

Through all of this Julie, in an emotional call from the detention centre, said she and her children would die if they went back to Uganda.

Much was made of the fact she was taken away shouting and screaming.

She is reported to have said: "I was crying and scared, trying to comfort my children. I shouted so my neighbours would know I was being taken.

"I never thought there was a chance to go back to the North East."

She has now been given that chance.

The region has shown Julie and her children just how welcoming it can be.

The people of Washington should be proud that they took the family to their hearts.

But, and it all comes down to this, the Government did nothing wrong in trying to deport a family whose application to stay had been legitimately turned down.

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