UK deports Nigerian woman seeking asylum in the UK over fears her daughters would be circumcised here

32 year old Afusat Saliu (pictured right) has been deported from the UK after a campaign to keep her in the country failed. There was a campaign against her deportation on the grounds that her two daughters, 4 and 2 (pictured above) face the possibility of female genital mutilation in Nigeria.

Afusat had fled Nigeria in 2011, claiming her stepmother had threatened to circumcise her first daughter. She was pregnant again at the time and claimed she feared her second daughter would also be subjected to FGM.

Afusat and her two daughters were arrested on May 28th by the UK Border Agency and although over 120,000 people signed a petition calling on the Home Office not to deport her, the campaign failed as the woman and her kids were put on a flight back to Nigeria yesterday June 4th.

"We consider every claim for asylum on its individual merits and in this case, the claimant was not considered to be in need of protection. The case has gone through the proper legal process and our decision has been supported by the UK courts on five separate occasions, while the European Court of Human Rights declined an application to halt the removal." UK Home Office said.

Afusat's lawyer said she's spoken to her since she returned to Nigeria and said Afusat is quite upset at being sent back and plans to continue fighting her case until she's allowed back in the UK.