Sorry to have kept people waiting to update them on the latest with Emily, but it has been a particularly trying and devastating few days for Emily and for those of us campaigning for her.
Many of you may have been wondering why the phone blockade was abruptly halted on Friday afternoon. The Fresh Claim had been submitted and Emily’s lawyer became concerned that an effective phone blockade may have had a negative impact on it. Not long after 4pm though, the dreaded news arrived that the Fresh Claim had been rejected. At this point all was still not lost as her lawyer was determined to keep fighting and make further representations as it was felt that the claim had not been considered correctly. We were warned that the result of these further representations may not be known until around the time that the plane was due to take off the following morning.
Friday evening was spent gathering and preparing to campaign until the last. We spent much of the evening on the phone to Emily, talking and texting back and fro. This became more emotional and upsetting as the night wore on, but Emily’s courage and steadfastness in the glare of what she was about to face was absolutely incredible. She was very organised in her instructions about packing her belongings, in-case the worse happened, and throughout the night we talked about many other things. At each point that something happened to her she notified us about what was going on. At 2.30pm we heard the Yarl’s Wood staff warn her to get ready, and they told her that she would be taken to the airport at 4.30am.
Further communication continued and then at 4.30am she texted us to say she was about to be checked out, and at 5am she was still waiting…
We set off to Heathrow for a last minute show of strength and solidarity for Emily. During the journey we received a call – it was Emily – and we were so hopeful that, for some reason, she had not been taken – as we believed that she would not have her phone until reaching the plane as phones are taken off people . She was calling us to say she had arrived at Heathrow…
We continued on our way…At around 9.30am we heard that the further representations would not stop her forced removal and the phone blockade was immediately relaunched to try to urge the airline to do the right thing and not fly Emily. From 10.30am onwards we talked to her again. These were the hardest to bear. She was still being so brave, in spite of what she knew she was about to face, and texting and calling from the plane until it started moving away. She managed to convey to us that she was in the back row of the plane surrounded by four guards. One of her last texts actually said ‘Bye…taking off’ and ‘C u in Taiwan’.
The next morning we saw online the terrible results of the Home Office’s actions. Emily had landed in Taipei to a barrage of media and paparazzi. Handcuffed, she pulled a black coat over her face and was led through the airport by two female guards, while journalists were constantly screaming questions at her. There were so many that her mum, having travelled for hours to get to the airport, could not get to speak to her own daughter, which must have been utterly distressing. Her mum had arrived at the airport to meet Emily with warm clothes and in the hopeful chance that Emily may have been able to return to the family home, at least for a short time.
We watched the film footage horrified, and read the reports – one astoundingly reported that the Taiwanese government has thanked the British government for the repatriation, stating that Taiwanese officials say it will contribute to better relations between the Taiwanese and British governments:
http://focustaiwan.tw/search/201401190017.aspx?q=yeh
Other articles we found show Emily at the airport, there are many more and we may link to them later…
We have since also heard from a supportive organisation in Taiwan, summarising what has happened there:
“As I am sure you are aware, Emily was deported over the weekend. She arrived back in Taiwan yesterday, and was taken into custody at the airport by the (civilian) Investigation Bureau. The Taichung Prosecutors Office applied for and received permission to detain her
for an initial period of investigation of up to 2 months (extendable once for a further 2 months). Given the nature of the alleged offence, we must assume she is likely to remain in detention during the trial as well, which normally would begin within the 4 months period (that
is not a rule, but if the prosecutors fail to file the indictment with the court in time, her detention would lapse, and I doubt they would allow that to happen in this case). Her mother has engaged a defense lawyer for her, who issued a statement on her behalf yesterday as well.”
mymuststay 