Failed asylum seeker who had four children AFTER moving to UK says sending her back to China would violate her family’s human rights

• Xiu Fang Zhang says children could be taken from her as China has a one-child policy
• Wins right to appeal Home Office decision to deport her

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 11:40 EDT, 3 October 2011

A failed Chinese asylum seeker who has given birth to four children since coming to Britain claims her home country's one-child policy means sending her home would violate her family's human rights.

Xiu Fang Zhang, 34, claims her children could be taken from her if she returns to her homeland as the communist government only allows one-child families in urban areas.

Parents in some rural areas are permitted to have two children.

Mrs Zhang first came to Britain in 2003, and was refused asylum shortly after her arrival. Despite this ruling, she has remained in the country, giving birth to four children in her eight years in Britain.

Deportation appeal: Xiu Fang Zhang (right) leaves court with her partner, children and interpreter. She came to Britain in 2003 and was refused asylum shortly after her arrival

Earlier this year Mrs Zhang, of Newport, South Wales, was refused leave to remain in Britain, meaning she and her family are under threat of deportation to China.

Now, arguing her children could be taken from her if she is sent back to her homeland, Mrs Zhang has mounted a judicial review challenge to the Home Office's decision at the High Court in London.

Judge James Dingemans QC told the court that Mrs Zhang flew into Gatwick airport in September 2003, but her asylum application was rejected despite her claims she was from the persecuted Falun Gong religious minority.

During her years in Britain, she met her partner with whom she has four children - a four-year-old boy, a two-year-old girl, and twins, born in April this year.

Mrs Zhang applied for indefinite leave to remain in Britain under the Home Office's Legacy Scheme, which gives preferential treatment to immigrants who have lived in Britain for long periods. Her application was refused earlier this year.

Lawyers for Mrs Zhang argue that she now has a network of friends and an established life in Britain.

Since the refusal of her application, Mrs Zhang has been terrified her children could be taken away from her if she is forced to return to China, the hearing was told.

China's communist government only allows one-child families in urban areas, with parents in some rural areas permitted to have two children.

The court also heard claims the Home Office should have given more consideration to the human rights of the four children when processing the application for leave to remain.

Judge Dingemans has now ruled her case 'arguable' and granted her permission to have the Home Office's decision judicially reviewed at the High Court later this year.

He said recent judgements have emphasised the importance of considering children's human rights in immigration decisions, adding: 'It seems to me that this case does cross the threshold of arguability, and for that reason I grant permission.'