Deportation woman returns to Belfast

A Cameroon woman who was due to be deported from the UK has returned to Northern Ireland after spending two months in detention.

Lordorice Djountso and her Belfast-born daughter Imelda who were being held at a detention centre in Bedfordshire, England, were today greeted by friends and supporters at Belfast International Airport.

She was met by local MPs Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein, Lady Sylvia Hermon of UUP and the SDLP’s Alasdair McDonnell who united to urge immigration chiefs to reconsider her case.

The Home Office have allowed her release until a fresh deportation takes place on 22 June.

Cassie McKeever, a close friend and supporter of Ms Djountso, welcomed the mother and daughter.

She said: “We are absolutely delighted she is home. She is going back to the house she had lived in south Belfast for the last two years.”

Ms McKeever also revealed various organisations would get involved in the case to help her battle against deportation.

“We are fairly confident that the constant attention to her case can postpone her deportation for some time – hopefully permanently,” she added.

The Cameroon woman expressed her delight to be back in Belfast, saying: “I am very happy, I am just so very happy to be back – I am looking forward to going back to my home.”

She continued: “I would like to stay here and bring up my daughter here, hopefully they will let me.”

Ms Djountso sought asylum after fleeing Cameroon in 2005 following the murder of two family members and her rape in a dispute with a local tribal chief.

(JM/SP)