Belgian court halts expulsion of 11-year-old Angelica

A last-ditch legal challenge has halted the deportation of an 11-year-old Ecuadoran girl and her mother. Both are illegal immigrants and earlier today they were picked up from the detention centre they have been held in for the past month and driven to Brussels Airport. But, amid claims of mistreatment during the transfer, Angelica Cajamarca and her mother Ana will not now be expelled. A court has ordered that both be freed immediately. Their plight has prompted a public outcry in Belgium. Human rights groups as well as Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa and his Belgian-born wife have taken up their case. Angelica’s father has taken part in protests, despite the risk of being detained as an illegal immigrant himself.

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