Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:49 pm on 1 March 2017.
Yesterday morning at 9 o’clock, a bright, young student from Bangor, and her mother, were supposed to be on a plane to Sri Lanka against their will. Following a brief campaign, Shiromini Satkunarajah was allowed to stay, for the time being at least. Shiromini’s story has grabbed the imagination of thousands of people in all parts of Britain. It’s underlined just how unpleasant the immigration system is. It’s also demonstrated something very important in these troubled days. Shiromini’s story demonstrates what’s possible with determination and perseverance. Shiromini’s story demonstrates that people power, taking action with one strong voice, can make a change. Very late in the day, we succeeded in changing the Home Office’s mind. The role of Hywel Williams, the Member of Parliament for Arfon, was crucial in this. Bangor University and the students’ union were very vocal in their support too. More importantly, perhaps, way over 150,000 people raised their voices—a simple act of signing a petition, but a mass act that was very powerful indeed. Shiromini is now very eager to return to her engineering studies at Bangor University. Her battle to remain in Wales is not over, but at least we succeeded with this first step. She has asked me to send a message. She is very eager to thank everyone who has supported her, so thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, for the opportunity to make that point in our national Senedd today.