Chi meets seven-year-old Lily Jha and writes to the Home Secretary calling for urgent consideration in mother’s citizenship case.
After meeting with the family of Lily Jha, the seven-year-old Newcastle based girl suffering from a rare form of cancer, Chi has written to the Home Secretary asking for urgent consideration to be given to her mother’s citizenship application.
Seven-year-old Lily Jha suffers from a rare brain cancer called DIPG and needs to travel for treatment that isn’t currently available in the UK. Both Lily and her father are British citizens, but her mother needs a British passport in order to travel to Switzerland and secure the urgent treatment that Lily needs. The Prime Minister was asked earlier this year in the House of Commons about a similar family in Wales with a child suffering with DIPG. He replied stating that he would do all he could to enable the family to travel abroad for treatment for their child. Chi has previously written to Immigration Minister Chris Philp regarding Lily’s mothers application.
Chi said “this weekend in a local park and at a social distance, I met Lily and her parents having heard about her heart-breaking story. Lily is a lovely girl with a great family, and they are all suffering so much. Lily’s mum talked to me about the urgent need for treatment for her daughter and about her rare condition. The Home Secretary must take urgent action to ensure Lily can get the treatment she needs with all of her family around her! We have seen other families receive the support of the Government in getting them to Switzerland. The Home Office must extend that same support to Lily and her family and act urgently to process her mother’s application. I hope next time I meet Lily her and her family have received good news from the Home Office and plans for her treatment are in place!”
Chi is also working to address the lack of research into this very rare childhood disease.
Lily’s mother is currently managing the #LightsForLily campaign and a Go Fund Me page to fundraise for Lily’s treatment https://www.gofundme.com/f/LforL
ENDS
Notes to editors
Chi’s letter to the Home Secretary – 
Further information on Lily’s case and Chi’s first letter – https://chionwurahmp.com/2020/09/press-release-chi-writes-to-home-office-to-seek-treatment-for-local-girl-with-rare-cancer/