Observer 01/08 Text: Dominique Strebel, Image: Renate Wernli
13-year-old Sonia Idemudia from Nigeria does not have to return to Benin City, she can stay with her Swiss father and his family of five in Schwamendingen.
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The Swiss father brought his daughter to Switzerland illegally around three years ago. In this short time, Sonia integrated well into school and even learned fluent Swiss German. Nevertheless, the Zurich Migration Office ordered the expulsion in the spring of last year. The government council confirmed the decision, although in Nigeria only the elderly grandparents could have cared for Sonia.
Classmates and school authorities then stood up for the Nigerian woman. Her teacher Jürg Wiederkehr describes Sonia as a “model example of successful integration”. And Marc Spescha, a lawyer specializing in immigration law, described the decisions against Sonia as a “catastrophe for our constitutional state” (see article on the topic “Deportation: ‘Sonia should be allowed to stay here’”).
The fact that the Zurich administrative court has now come to a different conclusion than the lower courts has primarily to do with a new medical report from the Time Hospital in Benin. This shows that the 70-year-old grandmother had surgery on both eyes for cataracts and the 90-year-old grandfather suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes. “This means that caring for a 13-year-old girl no longer appears to be reasonable,” wrote the administrative judges. There are no other carers: the mother has gone into hiding and her uncle and aunt have moved away. The court mentions the particularly dangerous situation in Benin City, which is considered the capital of child pornography and requires an intact care situation. In addition, the school psychology service of the canton of Zurich noted that Sonia reacts with great fear to a possible expulsion.
At the same time, the administrative court emphasizes that Sonia Idemudia is a “special” individual case.
Marc Spescha, Sonia's lawyer, is very relieved about the decision, "because a human tragedy was prevented." However, he criticizes the fact that the migration office and the government council were already informed about the extremely precarious care conditions and the deteriorating health status of the grandparents. “In case of doubt, you would have been able to gain an authentic picture of the situation by hearing from Sonia and have already been able to clarify things on your own long ago.”