Kyrgyzstani refugees prefer U.K.

Orphaned twin sisters from Kyrgyzstan who were spared deportation earlier this year will fight to stay in Britain. The Israeli government stepped in to prevent the deportation of Kamila and Karina Kaya, 18, when their asylum application in Britain was denied, as reported in JTA in January. They were released from a detention center and returned to stay with friends in Birmingham, where they had been welcomed into the Jewish community for the past two years while awaiting judgment on their asylum application. Now, as they await a final decision by the Israeli government to determine if they’re eligible to make aliyah — the Kayas arrived in Britain without necessary documentation to prove their Jewishness — the young women have announced that they wish to stay in Britain. “It has been a very difficult decision, but we want to stay here where we have friends and people that have become like family,” Karina Kaya told the Jewish Chronicle last week. Members of Birmingham’s Jewish community fear the Kayas face a difficult legal battle to stay in Britain, since they have already been denied asylum once.