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UK: Syrian Kurdish family's fight against
deportation
16.5.2007 |
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May
16, 2007
Ipswich, UK, -- A Devoted Ipswich family are
today facing an agonising wait as they prepare for
the worst day of their lives.
Samantha Neal and Sadik 'Kay' Kayhan wish they could
be planning their wedding and looking after their
eight-month-old daughter, Celine, but instead they
are nervously waiting for the day Mr Kayhan is
deported to his native Turkey.
In January 1997 Mr Kayhan, who is half-Kurdish, fled
his home in Gaziantep, near the border with Syria,
fearing for his safety after his elder brother
became involved with the PKK - the Kurdish Workers
Party.
He came to Ipswich and was granted asylum and in
summer 2003 he met Miss Neal.
Mr Kayhan, who still reports to a police station in
Capel St Mary every Thursday, then applied for
British citizenship in February 2005, but was
refused, as were both of his appeals, the last of
which came in November.
So now all the family can do is wait for the day he
is sent away from Suffolk and back to a country
which has become like a foreign land to him.
Mr Kayhan, 25, of Mill Road Drive, Warren Heath,
said: “I'm terrified of what's going to happen.
“I was 15 when I came here because I was told things
would be better here. I didn't speak English then
but I taught myself.
“I feel much more comfortable in Britain - I can go
out and not worry that I will be stopped by the
police.
“I left Turkey before I did my military service so I
will probably have to do that when I go back.”
And his worried fiancé, Miss Neal, 21, said: “We
were told the case was closed and it was the end of
the road.
“Now we are just waiting for a letter to tell us
when he will have to go back. It's always in the
back of my mind.
“I'm so scared because I have no idea what will
happen when he has to go.”
Miss Neal said she was considering travelling to
Turkey with her fiancé and supporting him while he
applies for a visa so he can return to Ipswich to
work.
However she added: “I do not speak the full Turkish
language and could not adapt to their culture as it
is very different to ours.
“I am depressed and have been suicidal. I am just
starting to feel better on antidepressants.
“Kay looks after me and our daughter, working long
hours. I do not know how I would live or cope
without him.”
Do you know Sadik 'Kay' Kayhan? Would you like to
see him stay in the country? Has your family been
through a similar ordeal? Write to Your Letters,
Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street , Ipswich, IP4
1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters (at )
eveningstar.co.uk.
The boss's view
Victoria Sharp, store manager at Burger King in
Ransomes Europark, Ipswich, where Sadik 'Kay' Kayhan
works, said she would be very sad to see him go.
She said: “He is thought of very highly.
“He is brilliantly hard working. You know you can
rely on him and he'll always help with the little
jobs.
“It plays on my mind that he is going to have to
leave - he has a gorgeous little daughter. I can't
imagine how hard it must be for them all.
“Everyone instantly warms to him and doesn't want
him to go.”
eveningstar co.uk
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