Colin Firth's fury at Home Secretary's bid to deport sick woman By MAIL ON SUNDAY REPORTER PUBLISHED: 22:49 EST, 22 December 2012 (MAIL ON LINE)

Colin Firth has accused Home Secretary Theresa May of persecuting a 'harmless and much-loved' woman who the Government is trying  to deport from Britain

Colin Firth has accused the Home Secretary of persecuting a ‘harmless and much-loved’ woman who  the Government is trying  to deport from Britain.

The Oscar-winning star of The King’s Speech spoke out after Theresa May tried to overturn a court ruling preventing the removal of ‘seriously ill’ Roseline Akhalu, 49, to her native Nigeria.

READ MORE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2252402/Colin-Firths-fury-Home-Secretarys-bid-deport-sick-woman.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Colin Firth condemns 'cruelty' of Home Office decision to deport seriously ill woman to Nigeria CAILTIN GREEN THURSDAY 04 OCTOBER 2012 (THE INDEPENDENT)

Actor Colin Firth has condemned “the cruelty” of a Home Office decision to deport a seriously ill woman to Nigeria, where doctors say she may die because of the limited availability of affordable healthcare.

Roseline Akhalu, 49, has lived in the UK for eight years suffering from a kidney disease known as end stage renal failure.

She received a kidney transplant in 2009. In Nigeria she will "deteriorate very quickly" without access to medication, doctors say. Ms Akhalu recently completed a Masters Degree at the University of Leeds.

The Home Office denied her application on the basis that there is available treatment in Nigeria. However Ms Akhalu's legal team claim the treatment can be prohibitively expensive.

Firth, said that the case was "a question of saving a woman's life".

"In trying to grasp the cruelty of this decision one has to ask, why is there a need for a campaign?" Firth said. "Our Home Secretary has effectively condemned an innocent woman to death - a decision surely repugnant to every person in this country. It should be reversed immediately and Rose should be allowed to live."

READ MORE: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/colin-firth-condemns-cruelty-of-home-office-decision-to-deport-seriously-ill-woman-to-nigeria-8198228.html

Oscar winner Colin Firth backs ill Leeds widow’s fight to stay in UK By David Marsh Published on Saturday 2 June 2012 05:00 (YORKSHIRE EVENING POST)

Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth has thrown his weight behind a campaign to stop a severely ill Leeds woman being deported to Nigeria.

He took a break from filming in Thailand to issue a message of support for Rose Akhalu, 48, of Headingley, who was diagnosed with acute kidney disease months after arriving to study at Leeds University.

He said: “Few things are this straightforward: Rose is sick, if we don’t help her she dies.

“The decision is entirely ours. I’m sure saving her won’t compromise the government’s enforced removal policy. This is an exceptional case.”

Rose arrived in the UK in September 2004 on a student visa, to study for a Masters Degree. She unexpectedly developed end-stage renal failure in 2005 and remained on dialysis until she received a kidney transplant at St. James Hospital, Leeds, in July 2009.

Rose has applied for leave to remain in the UK but was refused.

After reporting to the immigration centre as usual last Saturday she was picked up and taken to Yarl’s Wood detention centre. She was served with removal directions for Lagos, Nigeria on June 7. She was released from the centre after her lawyers took out an emergency injunction to allow her to attend a judicial review scheduled for July 24.

Supporters have launched an online petition as part of their campaign to keep Rose in the UK.

READ MORE:http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/oscar-winner-colin-firth-backs-ill-leeds-widow-s-fight-to-stay-in-uk-1-4609807