I'm a celebrity...let me stay in Britain...
Can anyone tell me how much difference there is between this case of a Ghanaian woman and this one about a Sierra Leonian man is? That's right, the man, Al Bangura plays football. The woman, terminally ill with cancer, does not. Whilst I do not pretend to know all the in's and out's of the two cases it seems there is some sort of double standard here. Bangura, 19, has had his appeal accepted after initially being told his visa had expired and he couldn't get a new one. He will stay in the country and keep on plying his trade with Watford. Which is a good thing. He escaped war torn Sierra Leone whilst young and came over to play football, fulfilling his dream. He is allowed to stay in Britain and "contribute to society" through playing football and entertaining thousands of fans each week.
Ama Sumani, 39 however is facing a struggle to stay in Britain where she can get the drugs needed to help with her cancer fight. If deported back to Ghana she says she will not be able to afford the treatment, which consists of regular dialysis, nor the longer term help of a bone marrow transplant. This is not a good thing. She will return to Ghana and most likely be dead within a year. Her local MP in Cardiff, Alun Michael, claims the issue is about the care in Ghana, not Britain. Such an opinion seems to be both ignorant and flys in the face of the kind and caring Labour party that we are all meant to think exists. After all, the Labour party is the one for the people on the street, not just those rich elites like the Conservatives. Except these cases beg to differ. The richer footballer (part of the rich elite?) has been fought for by his club, his local MP, and lots of very good lawyers. Ama Sumani has no-one to fight her corner. Consequently she has been deported back to Ghana, and he is allowed to stay.
Now I'm all for the maintenance of standards, and if the law suggests that both should have been deported, then so be it. However, it is the frustration of the double standards which irks me the most. If two people with apparently similar circumstances do not receive the same outcome then either there is something which we do not know about, or there is something wrong. In the world of media that is today's society, I'm inclined to think it is the latter.
Luke
Ama Sumani, 39 however is facing a struggle to stay in Britain where she can get the drugs needed to help with her cancer fight. If deported back to Ghana she says she will not be able to afford the treatment, which consists of regular dialysis, nor the longer term help of a bone marrow transplant. This is not a good thing. She will return to Ghana and most likely be dead within a year. Her local MP in Cardiff, Alun Michael, claims the issue is about the care in Ghana, not Britain. Such an opinion seems to be both ignorant and flys in the face of the kind and caring Labour party that we are all meant to think exists. After all, the Labour party is the one for the people on the street, not just those rich elites like the Conservatives. Except these cases beg to differ. The richer footballer (part of the rich elite?) has been fought for by his club, his local MP, and lots of very good lawyers. Ama Sumani has no-one to fight her corner. Consequently she has been deported back to Ghana, and he is allowed to stay.
Now I'm all for the maintenance of standards, and if the law suggests that both should have been deported, then so be it. However, it is the frustration of the double standards which irks me the most. If two people with apparently similar circumstances do not receive the same outcome then either there is something which we do not know about, or there is something wrong. In the world of media that is today's society, I'm inclined to think it is the latter.
Luke
