A Kenyan woman in her thirties is being threatened with deportation by a Swedish family who brought her to Sweden as an Au Pair but who now wants her to return to Kenya despite the fact that she is seriously sick.
The woman was rushed to Huddinge Hospital for emergency treatment after her lungs collapsed. As she continues to recover at the hospital, the Swedish couple who brought her to Sweden have reportedly detained her Passport and packed her property in readiness for her trip home as soon as she gets better.
The biggest problem is that soon after medical investigations by the Swedish authorities, it was discovered that the woman was suffering from HIV infection, prompting Doctors to begin the process of putting her on retroviral drugs to help save her life.
The woman’s predicament was discovered by Mr. Tonny Odera and Ms Caroline Ayodo, members of “Hetero-plus” who were shocked that the woman was facing deportation despite the fact that Swedish Doctors have said that she is unfit to travel. Hetro-Plus is an organization which looks into the interest of HIV positive people in Sweden.
Speaking to KSB, Tonny said that his organization took up the case “as a matter of urgency”, adding that the kind of mental and psychological suffering the woman was undergoing at the hands of a Swedish couple “was unacceptable”. Tonny got wind of the woman’s predicament through a tip by a contact.
According to the woman, she was working for the couple in Kenya where the Swedes were on a tour of duty under the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When the couple was recalled about a year ago, they organized for the woman to travel along with them so that she could continue taking care of the couple’s two children in Sweden. The couple is currently based at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Sources close to the woman say that she has been locked in the house, almost like a slave while the labor conditions she has been working under have been poor. She has a Work Permit which is soon expiring and she believes that her employer now wants her out of the country because since she is seriously sick she is no longer useful to the couple who do not want to take responsibility. She has been receiving poor pay because without a Work permit, she is not covered by the Swedish Labor laws.
Tonny told KSB that the woman has appealed for help from Kenyans, friends and well wishers. She says that she is not opposed to returning to Kenya but that at the moment, she is seriously sick and that she cannot travel.
Tonny said that in case she is deported, the woman will not have access to the kind of medication she needs and expressed the fear that the woman’s life may be in danger. The woman said that she had decided to go public with her condition as a last resort to try and save her life.
Okoth Osewe
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