Doesn't It Make You Proud to Be British?

From the Times Educational Supplement 16th March:

"Cheeky Julio Quinones was the life and soul of his primary class. What he lacked in academic prowess, he made up for with his roguish sense of humour.

That made him popular with other pupils at Brunswick Park primary in Camberwell, south London, and endeared him to his teacher.

But 10-year-old Julio’s four years at the school came to an abrupt and frightening end. During a numeracy lesson, Home Office immigration officials turned up to deport the Bolivian boy, driving him away in a van with armed guards. Bewildered pupils were left wondering where their friend had gone.

Susannah Bellingham, Julio’s teacher, said the Home Office had given her a 45-minute warning of their arrival.

“I had time to talk to Julio quickly, to try to reassure him, and then took him to the head’s office,” she said. “Two uniformed immigration officials asked me to identify his mother , who was in a silver van outside, surrounded by officials with batons. Then they led him away to her."

Read the whole article here.