Student facing deportation will not be placed on flight

  • London
Yashika Bageerathi will not be placed on a flight leaving Heathrow at 5pm. Credit: Menha Zola/PA Wire

A 19-year-old student, who was due to be deported today, will no longer be placed on a flight leaving Heathrow at 5pm, her school has announced.

Yashika Bageerathi, who is a pupil at Oasis Academy Hadley in Enfield, has been told she will not board the Air Mauritius flight this afternoon.

However, it remains unclear exactly why she has been removed from the flight and what it means for her battle to stay in the UK. A spokesman for the school said that she remained in Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre where she has been since March 19.

Air Mauritius have said that flight MK053 has not been cancelled and is still scheduled to leave Heathrow.

The Home Office said they did not comment on individual cases - but in previous days the Home Secretary has said that the teenager's case had gone through the "proper process".

Today, lawyers acting for Yashika's school will make another legal attempt to put a stop to her deportation, as they seek a High Court injunction to prevent her removal from the country. They have already had one appeal fail.

A petition calling for the Home Office to allow her to stay in the UK has gathered more than 160,000 signatures.

Yashika came to the UK with her family in 2011 and applied for asylum, claiming she was in danger.

Many of the protesters at yesterday's demonstration were Yashika's fellow students. Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Yashika's Headteacher Lynne Dawes told ITV London yesterday that she was a model student.