Leonarda Dibrani

Leonarda Dibrani: Leonarda Dibrani, however, said she would not return without her family, according to The Star. The uproar began earlier this week when it became public that 15-year-old Leonarda was detained by police as she got off a bus from a school trip. Schools are considered places of sanctuary, and many thought that principle had been breached. The story has since become more complicated, with the father admitting that he lied in his asylum application when he said the entire family fled Kosovo, where they were persecuted for being Roma. Leonarda and most of her siblings were born in Italy, though they do not have Italian citizenship and PARIS Under fire from the far left and members of his own party, Socialist President Fran ois Hollande said Saturday that a 15-year-old Roma girl who was detained in front of her classmates and expelled as an illegal immigrant can return to France. But the rest of the family cannot come with her. The deportation of the Dibrani family, whose requests for asylum were rejected, has lit a firestorm in France, where such expulsions arent rare but are always sensitive as the birthplace of the rights of man grapples with a flux of immigrants. Its an especially delicate issue for Hollande and the Socialists, who have tried to present a softer image of Frances immigration policies and distance themselves from former Nicolas Sarkozys tough stance. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.