Ama Sumani

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Ama Sumani
Born	28 November 1968(1968-11-28) Accra, Ghana
Died	19 March 2008 (aged 39) Accra, Ghana
Children	2 daughters

Ama Sumani (28 November 1968 – 19 March 2008) was a Ghanaian woman who was expelled from the United Kingdom to Ghana while she was suffering from a terminal form of cancer and receiving dialysis treatment. She had overstayed her visa and it has been reported that her expulsion caused her to go without a drug that could have prolonged her life, a drug not available in her native Ghana.^[1]

1 Background
2 Controversy
3 Death
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Background

Ama Sumani, a mother of two, first came to Wales in 2003 with a visitor's visa. She quickly changed her status to student and attempted to enroll in a banking course at a local college. Reportedly, her lack of English language skills kept her from enrolling. She returned to Ghana in 2005 to attend memorial services for her husband, but when she returned her student visa was revoked. She was permitted to return to Wales, with temporary admission. She did not keep in contact with immigration officials as she had been required to do.^[2]

By January 2006, she fell ill. She was diagnosed with myeloma, a cancer affecting the bone marrow. Complications from cancer had caused her kidneys to fail, and by January 2008 she was receiving kidney dialysis treatment to prolong her life — without which doctors believed she only had weeks to live.^[2] Despite the pleas of solicitors working on behalf of Sumani, the Home Office decided that Sumani was to be removed from the country for overstaying her visa. Sumani and her representatives pleaded for compassion, noting that she could not afford dialysis treatment in Ghana, which would have cost £2,400 upfront to continue her treatment for three months.^[3] Such pleas were ultimately ignored, and Sumani was removed from University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff and deported to Accra on 9 January 2008.^[2]. According to one source, officials claimed it was not a deportation because her expired visa meant she had no legal status in the UK.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Controversy

In an editorial, the Lancet, a British medical journal, decried the decision and wrote, "The UK has committed an atrocious barbarism ... [I]t is time for doctors' leaders to say so - forcefully and uncompromisingly."^[4] Church leaders in Wales, including Archbishop Dr. Barry Morgan and several other bishops were similarly upset, calling Sumani's removal a "breach of her basic human rights". ^[5] Mrs. Sumani's solicitor said she accepted her removal was fair but said they had made representations on her behalf on compassionate grounds. ^[6]

In the wake of public criticism, Home Office representative Lin Homer defended its actions, stating that Sumani's case, while difficult, was not exceptional. She noted, “We deal with many hundreds of cases where the personal circumstances reach and touch the people involved. It is one of the things that makes being a caseworker in the agency a difficult job.”^[7]

Sumani's health deteriorated after the removal, as she had not received dialysis treatment for several days after her arrival in Ghana. An anonymous donation of £3,000 was sent by a Dutch couple resident in Cardiff, and by 20 January 2008, Sumani began receiving dialysis treatment.^[8] A charitable fund for Sumani's medical expenses was established, and as of February 2008 £30,000 had been donated to the fund. Trudie Styler was reported to have donated £10,000 into the fund.^[9]

[edit] Death

Ama Sumani died in Korle-Bu hospital in Accra around 1600 GMT on 19 March 2008. Despite the kidney dialysis treatments, she was not able to access a supply of thalidomide, a drug that might have prolonged her life. Donors had reportedly raised £70,000 toward her treatments and were able to find doctors in Britain and South Africa to treat her before her death. News of the upcoming treatments reached Sumani the morning before her death.^[1]