Happy 11th Birthday, Precious Mhango

The best birthday present Precious Mhango could get today would be if Home Secretary Theresa May gave her and her mother Florence permission to remain in the UK and removed the threat of imminent deportation to Malawi.

This is the only honourable course of action for the Government. The alternatives, of deporting them to an uncertain and possibly separate future would be cruel and inhumane. Let's face it, none of this is Precious' fault, but the fact is that she's lived most of her life in this country, she speaks only English and she is effectively Scottish. You can't blame her mother for taking every legal opportunity our system offers in her long battle to be granted asylum, but the effect has been that Precious has been in the country for so long that her roots are here. To remove her after all this time would be to severely compromise her welfare.

The last Government was hauled across the legal coals often enough for failing to properly assess children's welfare before removing them from the country. I expect better of an administration that has Liberal Democrats in it.

Please take some time out to leave a message for Precious on the Facebook group today - as I said the other day on Florence's birthday, these good wishes mean an awful lot to both of them.

Happy Birthday, Florence Mhango - and how you can help

You might remember that I've written before about the plight of Florence Mhango and her 11 year old daughter Precious, who are living their lives in Glasgow in perpetual threat of immediate deportation to Malawi where they could face permanent separation.

Florence and Precious came into the UK 7 years ago as dependents of her then husband. Because of his violence to her, Florence fled with her daughter to Glasgow. While her husband remains entitled to live in this country, Florence and Precious have been refused asylum, despite the fact that if they are returned to Malawi, her ex husband's family have threatened to take Precious away from Florence.

Unfortunately, since July, things have become progressively gloomier for the pair as legal and political doors are slammed in their faces. I am particularly disappointed that Home Secretary, Theresa May, has refused to use the discretion that she acknowledges she has to allow them to stay outside the immigration rules, despite intervention from the Scottish Government and religious leaders here. Two weeks ago, their latest legal application failed.

Precious hasn't been back to school this term, because of the threat that UK Borders Agency officials will turn up at the classroom and detain her. That can't be good for them. Every day is an ordeal for them. It says a lot about the prospects of life in Malawi for them if Florence considers the uncertain existence they are enduring at the moment to be preferable.

It's Florence's birthday today, and Precious's on Friday. How good would it be if Theresa May listened to continued pleas from the pair's supporters to let them stay in the country.

If you want to wish them well on their special days, you can do so here on the wall of the Facebook group in their support. The good wishes of their supporters mean an awful lot to them, so please spare a few minutes to send them birthday greetings.

And while you do so, why not fire off another e-mail to Theresa May asking her to reconsider Florence and Precious' case.

Deporting Florence and Precious would be in my opinion an act of unacceptable and despicable cruelty. To all intents and purposes, Precious is a wee Scottish girl and should be allowed to stay here, close to her friends and with her mother.

Child Detention is a red line issue - end of story.

"We will end the detention of children for immigration purposes"

So says the Coalition's Programme for Government  on page 21 and this is what I expect to happen, despite today's story in the Guardian saying the Government is climbing down on this  I'm having trouble trying to find the actual answer to Greg Mulholland referred to in the article. However, it's clear from Hansard that only on Monday of this week, Damian Green confirmed in a written answer that the Government was committed to ending child detention. He told Peter Wishart:

The Government have been clear in their commitment to end the detention of children for immigration purposes. We therefore continue to work with our corporate partners to find an alternative that protects the welfare of children, without undermining our immigration laws.

The Guardian waits until the last paragraph of its article to print a statement from the Home Office saying something pretty similar.

I'd like to see that commitment become a reality, an absolute, now. I suspect that Home Office Civil Servants will be opposed to the move, but on this one, the Minister must over-rule them and insist on a permanent end to child detention.

So I guess this is a classic case of don't believe all you read in the newspapers. Having said that, I want to see some concrete results.

I am extremely disappointed that Theresa May declined to use the discretion she admits she has to allow Florence and Precious Mhango to remain in the country. Precious is effectively Scottish now and the threat of removal should be lifted from her now. I hope that Liberal Democrat ministers, including the Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore are making a robust case for them to stay so that Precious can go back to school with her friends. Their removal would be utterly unacceptable as far as I am concerned.

While I was reading through Home Office questions from Monday, I found this question from Liberal Democrat Annette Brooke and subsequent answer which upset me greatly:

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many times physical force has been used to board a child under the age of 18 years on to an aeroplane by each company contracted to provide UK Border Agency escorts in each month of the last five years; [11167]

6 Sep 2010 : Column 45W

(2) whether (a) staff in immigration removal centres and (b) UK Border Agency escort providers have been authorised to use the holds and techniques on children under the age of 18 years referred to in the Physical Control in Care manual; [11168]

(3) what training on the control and restraint of children under the age of 18 years has been provided by the Prison Service (a) in each immigration removal centre and (b) to each company contracted to provide UK Border Agency escorts; [11169]

(4) how many times (a) she and (b) the manager of a (i) directly-managed and (ii) contracted-out immigration removal centre has ordered a detained child in each removal centre under the age of 18 years to be put under special control or restraint for (A) injuring himself or others, (B) damaging property and (C) creating a disturbance in each month of each of the last five years; [11170]

(5) what techniques are in the category of special control and restraint; how many times each of the techniques has been used on a child under the age of 18 years (a) in each immigration removal centre and (b) by each company contracted to provide UK Border Agency escorts in each of the last 12 months; and for how long each technique was used in each case. [11171]

Damian Green: Use of restraint is governed by schedule 13 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and specifically in relation to Immigration Removal Centres, by the Detention Centre Rules 2001.

In order to exercise any use of restraint, detention custody officers and escorts must be accredited by the Secretary of State, a condition of which is that they have undergone training of techniques approved by the National Offender Management Service. Officers receive refresher training every 12 months. Any use of restraint must be justified, proportionate and for the shortest possible period to achieve the objective.

Some officers receive specialist training in the use of restraint on children using non-pain compliant techniques (Physical Control in Care), including shepherding and guiding.

We only use restraint on a child where it is strictly necessary to prevent self-harm or to protect others and property. In very exceptional circumstances, officers may be given authority to restrain a child in order to enforce their removal from the United Kingdom where every effort has been made to secure their compliance, but unfortunately they refuse to do so, often encouraged by their parents.

In the 12 months to June 2010, the period for which data is available, officers have been authorised to restrain children on 18 occasions for the purposes of removal. However, it was only necessary to restrain three of them. One further child was restrained in an immigration removal centre when officers had reason to believe she might self-harm.

The following table shows the occasions from 2008 to the present time when children were restrained by officers to board an aircraft. Such information is not available prior to 2008. The officers were provided by G4S on each occasion.

6 Sep 2010 : Column 46W

	Number of times restraint used
February 2010	1
September 2009	1
August 2009	1
March 2009	1
January 2009	4
September 2008	1
June 2008	2
April 2008	1
March 2008	1

The above data is based on management information, and is not subject to the detailed checks carried out for National Statistics. It is provisional and subject to change.

Special restraint involves the use of any device other than handcuffs such as leg restraints (velcro straps). No child has been subjected to special control or restraint in the last five years.

It makes me very angry to think of a child, through no fault of their own, being so distressed that they have to be forced on to the plane that takes them away to an uncertain future in a place from which their families have fled because of persecution of some description.

I would go as far as to say that I don't think we should be removing children from the country at all, especially if they have been born here or settled in this country for a significant part of their lives.

It's a simple matter of compassion and humanity as far as I am concerned.

Could Fast Track Deportation Judgement help Florence and Precious?

I've just seen it reported on the BBC website that the Goverment's policy of fast track deportation has been ruled unlawful by the High Court. Yet again, the UK Border Agency has been shown to get it wrong.

I wonder if this could possibly help Florence and Precious Mhango who are currently living in Glasgow. They have already in the past been detained and actually put on an aircraft for Malawi before being granted a last minute reprieve.

I am not an immigration legal expert, but I wonder if making sure everyone has the right to challenge removal orders will allow the Court to focus solely on Precious' wellbeing. I hope that is the case - although I would point out that Home Secretary Theresa May could end this now by using her discretion to allow them to stay here as so many in the local community want.

I was almost in tears last night when I read MSP Anne McLaughlin's latest impassioned blog posting. I know this situation is hardest for Florence and Precious, but don't under-estimate the effect on those who are trying to help them. I know what it's like to lose sleep over people's situations so I have huge amounts of empathy with Anne. Casework is not just a pile of paperwork a representative has to get through.. Each file represents a life in turmoil. I know that she has done and will continue to do everything she possibly can for Florence and Precious and for this deserves our respect, admiration and support.

The #florenceprecious vigil in words and pictures

I know I've written a lot about Florence and Precious recently but I hope you'll bear with me for just another couple of posts. It was a well organised event attended by varying estimates - the Scotsman says 70 but I thought it was more like a couple of hundred and the Evening Times agrees with me.

I feel really now because I rather uselessly failed to notice the celebs in our midst at the vigil for Florence and Precious yesterday. I don't watch Scottish soap River City and although I saw the two people on the front of the Evening Times report, I didn't recognise them even though they appear in the bottom left of my photo

I did, however, recognise Mr MacNumpty, even though I'd never met him before. As an aside, we went for a drink afterwards - Anne McLaughlin had arranged for a nearby pub to let us use an upstairs room. Will, Anna and I ended up chatting away to a very nice SNP activist called Richard from Rutherglen. Poor Will had to suffer the indignity of Richard thinking not only that we were a family, but that he and I were the same age when in fact I'm about a decade and a half older than him. Richard is clearly now my friend for life if he thinks I'm in my mid 20s. The comedy continued when somebody thought I was Richard's wife later on.

But enough of the frivolity. The event itself was well organised, simple, dignfied and did Florence and Precious proud.

The main part was essentially non political. There was a bit of criticism about the actions of the UK Border Agency but I will write about that separately because there's a point to be made.

Anne McLaughlin, the MSP who is helping Florence and Precious acted as MC but the main speakers were people close to Florence and Precious.

First was Precious' godmother, Chris Mercer who spoke about the little girl and how the ongoing ordeal is affecting her. She said that she felt that she was starting to relax a little bit after her spell in detention at the end of last year. She said that Precious was a child who always did what she was told and was almost too compliant. Chris explained how she was almost relieved when Precious confessed to tripping on purpose to get out of playing football, a sport she's not keen on, at her school.

Then came Rev Muriel Pearson, who spoke about her admiration for Florence and the way she just got on with her voluntary work in the community, helping the elderly almost immediately the pair were released from detention last year.

The final speakers were 10 year old Caitlin, Precious' best friend, who told how Precious was like a sister to her and how sad she would be to lose her. Her mother Elaine told how if you'd heard the girls chattering away you would be hard pushed to guess which one was Scottish and which one was born in Malawi.  That to me is the essence of why this case is exceptional and why Precious should stay. The reasons for the delays are the subject for another discussion, but the effect is that having spent her formative years here, Precious is now for all intents and purposes a Scottish wee girl. Her welfare must be the over-riding consideration and that means that she should stay hear. End of.

The event ended with a slightly altered version of the classic Scottish song "I belong to Glasgow"



The video is the original song sung by Andy Stewart but here are the new words:

They belong to Glasgow
Dear old Glasgow toon
There'll be something the matter with Glasgow
If the Mhangos are not aroon
We're only common and working folk
As anyone here can see
But this is our city, they don't ask for pity
The Mhangos just want to be free.

Then a piper played us out to Amazing Grace.

The organisers had letters to send to Theresa May and also had the idea of getting people to write messages on post-it notes for Precious and Florence, who, they say, are sustained by these sorts of messages. It was difficult for me to decide what to write, but more so for Anna. She drew a bunny for Precious and signed it "lots of love, Anna, 11 years old". She was moved by the event and actually didn't complain about being bored once. She was more annoyed that people beside where she was sitting on the steps were talking and she couldn't hear some of the speeches.

Let's hope that common sense prevails for them and that the Home Secretary allows them to stay.

It's not too late to blog about Florence and Precious

I hope the day when it is too late to blog about them never comes. If you haven't done a post about them, please think about doing so in the next few days to keep the momentum started yesterday going.

Here are some more posts which have appeared since I posted last night. For the sake of completeness I've put them in my original round up post but I think they deserve their acknowledgement on their own too.

Malc says allowing them to stay here is a "total no-brainer"

Subrosa's support is particularly welcome as I think it's fair to say that she takes a lot less lenient view of  immigration than I do.

And Clair from Kids Craft and Chaos shares Precious' story with the Guides she works with.

I'm really grateful to everyone for taking part in this. I think Theresa May should be given all the posts people have made in her Red Box.

Thank you to everyone who blogged about Florence and Precious

I'm in from the Vigil in Glasgow now and completely knackered and feeling pretty rubbish. It was amazing - a good couple of hundred people there and incredibly moving. I literally don't have the energy to write about it now but I will tomorrow.

When I clicked on the internet though and saw that my blog roll contained almost exlusively Florence and Precious posts, I was so grateful that the blogosphere had responded to requests from Will, Anne and I to have a blog-in at the time of the vigil. I couldn't let the night go by without bringing them all together and saying thank you.

Here are all the postings I've seen. There may be more and I'll add them as I find out about them.

Alison couldn't make the vigil although she wanted to because her wee baby needed her but she wrote this from home. I wonder if she's mastered the art of typing and feeding at the same time.

Clair at Kids Craft and Chaos lent her support.

The Shoogly Peg asked us to make today different.

Jeff linked David Cameron's comments about empowering communities to the fact that the local community want Florence and Precious to stay.

Indygal, who has done so much for Florence and Precious, kept her's simple but extremely effective.

Fraser MacPherson posted here. It's about the third post down but I can't get the titled post cos if I click on the headline it links back to me.

Spidey let the commenters on the Scotsman thread absolutely have it - and asked the coalition to help Florence and Precious.

Duncan looked at things through Precious' eyes - beautifully done.

The lovely elephant recounted the values of generosity and helpfulness to those who needed it that make people want to come here and says these are to be celebrated. I think I want all Government ministers to go to him for a training session on how they should do things.

I e-mailed Lib Dem Voice with a piece this morning and asked them to use their judgement on whether the Blogosphere had had enough of me blogging about Florence and Precious. They generously decided it hadn't and posted this.

Mr MacNumpty, who is not my husband, for the avoidance of doubt, says that there is only one logical decision for the Home Secretary to take - to let Florence and Precious stay. That was after his call-to-keyboards to bloggers yesterday.

Just when I thought I'd finished, Andrew posts this asking everyone to write to Theresa May and gives pointers of things to include in the letter.

I really appreciate the help of everyone who's taken part and I know Indygal will as well as will Florence and Precious and the lovely friends of their's who were there tonight.

Update: some more posts have been made:

Malc says allowing them to stay here is a "total no-brainer"

Subrosa's support is particularly welcome as I think it's fair to say that she takes a lot less lenient view of  immigration than I do.

And Clair from Kids Craft and Chaos shares Precious' story with the Guides she works with.

Further update:

Jennie urges action and says that the idea of Florence and Precious being taken away from their adopted city  because of some "pettyfogging bureaucracy" fills her with rage.

Florence and Precious Vigil taking place now

And that is where, hopefully, I will have got to.

You are seeing this by the magic of scheduled posting.

Anyway, all I really want to say is summed up in this poster.

How you can help Florence and Precious Mhango today. #florenceprecious

When?

5.30 pm Monday 19th July 2010

Where?

The top of the Buchanan Street, near the Donald Dewar statue, at the bottom of the stairs outside the Buchanan Galleries - if you can, bring a candle and some yellow ribbon for this humanitarian vigil.

And/Or


Twitter (using #florenceprecious) and the Blogosphere. Write a blog post, or some tweets in support of Florence and Precious and say why you think they should be allowed to stay in Glasgow through the day but particularly to come online at the time of the vigil. For more detailed information see Anne McLaughlin's blog here.

Why? - 5 Reasons Florence and Precious should stay in Glasgow

• If they are returned to Malawi, they will most likely be separated and 10 year old Precious will not be allowed to see her mother again.
• Precious is settled at school in Glasgow and is doing well there. She and her mother have long standing friends here and are part of the community where they live.
• Precious only speaks English and faces being separated from her mother and handed over to people she can't communicate with if deported.
• Precious has lived in this country since she was 3 years old. She has no memory of Malawi. She is safe and doing well where she is in Glasgow. If she is deported, her welfare will be severely compromised.
• People are worried about creating precedents in these situations - there can't be many people in this country in the same circumstances with such strong support from their communities behind them. This is an exceptional case.

Florence and Precious have been through an awful lot, including two spells of detention. For that reason, I think the best solution to their situation would be for the Home Secretary to use her discretion to grant them leave to remain outside the Immigration Rules. She could do this very quickly so that Florence and Precious can have peace of mind and security for the first time in a long time. The more public support we can generate for them today, the better. David Cameron's talking about community activism and people having more say about what happens in their area. It's clear that Florence and Precious' community wants them to stay - so why not let them? 

Blog and Tweet for Florence and Precious Mhango tomorrow #florenceprecious

I make no apology for another Florence and Precious post. If you're not familiar with their story, Florence Mhango and her 10 year old daughter Precious are in great danger of deportation to Malawi. They came into the country in 2003 with Florence's husband who was violent towards her. They fled to Scotland where they have lived ever since.

If they are sent back to Malawi, the likelihood is that Precious will be taken by her father's family and permanently separated from her mother. They will be powerless within the legal and cultural system. If you think that Malawi is a fine place to be sent back to, you might want to have a wee look at Amnesty's recent reports on their human rights record. This report confirms that the fight for women's equality in Malawi, despite limited progress in recent years, has a long way to go.

If you are reading this and you blog, or tweet, please consider taking some time to prepare a post in their support to go live tomorrow around the time of the vigil. It would be great if the blogosphere could work together like this to ask that Florence and Precious be allowed to stay. If you are tweeting, please use the hashtag #florenceprecious

Their story could end in one of 3 ways:

They could be deported, before or after the Court of Appeal has time to consider their latest appeal. The fact that the Home Office is trying to get them out before this is heard is very worrying.

They could win their appeal.

Or, and this is the one I'm hoping for because it could happen very quickly: Home Secretary Theresa May could use her discretion to grant them leave to stay in the country outside the immigration rules on the basis of compelling compassionate circumstances. Precious is a happy girl who's doing well at school in Glasgow. Her welfare and safety would be severely compromised if she was forced to return to Malawi. That, I think, is compelling enough to require our compassion.

I was impressed and to be honest pleasantly surprised at the warmth of her tone when speaking about the recent extremely welcome Supreme Court judgement against the Discretion Test, reported in the Independent:

"I welcome the ruling of the Supreme Court, which vindicates the position of the coalition Government. We have already promised to stop the removal of asylum-seekers who have had to leave particular countries because their sexual orientation or gender identification puts them at proven risk of imprisonment, torture or execution. I do not believe it is acceptable to send people home and expect them to hide their sexuality to avoid persecution."

"From today, asylum decisions will be considered under the new rules and the judgment gives an immediate legal basis for us to reframe our guidance for assessing claims based on sexuality, taking into account relevant country guidance and the merits of each individual case.

"We will, of course, take any decisions on a case-by-case basis looking at the situation in the country of origin and the merits of individual cases in line with our commitment."

Considering the years of churlishness from Labour ministers when decisions went against them, her tone was quite refreshing.

I hope she will therefore consider Florence and Precious' case in light of the fact that Precious has spent most of her life here and has the support of a significant and to be honest unprecedented section of Scottish society, from journalists, including Joan MacAlpine to Church leaders to the First Minister. You don't often see a joint letter like this being sent to the Prime Minister.

The person who knows most about Florence and Precious' case is the SNP MSP who's been helping them, Anne McLaughlin. You will find everything you need to know on her blog.

This is a humanitarian issue, though, not a party political one. Whatever party you are in, or if you aren't in any, please take part in the vigil tomorrow, either virtually (via blogging or tweeting), personally, or, with the wonders of technology, both. If you do blog, could you please put a link to your post in the comments to this.

Public support can make a difference and help people stay in this country. I've seen it happen before. So let's do it!

Bring a yellow ribbon and candle for Florence and Precious

I've lifted this picture from Anne McLauglin MSP's blog. I hope she doesn't mind.

I know that many of you reading this won't be able to go because you live too far away. It dawned on me that you could show your solidarity by lighting a candle, wearing a yellow ribbon and posting it to the Facebook group in their support. Maybe we could also change our FB and Twitter avatars too.

Every time I look at my lovely 11 year old, I feel so much for Florence. Separating me from my daughter would be the worst thing that could ever happen to me - and I am sure Anna feels the same way. Making someone live with that awful fear, or, worse, realising that fear, is unspeakably cruel and I make no apology for describing it as torture. Florence and Precious are welcome in Glasgow. Church leaders from across the religious spectrum, union leaders, and the First Minister of Scotland agree and have written to the Home Secretary in their support. They should be allowed to stay. End of.

Support Florence and Precious Mhango at vigil in Glasgow next Monday 19th July

You might remember I wrote the other day about Florence and Precious Mhango, a mother and daughter for Malawi, who are facing deportation to that country. If that happens, they will virtually certainly be separated and a vulnerable 10 year old will be sent to live with strangers and not allowed to see her mother.

To me there is a very clear humanitarian reason for them to be allowed to stay in Glasgow where the community has taken them to their hearts.

On Monday, 19th July at 5.30 pm there will be a vigil in Glasgow in support of Florence and Precious. It takes place right in the centre of the city virtually next door to Queen St Station and Buchanan Bus Station at the statue of Donald Dewar.

This is the message Anne McLaughlin MSP sent to all members of the Facebook Group supporting Florence and Precious.

Dear All

On this coming Monday at 5.30pm, in conjunction with the Unity Centre, we are holding a Glasgow Fair Monday vigil for Florence and Precious.

It will be at the top of Buchanan Street at the bottom of the stairs outside the Buchanan Galleries.

We will be asking "on Fair Monday, what's fair about separating a mother and child?".

I would appeal to those of you who are able to be there, to come and show your support.

This is not a political DEMO but a peaceful humanitarian vigil for two human beings who need our love and support now more than ever.

Therefore although I expect many politicians and activists will be present, the speakers will be Florence and Precious's friends, the people who know them best.

I will send you more details shortly - we may ask you to bring something symbolic with you - so please look out for it.

Best wishes

Anne

My health hasn't been great these past few days, so I can't promise to be there - although if I can go I will - but I hope that as many people as possible will turn out. If you work in Glasgow, and you feel as strongly about this as I do, please stop by on your way home on Monday to show solidarity with Florence and Precious. They need so badly to be allowed to stay in this country and to be freed from the constant uncertainty, fearing this might be the day the authorities might force them back to Malawi and a very difficult future apart.

I know from previous experience that people in this situation can be spared deportation with support from the public so you could make a difference.

Let Florence and Precious Mhango stay!

It fills me with absolute horror that Florence Mhango, and her 10 year old daughter Precious, might be deported imminently. Precious has been in this country since she was 3 years old and came in with her mother and father who was studying here. Because of violence from her husband, Florence fled with her daughter for her own safety.

They sought asylum in this country on the grounds that if they were forced to return to Malawi, Precious would be taken away from her mother and handed over to her father's family and, basically, could never her mother again. I don't know how we as a country can possibly allow such a cruel and awful thing to happen. It's basically handing people over to be tortured. As a mother of a little girl who's close to Precious' age, I can't imagine anything worse than being separated from my daughter - and I'm fairly certain she feels the same way.

I am really annoyed that pressure is being put on Florence and Precious to leave the country before their final appeal is heard.

However, the Government does have another option - the Home Secretary has discretion to allow people to stay in this country outside the immigration rules and I think she should do so in this instance. Florence and Precious have the support of Scottish Government and Church leaders as well as their local community. It's within Theresa May's power to end their ordeal and ensure they have a safe future in this country. I hope that she takes it.

I've written to her to ask her to use her discretionary powers to let them stay. Any even rudimentary assessment of Precious' welfare would show that her future life chances would be severely compromised if she was sent back to Malawi.

This is the second time in as many months that a woman and child who have been victims of domestic violence have hit the headlines in Scotland. In May, Sehar Shahbaz and her young daughter were sent back to Pakistan to an uncertain future.

No compassionate and fair country should treat vulnerable women and children like this. However, putting pressure on the Government can help - it did with Rene Mukarbiwa and Janipher Maseko. So please write to Theresa May to stay. You can find more information on Anne McLaughlin MSP's blog. She's fought hard for Florence and Precious and I can only imagine how stressed and worried she must be feeling at the moment.