Safe at last: Rape victim is granted
asylum
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Stella Mpaka is finally allowed to stay in the UK
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Tan
Parsons
A REFUGEE living in Camden Town
is celebrating after being granted asylum seven years after coming
to the UK to escape persecution in Rwanda.
Stella Mpaka has finally been granted indefinite leave to remain in
the country by the Home Office.
She said: "I have been in limbo for seven years and I still can't
quite believe it.
"I have passed through hell to be where I am now. All I am feeling
is the pain - I am so exhausted. I feel like I've had these years
stolen from me and now this is a fresh start - I've gone back to
zero."
The 33-year-old fled Rwanda in the wake of the genocide in 1994
after her father was imprisoned. But the men she had to depend on to
make the journey raped her.
She said: "I knew that if I didn't leave I would be killed. I have a
brother, a mother and a father who are all still there but I don't
know where they are at the moment or what has happened to them."
The mother of a three-year-old daughter has lived in fear of being
returned to Rwanda ever since arriving in the UK in October 2000.
She continued: "It has been especially hard with my little girl. I
had to wait for four years after I applied for asylum before I was
even granted an interview.
"I've spent so much energy and time looking for support and
accommodation and being turned away from every corner."
Ms Mpaka's struggle to stay in the UK suffered setbacks during the
asylum seeking process - partly because she could not speak any of
Rwanda's main languages.
Her first lawyer failed to prepare a report showing that her native
tongue of Swahili is spoken in the country and her case was thrown
out. She was told her case was hopeless because her credibility had
been destroyed.
She said: "So many of us are accused of being liars on the flimsiest
excuses. It makes you lose all confidence and from that point your
chances are destroyed."
But volunteering at the Crossroads Women's Centre in Kentish Town
Road was a turning point for Ms Mpaka. She talked of her experiences
in Rwanda to the Woman Against Rape group and gradually regained
self belief.
She said: "I cannot describe how much Crossroads has helped me. The
main thing they have done is give me my confidence back and made me
feel like a human being again."
She continued to fight her case on appeal and this month received
the good news from her lawyer.
Woman Against Rape volunteer Sian Evans said: "We are delighted
Stella has won her case at last but it's shocking how long people
like her are left to wait with their children in such terrible
circumstances."
Women Against Rape is holding a showcase event on December 8 - for
more information call 020-7482 2496.
tan.parsons@hamhigh.co.uk
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