Deon P. Green, Gleaner Writer

London, England:

A Jamaican woman whose son fought in the British army in Iraq has been granted a last-minute reprieve from deportation to Jamaica, following the intervention of Immigration Minister Liam Byrne.

Forty-nine-year-old Joy Dean Bowman and her 15-year-old daughter were booked to be deported on a 12.40 p.m. flight from London to Jamaica on March 14. She had failed in her bid for asylum which would allow her to remain in the United Kingdom.

Community organisations

The reprieve came after the case was taken up by community organisations and the immigration minister who said he would personally review the case. The Gleaner understands that Mrs. Bowman's MP, David Clelland, faxed a letter to Mr. Byrne nine days ago, arguing that she should stay against the contribution of her son in the army.

The mother of three arrived in England and motivated her sons to join the British Army. The youngest joined the Army's Royal Logistics Corps and went to Basra in Iraq on duties, while the eldest has been featured in a recruitment campaign which persuades more people from ethnic minorities to join the army.

Mrs. Bowman's son, whose army service brings an entitlement to British citizenship, said their mother had inspired them to join the forces.

"I was proud to serve my country and the Government was happy enough for me to risk my life fighting in Iraq," her 28-year-old son Leven Bowman said.

Reasons unknown

The Home Office does not discuss individual cases and thus the reasons for denying Ms. Bowman the right to remain in the U.K. are unknown.

Mrs. Bowman has claimed she would have nowhere to hide from her abusive husband if she returned to the island.

An informed Jamaican immigration source in the U.K. told The Gleaner that Mrs. Bowman's case was not unusual as Jamaica is not a country from which asylum seekers are expected. While the details concerning her case are not known, she would have had to prove that her husband is such an influential person that it would warrant the Home Office granting her asylum on the basis that she would not be protected from domestic abuse by the authorities in her home country.

The issue of her son being in the army, the source said, may not have been included in the original asylum application and thus may have never been a point for consideration at the time.