Reid puts mother-daughter deportation on hold

British Home Secretary John Reid has put on hold the planned deportation from the North of an African mother and baby daughter, it was announced today.

Deputy First Minister at Stormont Martin McGuinness announced the stay of execution for asylum seekers Lordorice and 18-month-old Imelda Djountso after talks with Mr Reid.

Mr McGuinness has been campaigning for the Cameroonians, believing them to represent the human face of the torment experienced by many fleeing conflict and violence.

He said: “Today John Reid, British Home Secretary, agreed to defer the deportation case for two weeks to allow time to review the situation.

“I welcome this temporary reprieve and I will use this time to press the British government to lift the threat of deportation against the family and to allow Lordorice and her daughter to stay in Belfast.”

Ms Djountso returned to the province after being held for two months in a Bedfordshire detention centre pending an appeal against official deportation efforts.

She sought asylum after quitting Cameroon in 2005 following the murder of two family members and her rape in a dispute with a local tribal chief.

Mr McGuinness said he had also raised her case at a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London on Wednesday.

The UK Home Office was due to deport Ms Djountso last month but she was granted more time while lawyers considered the matter.

A fresh date had been set for June 22 following her release on bail last week.

Along with Mr McGuinness, Ulster Unionist MP Lady Sylvia Hermon and SDLP MP Dr Alasdair McDonnell have all been urging immigration chiefs to review her asylum bid.

Friends of the pair are arguing that Imelda, who was born in the North, should be considered separately from her mother and are writing to immigration minister Liam Byrne.

Mr McGuinness added: “Lordorice and her daughter should now be allowed to live in peace.”