Friday February 15, 2008, 3:52 am

This young man's plight and UK immigration policy are simply appalling, disgusting !
And he is quite right when he says, " The immigration rules are not governed by justice any longer but by the xenophobia of the tabloid press. "

The article:

'Model immigrant' to be deported


A "remarkable" immigrant, honoured this week by the Church of England for his contribution to British society, has lost his legal battle to stay in this country.

Damilola Ajagbonna, 19, whose academic record has won him places at Cambridge and Sheffield universities, said he was bitterly disappointed after the Court of Appeal yesterday turned down his final appeal for the right to live here. He is expected to be ordered to return to Nigeria in the next few weeks.

"I have always regarded Britain as a just country and believed that as long as you played by the rules you will be treated fairly," said Mr Ajagbonna. "It is now clear to me that is not the case. For two years I have hoped and I have prayed and I have begged to be treated as a human being, but this has not been enough."

Since coming to Britain from Nigeria with his mother when he was 11 years old, his achievements in education and community work have won him acclaim from teachers and immigration campaigners alike.

On Monday he attended a service at St Paul's Cathedral, where the Bishop of London awarded him the St Mellitus medal for his contribution to his school, the Greig City Academy in Hornsey, north London, where he achieved 13 GCSEs and three A levels.

His former headmaster, Paul Sutton, said Mr Ajagbonna's was one of the school's greatest achievements. "He has been our head boy for as long as I can remember, an absolute star who has given unfailing support. It seems to me he is the very kind of person we need to keep. So it is quite bizarre that we are even thinking about deporting him," Mr Sutton said.

His talents have also been recognised by the United Nations, which in 2005 appointed him an adviser on youth issues to Unicef. He was closely involved in one of the flagship community projects run by the former Department for Education and Skills and held prominent roles in the Children's Rights Alliance for England.

One of the judges who heard Mr Ajagbonna's case described these achievements as "spectacular". He said in his judgment: "I find the appellant's contribution to youth culture in our society as a whole, and to his school society in particular, has been remarkable ... He is clearly an outstanding young man. He would appear both keen to learn and keen to give."

But yesterday Mr Ajagbonna learned that this impressive track record had not earned him the right to stay in the United Kingdom.

Mrs Justice Dobbs ruled that she could find no error in law in the decision to refuse him further leave to remain, adding that her decision was "final and there was no appeal against it".

Mr Ajagbonna said that he was tired of fighting. "I do not want to be patronised any more. The immigration rules are not governed by justice any longer but by the xenophobia of the tabloid press," he said.

A spokeswoman for the Home Office said: "Where a person has been refused further leave to remain, there is a full right of appeal against the decision to the independent asylum and immigration tribunal. An immigration judge will fully consider all aspects of the case, including any further information not provided on the original application."

Interesting? Click here to explore further - go to site of post for active link

Saturday February 16, 2008, 1:59 pm
Jill, Thanks so much for raising awareness of this issue

Saturday February 16, 2008, 4:37 pm
Noted, thank you for posting.

Sunday February 17, 2008, 4:17 am
What are the reasons for such a deportation? Incomprehensible!

Sunday February 17, 2008, 12:40 pm

The reasons are in fact explained in the other article I've posted about Damilola Ajagbonna's plight.
( http://www.care2.com/news/member/597720583/637938 )

If I remember correctly, he has been living with his aunt in Britain and she has the residency permits necessary or perhaps is even a citizen, this I can't remember, but in any event, she wanted to adopt him and they had a solicitor supposedly taking care of the paperwork. He, the solicitor, did not make the proper application in time, which made young Damilola an overstayer -- he had unwittingly overstayed the visa or whatever document it was that had made his stay legal, up to that point.

More details on his story in the other article I posted :
http://www.care2.com/news/member/597720583/637938

Sunday February 17, 2008, 12:45 pm

Here is the other article, which is in fact a follow-up since it reports the Bishop's reaction after the Court of Appeal decision to deport, the letter he wrote to urge the HOmeSecretary to intervene to halt the deportation :

The Bishop of London has written to the Home Secretary urging her to halt the deportation of a Nigerian teenager who has won universal praise for his unique and outstanding contribution to British society.


Damilola Ajagbonna, 19, this week lost his legal battle to stay in the UK despite living here since he was 11-years-old and winning places at two leading universities. The Court of Appeal upheld an earlier ruling that found he had no right to remain because he had not renewed his visitor status when he was growing up in London.

Now the Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, has asked Jacqui Smith to overturn the Home Office decision to send Mr Ajagbonna to Nigeria. In his letter, the bishop urges Ms Smith to intervene and help Mr Ajagbonna, who he describes as an excellent "role model" to young people in deprived parts of London.

Criticising the Government's immigration policy in an interview, the bishop also accused ministers of penalising those immigrants who, "play by the rules". He said: "Damilola has made a magnificent contribution to society in his work with his school and has always acted within the rules ... I know there's got to be a balance in immigration and I know what happens if you have too much of a strain on social housing but it does seems to me that this is all about following immigration targets blind to the individual."

The bishop said he was aware of at least two other cases in which immigrants had made huge contributions to the communities in which they lived but had been "picked off" by the authorities and recommended for deportation. He said these were clear cases of "virtue having its own punishment" and suggested the Government diverted more resources to targeting illegal immigrants who were, "living below the radar".

This week Anglican and Catholic bishops called on the Government to help asylum-seekers whose lives they said are blighted by prejudice, poverty and an unjust legal process.

In a joint statement they said: "We wish to express our concern at what appear to us to be aspects of inhumanity in the official processes undergone by asylum-seekers."

This week Mr Ajagbonna was honoured by the Church of England for his contribution to British society when he attended St Paul's Cathedral to receive the St Mellitus medal in recognition of his work at the Greig City Academy in Hornsey, north London, where he achieved 13 GCSEs and three A-levels at A grade

Mr Ajagbonna's contributions have also been recognised by the United Nations, which in 2005 appointed him an adviser on youth issues to Unicef.

At school he helped draft an anti-bullying policy and acted as a mentor to black students. Mr Ajagbonna came to Britain in 1999 with his mother, who suffers from sickle cell disease, under a visiting visa lasting six months. Because of his mother's illness he was brought up by his aunt in London and then Luton.

He explains: "My aunt asked the solicitor to send off an application for adoption before the visiting visa ran out and he failed to do it in time and so since then unbeknown to me I have been an overstayer."

He added: "I'm slowly emerging from the shock and astonishment of the [Court of Appeal] judgement. I can't dare hold out any hope because I've seen it dashed so many times.

"I feel like the system that I had embraced and contributed to has finally disowned me."

Saturday February 23, 2008, 4:46 pm
A friend of mine, Guy Njike, is in a kind of similar situation here in London. He is an asylum seeker from Cameroon, has always played by the rules and has made an immense contribution to his community.

Guy fears torture and imprisonment should he be returned to Cameroon yet was detained on-the-spot last week when reporting as usual in his lunch hour from work and told he would be deported in 6 days.

Guy arrived in the UK in 1999, and has been kept waiting by severe Home Office delays, he had to wait for nearly 5 years for his initial asylum interview!

He has worked, paid taxes, volunteered for a number of organisaitons including Refugee Council and Age Concern. He is currently working full time and volunteering 3 days a week at Medicins du Monde. He has done jury service here and has a vote, he plays football with a local team and attends church. He learnt English and completed a masters degree in Human Rights in 2004.

Yet this contribution and the fact that the only reason he has been allowed to rebuild his life is becasue of Home Office delays, means nothing to them.

If you would like to help us fight to stop Guy being deported, please sign our petition http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stopdeportationofguy/index.html and see other ways to help on our blog http://stopdeportationofguy.wordpress.com/

I will now be following Mr Ajagbonna's case too, doing anything I can to help and I will him luck.