14 year old Meltem Avcil and her mum are to be released today from Yarlswood. Speaking from Yarlswood this afternoon, in her soft Doncaster accent, Meltem said:
“I am so happy I think I will burst. This is my best moment ever. I want to say thank you to the children’s commissioner for not forgetting me. He had the kindest eyes ever. But I want to know why my school never helped me.”
Robina Qureshi, Director, Positive Action in Housing, who led the campaign, said:
“We welcome and celebrate Meltem’s imminent release.
“We want to thank the press and her 1,583 supporters in Scotland, England, Germany and France who wrote to express their outrage at her detention, and Sir Al Aynsley-Green who took his time out to go and meet Meltem.
“However, it is shameful that this government put a 14 year old girl through such psychological trauma in an attempt to force her out of her home which is Doncaster. Meltem suffered considerable psychological trauma as a result of her incarceration. She went from being a happy child to a depressed self harmer seeking out suicide pacts with fellow young ‘detainees’ at Yarlswood, where some fifty other children remain locked up. So what about them? At her last bail hearing, the judge wanted to see medical evidence of her unhappiness, the existing medical notes from Medical Justice now confirm the obvious.
“The government with its messy asylum system dithered over whether she was a refugee or an asylum seeker. But to Meltem, her home is Doncaster and she insisted all along she belongs in the UK, in Doncaster. A child growing up in a country for six of the most formative years of her life does not see a refuge or a temporary place; she sees her home, her country. This is her home and noone had the right to take that - or her liberty for that matter - away from her. This child was also taken away from her home at dawn in August 2007, like a criminal, without so much as a chance to say goodbye to her friends and neighbours. Meltem’s home is Doncaster and she belongs there. We fought hard for Meltem to go back home to Doncaster, because that is her home in the truest sense of the word.
“We are truly disappointed in Meltem’s school, Hall Cross Lower, which never spoke one word in her defence while she was locked up. We have seen with other campaigns, other schools shout the loudest, teachers and pupils petition and protest. The silence emanating from Hall Cross was deafening. Their message to Meltem, “best of luck for the future” was one more piece of abuse we chose not to tell Meltem about while she was locked up. In fact, on her birthday, various teaching unions had met in Hall Cross and Meltems name never even came up until two NUT members approached us. To Hall Cross we say, Meltem Avcil was locked up, NOT disappeared.Now she’ll be back and we hope the school can explain themselves”
“The political situation in Turkey, is such that they face certain persecution because they are Kurds. There is nowhere else for this family to go. Give it another year and Meltem would have had a legal right to stay here because of the seven year rule. The fight for Meltem and her mum to remain continues.” ENDS
4 responses so far ↓
Stevie T // November 23, 2007 at 11:05 pm
What a joke the UK government are, here we have 2 illegals who first claimed asylum in Germany and have no right to be here and they cave in and let them stay. Now dont get me wrong, I do feel sorry for the girl for what she has been through but no wonder britain is going down the pan when the government have not got a spine to see the removal (not deportation) through and remove them back to Germany to have the asylum claim considered, not Turkey as so many other websites are stating. I’m disgusted with our whole legal system
Darren Stewart // November 23, 2007 at 11:48 pm
I am glad they can stay. They are Human just like the rest of us. There was obviously massive support for her to stay. The people supporting her were tax payers and have a view and there government should (and have in a sense) acted on their view.
Stevie T - who cares if she went to Germany? She was here for long enough. I do not blame her or her mother.
Meanwhile, my little brother is somewhere he doesn’t belong. He is serving in Iraq, joined because his best mate did, and now his friend is dead.
Immigration is the end cause of the problem. Us invading countries half way around the world is the root cause. She is Kurdish, we are occupying North Iraq (Kurdistan). So before she should go back, lets bring every Solider, gun and bomb we ever sent over there.
I hope Meltem has the chance to enjoy the rest of her life in the UK.
Michael Woods // November 24, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Wonderful.
Now lets get the remaining 50 children released from that place. Even the world’s religions agree that a child must not be punished for the sins of a parent.
If the parents break a law to ensure a better life for their families then so be it. Our shoulders as a society are broad enough to carry the extra weight until the kids make their contribution.
Good luck to Meltem and her mum.
Debi // November 24, 2007 at 3:06 pm
A battle won. The war continues.
Darren’s comment is very telling and very touching too. I hope his brother stays safe and also that the others in Meltem’s position will similarly stay safe - in this country.
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