Barnardo’s boss Martin Narey slams deportation of seven-year-old Dumisani Lungu

writes Maria Ahmed

The chief executive of Barnardo’s Martin Narey has expressed his anger over the imminent deportation of a seven-year-old boy whose parents are HIV-positive.

Narey, a former senior civil servant in the Home Office, said it was “wrong” to send Dumisani Lungu back to Malawi with his parents Caroline Manchinjili and Brian Lungu, who are failed asylum-seekers.

Barnardo’s said it understood that it was “30-40 per cent likely” that Dumisani also had HIV, and that his grandmother in Malawi had died from Aids last year.

The boy’s mother also has epilepsy, and her doctor has warned that she could die within one week after arriving in Malawi as she is not fit to fly, according to the charity.

Narey said: “There are, we think, about 20 children like Dumisani who are affected by HIV, who are facing immediate deportation and could, if they remained in Britain, enjoy a full life to adulthood. However, we, the fourth richest nation on earth, are going to send this seven-year-old to Malawi to face an unthinkable future of seeing his mum and dad die then die alone. What has happened to this country’s moral compass when we can countenance condemning an innocent seven-year-old to a certain and horrific death?”