Meltem who has been detained in Yarl's Wood with her mother, for nearly three months was refused bail twice last week, Monday and Thursday. Thursday was the fourth time Meltem has been refused bail. Meltem was so distressed that she self-harmed that evening and had to be taken to the hospital.

There, Meltem alleges, a Yarl's Wood officer made fun of her in front of all the other patients saying something along the lines of 'Now you got your day out. Hope you enjoy it'. Meltem said afterwards that this made her so ashamed 'I couldn't even lift my head up'.

Part of the frustration for Meltem is that the bail court has refused to allow Meltem to attend any of the bail hearings. She feels strongly that her presence could make a difference.

Her 15th birthday will be on Wednesday 21st November and Meltem wants to celebrate with her friends in Doncastor. "Can you feel how I feel right now, maybe I will have my birthday in here with no friends" she said.

There will be another bail hearing this Thursday that Meltem hopes to attend.

Meltem's message to anyone who reads this posting is Please Help Me !

NCADC has received a number of calls from concerned individuals, but no one so far seems ready to form a support group to get all the required information about Meltem's case to be able to campaign properly. A campaign group could try all the usual avenues; referral to relevant organisations that work with children, get media coverage, get parliamentary interest, publish campaign materials, conduct a letter-writing campaign, etc.

If you are willing to help Meltem, please contact her on 07907 295899 or the Family's solicitor, Allan Van As, on 0207 923 9054.

You may like to refer to NCADC's booklet on how to set up an anti-deportation campaign ;
 http://www.ncadc.org.uk/resources/index.htm

A letter from Meltem Avcil aged 14 behind the Wire at Yarl's Wood IRC
 http://www.ncadc.org.uk/newszine87/Meltem.html

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