Bishops call for dying African woman to be allowed back into Wales

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Bishops call for dying African woman to be allowed back into Wales

Jan 18 2008 by Madeleine Brindley, Western Mail

WELSH bishops have joined the row over the removal of a terminally-ill Ghanaian woman.

The bishops – including the Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan – have called for Ama Sumani to be allowed back into Wales to resume life-prolonging dialysis treatment.

They have also asked the Border and Immigration Agency to reconsider the case of 20-year-old John Garcia from Anglesey, who was deported to the Philippines – his birth place – despite spending most of his life in Wales.

The leaders of the Church in Wales said the decision to send Ms Sumani, 39, back to Ghana from her hospital bed at the University Hospital of Wales was a “breach of her basic human rights”.

Ms Sumani has a cancer which affects the bone marrow and had been receiving regular dialysis sessions in Cardiff after her kidneys failed more than a year ago.

She initially came to Wales five years ago on a student visa, but began working when she wasn’t able to take up her course place.

She was last week removed back to Ghana, where she cannot afford to pay for dialysis – a donor has now funded limited treatment in the West African country.

Dr Morgan said, “You cannot follow the letter of the law when it comes to immigration because we are dealing with individual human beings, not commodities.

“There has to be room for flexibility of rules, a consideration of a person’s dignity, self-respect and basic human rights. We need to exercise compassion.

“It is never appropriate for a civilised, wealthy society to turn, literally, a sick woman out of her bed and put her on a plane to a very worrying future. What sort of moral example does that send to the rest of the world?”

The bishops also want to see Mr Garcia’s case re-examined. He was deported earlier this month after being convicted of a spate of offences – he had spent 11 months in two immigration centres.

His Filipino-born mother Rosanna, who lives in Pentraeth, brought Garcia to the UK as a young boy when she married a Welshman.

The Bishop of St Davids, Carl Cooper, said, “You cannot have the same rule for someone who comes to this country as an adult, seeking to work here illegally and someone who came as a child, was educated here and sees it as his home.”

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/01/18/bishops-call-for-dying-african-woman-to-be-allowed-back-into-wales-91466-20364221/