Palestinian family deportation halted, as 11 yo boy rushed to hospital
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According to experts, Yazan Tamimi's access to vital medical treatment will be jeopardized if he is deported.
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Yazan Tamimi, a Palestinian child with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, was slated to be deported from Iceland on Monday. (Social media)
An eleven-year-old Palestinian child, Yazan Tamimi, who was slated to be deported from Iceland on Monday, has been taken from the airport and returned to the hospital with a police escort, according to RÚV.
Tamimi, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, was evacuated from the hospital late Friday night by police as he and his family were about to be deported to Spain. The pending deportation was protested by locals in the area.
The boy and his parents moved to Iceland from Palestine last year and traveled to Iceland via Spain, where they had their passports stamped. Icelandic officials intend to transfer the family to Spain, where they have never lived, with the help of the Dublin Regulation.
Yazan has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which is one of the most severe types of hereditary muscular dystrophy. Yazan's disease causes gradual muscular degeneration and weakening, and he is already bound to a wheelchair. The life expectancy of persons with Duchenne is believed to be between 25 and 26, however, with adequate medical care, afflicted males can often live into their thirties.
According to experts, Yazan's access to vital medical treatment will be jeopardized if he is deported.
It is now unclear whether Yazan and his parents' deportation has been postponed or canceled, but Yazan was escorted back to the hospital by police. The deportation was postponed once previously, in July.
Humanitarian and Disability rights groups in Iceland have protested Yazan's deportation, and people have conducted frequent rallies asking for the government to allow his family to stay. A group of about 20 protesters gathered at the airport Monday morning to support the child.
