"LET THEM STAY AND END THEIR DAILY NIGHTMARE" - MULHOLLAND

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 26th Jul 2007

Following a meeting in Parliament, Leeds MP Greg Mulholland, accompanied Enid Ruhango and Sophie Odogo, former residents of the Yarl's Wood Asylum Detention Centre, to deliver a petition with hundreds of signatures to the Home Office yesterday afternoon requesting that, after the horrific ordeal that they have endured, they be allowed to stay in this county.

Enid and Sophie face the daily fear of a knock on the door to have them taken back to Uganda, the country from which they fled after facing horrific treatment and assault at the hands of Government forces. During their time in Yarl's Wood, as highlighted by HM Inspector of Prisons Anne Owens, Enid and Sophie who both have serious health problems, were completely failed by the standard of healthcare provision at the centre, and went on hunger strike for 38 days to protest at their treatment.

Commenting Mr Mulholland said:

"The treatment that these women have received since they came to this country has been nothing short of appalling.

"They have been failed at every stage of the immigration process. At Yarl's Wood they were completely failed by the system, particularly the lack of healthcare they received.

"Now they face the daily nightmare of the possibility of a knock on the door, at any hour of the day or night, meaning that they are about to be shipped back to a country where they experienced the most horrendous torture and abuse.

"They must be allowed to stay, anything else would be nothing short of criminal."