An Egyptian family which has lived in Cardiff for the past five years is being held at a detention centre after a UK Border Agency (UKBA) raid.
Fariman Saleh, her son, Ibrahim El-Attar, 17, and daughter, Liaily El-Attar, 18, face being sent back to Egypt after the dawn raid on their Gabalfa Avenue home on Thursday.
They are being held at Cedars Detention Centre in West Sussex after their long-running bid for asylum was turned down. It’s understood an injunction by their solicitors was also unsuccessful.
Cardiff North AM Julie Morgan said Mrs Saleh arrived in the UK after claims she suffered 15 years of living with an abusive husband.
Mrs Morgan said: “Fariman Saleh and her teenage children are well known members of the community and I fear for their safety if they are deported to Egypt.”
Mrs Morgan said the family’s appeal was due to be heard by the courts, adding: “This action has taken place before that appeal is heard and it seems to me that for the sake of justice [the UKBA] should wait for this hearing.
“To have them snatched in this sort of way at 6am is terribly upsetting. These children are young adults now and have spent their formative years here.”
Two videos of the raid posted on YouTube show Mrs Saleh’s eldest daughter, Shrouk El-Attar, 20, below, on her knees crying in the home’s doorway as her family is removed.
Shrouk’s separate bid for asylum was first featured in 2010. The gay teenager claims her sexuality will lead her to be persecuted in Egypt by the authorities.
Mrs Morgan and local councillors Siobhan Corria and Dilwar Ali have written to Home Secretary Theresa May and Cardiff North MP Jonathan Evans requesting the removal be stopped.
Mr Evans said he had made representations on behalf of the family to the Home Secretary, the Immigration Minister Mark Harper and the UKBA.
He said he was not in a position to make a judgement on the merits of their asylum bid, but said: “I am of the view that their claim should be considered by the appropriate legal mechanisms.”
A UKBA spokesman said: “The UK has a proud record of offering sanctuary to those in need but in this case we and the courts have found the applicants are not in need of international protection.
“The family has been given every chance to leave the country voluntarily. This includes family conferences over a period of time, a tailored voluntary return package to assist them on their return and the opportunity for self check in to fly home.
“Unfortunately, when families refuse to take up these opportunities our last resort is an ensured return.”
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