Last chance must be real chance

SNP MSP Anne McLaughlin has written to Home Secretary Alan Johnson calling on him to urgently intervene as Home Office lawyers prepare to fast track a judicial review of the immigration status of Florence Mhango and her ten year old daughter Precious.

If the application by the Home Office legal team is successful, the Mhangos would be forced to remain in the Yarlswood detention centre before appearing before a deportation hearing within weeks. If the application is halted, they should be able to return home to Scotland while their legal team prepared further evidence in support of their application to stay.

The Mhangos have been living in the UK for almost seven years and moved to Cranhill in Glasgow three years ago. Despite being settled in a local primary school, Precious and her mother were detained in Dungavel for three days before being sent Yarlswood last month. The family are fighting deportation to Malawi as they believe they will be separated on their return with Precious handed over to her father's family against her will.

Commenting, Ms McLaughlin said: "The Home Secretary absolutely cannot allow this hearing to be fast tracked.

"Not only will it lengthen the traumatic detention of a ten year old girl, it slashes the amount of time her legal team have to develop the arguments in her final bid to stay.

"Precious Mhango belongs to Scotland. Any Government move which damages her chances of remaining is an outrage.

"I am now appealing in the strongest terms possible to the Home Secretary to use his discretion to stop this process, release Florence and Precious and allow their last chance to be a real chance."

Note:

For more information on the Mhango case, please see here.