Council brings case over FGM threat to 9-year-old girl if mother removed from UK

A failed asylum seeker is facing removal from the UK despite a family judge ruling that her nine-year-old-daughter could be subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) if taken abroad, it has been reported.

A High Court judge said that the case, which is the first of its kind, raised public interest issues relating to ‘tensions’ between politicians and the courts and could be reported by journalists.

The case was brought by Suffolk County Council.

James Holmes, a barrister at Garden Court Chambers who is leading the local authority’s legal team, said a family court judge concluded the girl would be at risk of FGM if her mother left for the Middle East. The girl was made the subject of an FGM protection order.

However, Home Office officials rejected the mother’s asylum application and ordered her removal, the court heard.

The Home Office’s lawyer told the judge that the woman would be allowed to stay in the UK for the next few weeks.

A judge is expected to stage a trial in the near future.