FGM alert - FGM predates Islam

[outsider]

UK Border Agency: Please review the fresh evidence submitted for Afusat Saliu's asylum case properly

By Anj Handa
Leeds

Sign the Petition

My friend, Afusat Saliu, faces being returned to Nigeria. She has removal directions for 25th April. If she goes back, there is a real risk of forcible FGM on her daughters. She fled to the UK when her step-mother expressed a wish to have her daughter Bassy cut. Bassy will be four in May; two year old Rashidat was born in London - Afusat fled while she was heavily pregnant.

In Afusat's village, FGM is usually performed on babies, which is when Afusat herself was cut. If she is made to return and her family catch up with her, it is likely that she will be powerless to protect them from being mutilated. Afusat is also in danger as she escaped a forced marriage to a man 40 years her senior to whom her family is indebted.

I met Afusat in January. She hadn't had much support, so I assisted her with finding a solicitor and working with him to prepare fresh evidence. This fresh evidence and recent case law was not referred to in the Home Office response letter. We ask that her case is reviewed as it does not seem to have been given due consideration.

Afusat came to England to protect her daughters. She helps out at their school and volunteers with the Refugee Council and other organisations to support women in a similar position, despite her own mental health issues. Afusat is a real asset to our society. Her daughters are little Leeds lasses and have a spirit and character that I worry will be knocked out of them if they taken away.

Our law says that Every Child Matters. I'm not willing to gamble on the risk of them being cut - a 13 year old died just this Sunday as a result of FGM gone wrong. It's too late for Afusat - nobody could protect her, but we do have a chance to save her girls. Please sign the petition. If you want to read more about their journey, visit anjhanda.wordpress.com.

My Request to Home Office:

- Review new evidence, which was presented, but appears to have been overlooked

- Consider Case Law precedent, where a materially similar application for asylum was upheld

- Ensure the safety and well-being of her two small daughters who are now well settled in Leeds (including the youngest, who was born in London), but who are likely to be subject to FGM should they return to Nigeria

- Pay due regard to the imminent danger involved to her and her family should she be returned to Nigeria, given the latest information that Nigeria is unlikely to be able to provide sufficient protection for herself and her family

- Take note of the community contribution already made by Afusat

Sign the Petition


Yes, our 'Benign' bunch of creeps who finagle themselves into power by kowtowing to the Bankster 'NWO' are seriously considering sending this poor woman and her two daughters back to Nigeria, where there is a very strong chance the two young girls will be subject to FGM, which our 'Benign' leaders claim to be totally opposed to.

Here's the link: https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/uk-border-agency-please-review- the-fresh-evidence-submitted-for-afusat-saliu-s-asylum-case-properly?u tm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=55506&alert_id=aB RXMjGXJI_TAGSQgXVyK

[outsider]

Update from Change.org re Afusat Saliu (above case):

'Thank you so much for all the support you have given Afusat and her two daughters.

We have been been quiet the past week but only because we have been working hard behind the scenes. And I now have good news to share with you.

Thanks in part to the support of 115,000 people who signed this petition, we have succeeded in getting together a legal team to support Afusat. The team has submitted an urgent legal challenge in the European Court of Human Rights to prevent the family’s deportation until it has fully assessed her case to stay in the UK.

Afusat remains with her daughters at home in Leeds and we are keeping optimistic of the outcome.

You can watch Afusat explain why she is fighting to protect her daughters from FGM in this video on the Guardian.

Thank you for all you have done to support Afusat so far, please continue to share Afusat's story and the petition: www.change.org/Afusat

Thank you,
Anj

The UK Government have been cracking on about how evil FGM is, getting plenty of MSM coverage; but when the spotlight is off, they quietly try to ship this lady and her two young daughters, who are in dire risk of FGM if returned to Nigeria, out of the UK.

Keep up the pressure on this apology of a Government (and the Opposition don't seem to be taking this up, either).

[outsider]

Further URGENT update:

Change.org 29 May 2014 11:03:40

Thank you so much for your support for Afusat and her daughters.

We need your help more than ever.

Yesterday, without warning, Afusat and her two daughters were collected and driven away to a holding centre near Sheffield. The Home Office wants to deport them all on a Virgin Atlantic plane to Lagos tonight at 22:20. [1]

Please tweet Virgin boss Richard Branson to ask him to step in & help.

Afusat's solicitor had already started Judicial Review proceedings to get a review into her case, so it is shocking that this has happened. The Home Office rarely removes someone when a Judicial Review is issued and their own guidelines state that they must give a minimum of 72 hours notice of removal in any case. Afusat was not given this notice.

Afusat has already endured extreme distress. This month she came home to find someone had been in her house. It was only the next evening that a warrant was posted through her door. It had been Home Office staff. This is so frightening for an already distressed single mum with two small children, particularly when her case has been in the public eye.

Afusat's lawyers are fighting hard today to protect her.

You can also help. Airlines like Virgin Atlantic have delayed deportations before after being overwhelmed with complaints. And Richard Branson's own daughter has spoken out against FGM. [2]

If enough of us contact Richard Branson we could convince him to ensure Virgin do not fly the family. Tweet Richard Branson now.

You could also call Virgin Atlantic headquarters direct on 0844 8110 000.

Thank you,
Anj

PS If you are not on Twitter keep sharing the petition www.change.org/Afusat

1- Guardian: Nigerians due to be deported, despite claim of female genital mutilation risk
2 - Virgin: It's time to speak out against FGM

[outsider]

Temporary reprieve: Govt. admit they didn't give family the required 72 hour notice; and Richard Branson spoke out strongly about the evil of FGM.
But we still have to keep up the pressure on Theresa May:

'Thank you all for everything you have done for Afusat and her daughters. Together we stopped Afusat being deported yesterday!

You made this happen. Thousands of you have messaged Virgin boss Richard Branson asking him not to fly her. The media covered the story all day. Keith Vaz MP agreed to ask the Home Secretary to review the case.

At first Virgin Atlantic said it was not for an airline to refuse to carry a deportee passenger. Then we heard her flight was changed and she wouldn't fly with Virgin Atlantic. And finally the Government conceded they had not given her the required 72 hours notice and they did not fly her.

It was an emotional day but it is clear that the public outcry made an difference.

We even got a direct response from Richard Branson. He said: "FGM is a horrendous practice and a serious violation of internationally recognised human rights. The authorities must ensure the Saliu family are given all support and protection possible." Read his statement in full is here.

To have Richard Branson on record speaking out about FGM and the need to protect Afusat's family is a huge step.

The fight is not over yet. We have given Afusat's lawyers more time to make their case. We need to make the most of this extra time. Home Secretary Theresa May has the power to intervene and review Afusat's case. She has said before that "female genital mutilation is an abhorrent form of child abuse which this Government are committed to eradicating."

Send Theresa May an email here ask her to review Afusat's case: mayt@parliament.uk<mayt@parliament.uk>

All we are asking for is that Afusat is given a fair hearing. Her lawyers have submitted a Judicial Review and it is only fair the Government hear her case in full before making a decision.

We've achieved so much in 24 hours, let's keep going. Email Theresa May now: mayt@parliament.uk<mayt@parliament.uk>

Thank you so much for your support.
Anj

[Iftikhar]

FGM is a revolting, barbaric practice. So is child sexual abuse. Have you bothered to ruthlessly suppress hat and prosecute sexual predators? Or do you just let them get away with it for years because of their upstanding positions in society? The issue is on a fault line between a number of sensitivities, it's going to provoke emotional reactions. FGM is sexual assault and should be treated as such. The poor children are coaxed into this barbaric procedure by the people they most trust - unaware of the long-term mental and physical consequences. There is no place for 'cultural sensitivity' when addressing this matter - anyone found guilty should be named and shamed.

Is this not child abuse by the parents? Is there not a procedure in place to deal with child abuse by parents? Sharia has nothing to do with FGM. FGM predates Islam. As it's open season on Muslims and Islam, especially open season on Muslim women in Europe, the proportion of women children at risk is equivalent to the number of Muslim girls in Europe. FGM in the UK is a classic case of a politically correct public sector bending over backwards to accommodate blatant abuses of the person in the name of cultural and religious traditions.To destroy a girl's clitoris is to ruin their sex life for ever. That is a crime and there are laws that are good enough to deal with this. What on earth are the police doing? Sitting on their ar*es no doubt.
FGM predates Islam. It was supposedly first started in Pharoahic Egypt. Perhaps earlier. Islam does NOT teach it or support it. The Prophet Muhammad had 4 daughters and 9 wives and not a single evidence or testimony suggests any of them underwent anything like FGM or that they supported it. Islam does not permit mutilation of the body for rituals or customs or traditions, like prohibiting tattoos. FGM is wrongly associated with Islam. But so are many things. Ironically, the British empire was instrumental at destroying the one institution with the moral, political, and spiritual authority to end destructive and barbaric practices like FGM.
Keith Vaz, the committee's Labour chairman, said victims had been badly let down. "FGM is an ongoing national scandal which is likely to have resulted in the preventable mutilation of thousands of girls to whom the state owed a duty of care," he said. "Successive governments, politicians, the police, health, education and social care sectors should all share responsibility for the failure in recent years to respond adequately to the growing prevalence of FGM in the UK."Right 'cos we couldn't possibly point the finger at the cultures that do this kind of thing and protect those who do it with a conspiracy of silence, could we? What proportion of children are at risk of FGM compared to the proportion of children at risk of abuse generally?
IA
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

[TonyGosling]

More than 700 girls and women mutilated last year in Bristol
By EmmaGrimshaw | Posted: July 22, 2016
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/700-girls-and-women-mutilated-last-year-i n-bristol/story-29538686-detail/story.html

Shocking new figures reveal 705 patients were treated for the effects of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Bristol between April 2015 and March 2016.

The new data, marks the first time that FGM figures for England have ever been produced by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Information collected from hospitals, mental health providers and GP practices, reveal most of the victims were aged between 25 and 34.

Bristol has one of the highest rates of female genital mutilation in the country experts believe.

Defined by the UN as a form of torture, at least 3,500 women in Bristol are either living with the consequences of the barbaric practice, or face the threat of it in the future.

At the moment we are at the beginning of the cutting season, the months when girls are most at risk of being flown abroad to be mutilated, often by family members.

Across England, there were 5,702 newly recorded cases of FGM reported, and 8,656 total attendances where FGM was identified or a procedure for FGM was undertaken. Somalia accounts for more than one third of all newly recorded women and girls with a known country of birth, while other countries with a large volume of cases include Eritrea, Sudan, Nigeria and Gambia.

Sharon Copsey, NSPCC Regional Head of Service in South West England, said: "It is really concerning that there are thousands of newly recorded cases of women who have suffered FGM across England, especially when many of these have endured the procedure at such a young age. Parents should be fully aware of the fact that FGM is against the law in the UK and causes serious and long lasting physical and emotional harm to the children it is inflicted upon.

"There is also a requirement for all professionals, families and members of the public to share information about FGM and the terrible damage it can cause on young women living in our communities. Only by being open and talking about this issue can we really start to reduce the number of women who are exposed to what is a barbaric act."

Anyone worried a child is at risk can call the FGM helpline on 0800 028 3550.