A pedophile from Eritrea who raped a teenage girl after landing in the United Kingdom has avoided deportation, arguing that being sent back to his home country would harm his mental health.
The rapist, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted and jailed for his crimes over one decade ago, and had been scheduled to be deported in 2014. But, last month, his appeal against his deportation order was accepted after an expert witness said he was at risk if he was returned to Eritrea.
According to the Sun, the expert witness, a doctor, testified that he could not be properly treated for PTSD in his home country, and was likely to be punished for fleeing the nation’s compulsory draft.
The decision to allow his appeal was made despite a security report finding he posed a “medium risk” to the public if he lived freely in the UK.
This case comes just days after it was reported that an African migrant from Congo had raped a child in the UK after his deportation flight was blocked by sympathetic cabin crew.
As previously reported by The Publica, Anicet Mayela arrived in the UK in 2004 after enlisting an “agent” to facilitate his departure from Africa, citing imminent danger as his motive.
Mayela gained widespread attention from people opposing deportations after he used human rights law to fight his forcible return to the Republic of the Congo, where he claimed his life was “in danger.” The first attempt to deport him failed after Mayela claimed he had been injured by the Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre in Middlesex.
One year later, in 2005, a second attempt to deport him was thwarted by a do-gooder Air France cabin crew. Mayela had been placed on a flight from Southampton to Brazzaville, and Air France cabin crew were reportedly shocked at his “mistreatment” by deportation staff and sympathized with his ordeal. They refused to allow the flight to take off, resulting in Mayela being allowed to stay in the UK for longer.
Mayela quickly became a poster child for migration rights activists, and was even backed by the Institute of Race Relations, a “racial justice” charity.
Shortly after his release following the Air France incident, Mayela joined a campaign to close Campsfield House detention center and was photographed protesting outside with the sign stating: “Migrants are not criminals.”
Mayela had now pleaded guilty to raping a 15-year-old girl.
Earlier this month, The Publica also documented the case of an Afghan migrant who was allowed to remain in the UK after an immigration tribunal agreed that he was at risk of “stigmatization” if he was returned to Afghanistan.
