Emma Thompson's son may be deported

by Jennifer Jordan (Subscribe to Jennifer Jordan's posts) Mar 13th 2008 8:50PM

Categories: Adoption, Fun & Activities, Celeb Parenting, In The News, Education

Critically acclaimed actress Emma Thompson has waged a legal battle to keep her adopted son from being deported. She and her husband, Greg Wise, "informally" adopted twenty-one year-old Tindyebwa Agaba, a Rwandan refugee, after meeting him at a Refugee Council party several years ago.

Now the British government may be sending Tindyebwa back to Rwanda. According to the government he has no legal right to stay in the U.K. Agaba was orphaned after his family was reportedly killed in 1994. Agaba was allowed to stay in the U.K. for five years as an asylum seeker.

I'm not sure what it means to informally adopt someone and if a more formal adoption process would have given Emma, her family and her son more rights for him to stay in the country. Agaba has been in the U.K. since 2003 and is now attending Exeter. It seems a shame that he should have to go back to Rwanda if he is happy with his family here.

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Comments (1)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ninainindia 3-14-2008 @ 2:30AM

Why didn't they follow the normal route? Informal adoption sounds like supporting him and seeing him as part of the family but not making it legal.

If he has been spending his time in the UK as an asylum seeker than he has not been adopted at all. It means he went through the procedure and was denied citizenship based on the research that was done. This happens to thousands of people every year. I don't think he deserves preferential treatment just because he was informally "adopted" by Emma Thompson.

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