Georgian girl at centre of refugee status row dies of leukemia

An eight-year-old girl found to be suffering from acute leukemia shortly after her deportation from the Netherlands has died in Leiden, while being treated for the disease.

Junior justice minister Fred Teeven expelled Renata and her family, who come from Georgia, because they came to the Netherlands via Poland and should have applied for refugee status there.

The girl was seriously ill during her time in the Netherlands and diagnosed with leukemia on her arrival in Poland. Teeven admitted in November 2013 that the exchange of medical information about the girl should have been done more carefully.

The girl and her family were allowed to return to the Netherlands after the scandal broke. The family’s lawyer Maureen Helgers-Crompvoerts said at the weekend Renata had died of complications following a bone marrow transplant.

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