Woman Who Came to the UK on a Visit Visa Stayed for 18 Years Now Set to Be Deported, But There’s a Major Problem

Fatou Tamba, a 55-year-old woman who has lived in the UK for nearly two decades, is facing deportation back to The Gambia today  a move that has left her loved ones heartbroken and desperate.

For the past 18 years, Fatou has called the UK home, spending the last eight years in Liverpool where she became a well-known and respected figure in the local refugee and asylum-seeking community.

She has built a life here, with a partner and a son, and has dedicated herself to helping other women settle and find support.

But last month, immigration officials detained Fatou. Since then, she has been held at Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre in the North East while awaiting deportation. If legal efforts to stop her removal fail, she is scheduled to leave the UK on a flight to The Gambia this evening.

The journey will involve a flight from London Heathrow to Casablanca, followed by a connecting flight to Banjul, the capital of The Gambia.

Fatou’s brother, Lamine a British citizen — and other family members are terrified for her safety if she is sent back.

He explained that their family was linked to the previous Gambian government and has faced serious threats since a change in leadership.

Some relatives have been detained for years without trial, one cousin was shot, and others have received death threats. Lamine says Fatou is extremely frightened, deeply distressed, and fears being kidnapped, imprisoned, or even killed if returned.

Despite having had earlier asylum applications denied, Fatou was actively seeking new grounds to remain in the UK based on the life and community she has built.

Her supporters argue that sending her back now would be both dangerous and inhumane. On Monday, friends held protests outside the immigration centre where she is being held, while lawyers rushed to prevent her deportation.

Campaigners are also appealing directly to Royal Air Maroc, the airline scheduled to fly her out, asking them not to participate in her removal.

The Home Office has not commented on the specifics of the case, sticking to its policy of silence on individual deportations.

Meanwhile, a petition has been launched in a last-ditch effort to keep Fatou in the UK, with supporters emphasizing not only the danger she faces abroad but also the loss her removal would mean to the Liverpool community she’s helped for years.