Fiancee devastated after partner seized

A DEVOTED fiancée today spoke of her anguish after her husband-to-be was seized by immigration police and now faces removal from the country within days.

Samantha Neal, 21, is struggling to deal with the news that her partner Sadik Kayhan will be flown out of the country for good following his sudden detention on Friday.

Mr Kayhan, of Mill Road Drive, Warren Heath, applied for British citizenship but was refused twice and is now set to be sent back to his native Turkey on Monday.

Miss Neal, who has been left to look after their eight-month-old daughter, Celine, after 25-year-old Mr Hayhan was taken while she was out, said she was numb with shock and still had not had the chance to talk to him since he was taken away.

She said: “When I sit down and think about it, it gets too much. I don't want to give up but I don't know what to do.

“I'm glad our daughter is too young to know what is going on. I wouldn't want her to go through this.

“All the family are trying to comfort me but they are really upset too. I just can't believe it.”

Mr Kayhan, who is half-Kurdish, fled his home in Gaziantep, near the border with Syria, in January 1997, fearing for his safety after his elder brother became involved with the PKK - the Kurdish Workers Party.

He came to Ipswich and was granted asylum and in summer 2003 he met Miss Neal.

He reported to the police station in Capel St Mary every Thursday up until he was taken and applied for British citizenship in February 2005, but was refused, as were both of his appeals, the last of which came in November.

He is being held at a facility in Harwich and although the family have been told he will be deported on June 4, it could be sooner if a seat is found on an earlier flight.

Miss Neal's sister Natalie Coulson said: “The whole family is distraught. Samantha has not taken the news very well and we are doing everything we can to help.

“We have been told that he is not a criminal and is not being deported but because his appeal wasn't granted, he has to be removed from the country.

“He is being put on a flight back to Turkey which is awful because he hasn't been there for ten years and is scared. We are also scared for Samantha and how she will cope.”

Staff at Mr Kayhan's work at Burger King on Ransomes Europark are also said to be upset by the news and the family are currently setting up a petition with them to drum up support for him to stay.

What do you think of this story? Has your family faced a similar situation? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or email eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.