Your country needs you... but not you: Soldiers' mother faces deportation

Your country needs you... but not you: Soldiers' mother faces deportation


UK - The Independent
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Your country needs you... but not you: Soldiers' mother faces deportation

Leven Bowman served in Iraq. His brother Damian was an army poster boy. Now the Home Office wants to deport their mother and her 15-year-old daughter

By Ian Herbert and Nigel Morris
Published: 13 March 2007

Joy Bowman encouraged her Jamaican sons when they told her they wanted to join the Army in their adoptive country.

She watched them flourish as the youngest joined the British Army's Royal Logistics Corps and saw duty in Basra, while the eldest featured in a recruitment campaign to persuade more people from ethnic minorities to join the Army.

But five years after supporting her son during a perilous tour of Iraq, Mrs Bowman and her 15-year-old daughter, who is preparing for GCSEs, face being deported tomorrow - further victims of a Home Office that places its removal targets ahead of the role in British life played by those it is deporting.

Mrs Bowman, 49, who fled from an abusive husband in Jamaica six years ago, is due to be taken from her home in Newcastle upon Tyne's Benwell district today to a detention centre at Heathrow, where she is scheduled to be on a 12.40pm flight tomorrow to Jamaica - where domestic violence is a source of concern to Amnesty International.

Mrs Bowman's sons, whose army service brings an entitlement to British citizenship, said their mother had inspired them to join the forces. "I was proud to serve my country and the Government was happy enough for me to risk my life fighting in Iraq," said Leven Bowman, 28, who depended on letters, protein drinks and sun cream that his mother dispatched during his six months' service in Basra. "I can't understand how they can now threaten to deport my mother."

Damian Bowman, 24, a lorry driver in Northampton, added: "My mum wants to be a good citizen and to help people. It seems as though our service for this country counts for nothing."

Mrs Bowman has been a volunteer for the past five years at a children's hearing clinic in Gosforth, Newcastle, and has been studying at Sunderland University, with a view to becoming a nurse. She also helps elderly people with their gardens. Her Labour MP, David Clelland, and the Tyneside Community Action for Refugees paid tribute yesterday to her role in Newcastle life since arriving in 2000.

Details of Mrs Bowman's plight emerged as John Reid, the Home Secretary, hailed progress in streamlining the asylum system. "It is in nobody's interest for cases to drag on for years," he said yesterday. "It is not fair on those genuinely fleeing persecution who want to get on with their lives. It undermines our commitment to remove people who have no basis to be here."

Mrs Bowman said her British friends could not understand why she was encouraging her boys to enlist - an option available to them as immigrants from the Commonwealth. "I was really proud of them," she said. "I also felt the numb fear that every soldier's mother has felt - but when Levene said he had had enough of dodging bombs I said, 'No, stick with it.' Like many mothers, I think I've played my own little part for the country."

Mrs Bowman fears that her husband, from whom she is now divorced, will find her if she is sent back. "Jamaica is only a small island," she said. "I was repeatedly abused by my husband but the police ignored my complaints. Amnesty reports that thousands of women and girls in Jamaica are abused and that state is failing to effectively investigate the abuses."

The Refugee Council said the removal of a woman who had played a full role in British society reflected the Home Office practice of removing soft targets. "The Government is so focused on returns - and in many cases those who are less deserving of this outcome," said a spokeswoman.

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesman, said: "The inefficiency of a system which allows years to elapse before a final decision is taken means that asylum seekers and their families develop roots in British society. Those roots then make any removal appear all the more unjust and illogical."

Mr Clelland said he hoped there could be "flexibility". "Joy's sons' role for this country is a factor which can play a part in her case."

An Immigration and Nationality Directorate spokesman said: "The Government has made it clear that it will take a robust approach to removing people from the country where they have no legal right to be here."

Victims of Home Office targets

Kamila and Karina Kaya were living and studying in Birmingham until they lost their right to stay in the UK when they turned 18 in November. The twins, who want to become doctors, fled the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan in 2003 after their parents were murdered. Despite winning a reprieve hours before they were due to be deported, they have since been arrested and are in Yarl's Wood detention centre awaiting the outcome of a judicial review into their case. They have not been given a date.

Farhat Khan was invited to meet Tony and Cherie Blair at a reception in recognition of her community work 48 hours before attending her final appeal against deportation. Mrs Khan, 54, from Peshawar, Pakistan, claimed asylum in the UK six years ago after fleeing a violent husband. She lives in Manchester. Her five children, who range in age from 12 to 30, face deportation with her. She is awaiting a decision on her case.

Afshin Azizian fled Iran for the UK in 1995, fearing he would be arrested for his involvement with the Iranian resistance. After losing his benefits, Mr Azizian, 38, has spent much of his time in Britain living on the streets, but has now been taken in by monks in Hampstead. Last year 1,000 people signed a petition presented to Downing Street calling for Mr Azizian to be allowed to remain here on compassionate grounds.

Olivia Hayes, a 20-year-old Australian, has been told to leave by the end of this month even though she is married to a UK national and is expecting his baby. Her case rests on an incorrect visa application. The Home Office says that overseas nationals planning to marry should apply for entry clearance from abroad, and not arrive on a visitor visa. Mrs Hayes is appealing for an exception to be made. Her husband must decide whether to leave with her or stay to be close to his mother, who has terminal cancer.

Gary Douglas, a 46-year-old computing consultant from New Zealand, had qualified for the highly skilled migrant worker programme when he and his teenage son moved to Cheltenham in 2005. But he was told last year that the rules had changed and his visa would not be automatically extended, as had been promised when he chose to settle in the UK. He will have to leave in December.



© 2007 Independent News and Media Limited