Observer 16/07 Text: Dominique Strebel, Image: Renate Wernli
The Zurich Migration Office has decided that Sonia Idemudia can stay in Switzerland for the time being. However, the request for reconsideration was rejected. Now the hope lies with the government council.
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Twelve-year-old Sonia Idemudia should have been deported to Nigeria at the end of July - away from her Swiss father and back to her elderly grandparents (see article on the topic "Deportation: 'Sonia should be allowed to stay here'"). According to the Observer's report, the Zurich migration office decided that she could stay with her father until the end of September. There was also the prospect of an extension of the stay until the government council made a decision on the appeal.
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| Her classmates don't let Sonia down: "We'll fight for her." |
However, things aren't going well for Sonia.
Just four days after it was received, the responsible Zurich government councilor, Hans Hollenstein, rejected a request for reconsideration. “This is very disappointing,” says Sonia’s lawyer Marc Spescha. “Apparently Hollenstein made his decision without seriously considering the arguments.” Now the hope lies with the entire government council – it could still decide in favor of the girl. Sonia's fate sparked compassion and outrage. Her classmates and teachers as well as the school psychology service wrote to the government council and asked for a favorable decision for the twelve-year-old, who is well integrated. “I ask you to let them live in Switzerland like their little siblings.” And: “We won’t just let them go. We fight for them,” wrote her classmates. Her former teacher Daniela Strohmeier asks: “What kind of example should be set here? How can a strict migration policy be placed above the welfare of children?"
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