By Martin Banks - 10th March 2010
This girl's future should be in Scotland
Catherine Stihler
The European commission has been asked to take up the case of an Eritrean girl facing deportation from the UK.
The case of Rima, aged 17, was raised in the European parliament on Tuesday by Scottish MEP Catherine Stihler.
Stihler said the teenager had sought to build a new life in Scotland after fleeing her homeland after her parents were killed.
She told the plenary she had been adopted by a couple in Glasgow but now faces possible deportation because the UK authorities have questioned her age.
Stihler appealed to the commission to look into the case on humanitarian grounds, asking the executive's president José Manuel Barroso what he could do to protect the girl's fundamental rights.
The Socialist deputy said the case had already been raised by civil society and humanitarian groups and NGOs in Scotland.
"This girl's future should be in Scotland. I have forwarded all the information I have on the case to the commission and will await its response," she said.
Stihler said she had decided to act after being asked by children at a primary school in her constituency to sign a petition asking for the girl, who arrived in Scotland when she was 14, to be allowed to stay in the UK.
In his verbal response, Barroso said that while he was unaware of the case, it did raise "concerns."
Barroso said he would reply in writing to the MEP and went on, "I want to express solidarity with anyone whose human rights have or may be violated."
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