A SEVERELY disabled fiveyear- old girl is facing death if she is deported to Algeria, her family claim.

Rania Abdechakour came to Britain to live with her aunt and uncle on a six-month visa in 2008 as a toddler, to give her mother a break and help her condition.

As it emerged just how ill she was, her stay was extended so she could seek more medical help.

Now the youngster is making huge improvement and is even a pupil at a mainstream school.

But the Home Office says she must return home after an application for leave to remain in the country was turned down — even though she is unlikely to receive the special treatment and medication she needs in Algeria.

Rania has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and has a number of medical conditions including epilepsy, is partially sighted and more recently diagnosed with reflex and anoxic seizures in which her heart stops beating.

Aunt Jo Taleb, aged 46, who lives with her husband, Moussa, an electrician, aged 38, and their daughter Karima, aged two, in Heaton, said: “She is an amazing little girl, who is now in mainstream school.

“People talk about immigration, but she is just a little girl. I feel she has been handed a death sentence by being told she is not allowed to stay.

“She will not survive in Algeria.

She has epilepsy. People there still believe that is possession.”

The family are now appealing the Home Office decision and have launched a campaign to highlight their plight.

Mrs Taleb, who ran her own training and consultancy business in healthcare and social work and was an advocate for children with disabilities before becoming a fulltime mum, said she has not told Rania’s parents, Nadia and Hafid, who have two other children, that their daughter could be sent back because of the worry and stress it would cause.

Mrs Taleb, who plans to adopt Rania, said: “I will not let her go. I >> BY SAIQA CHAUDHARI schaudhari@theboltonnews.co.uk have breathed life into her, resuscitated her when she has collapsed in the living room.

“She is a part of this family and is developing. She attends Oxford Grove, where they just love her.”

Family doctor Robert Walker said: “The improvements she has made here have been remarkable and it would be would detrimental to send her back.”

The Home Office would not comment on the case, but a letter sent by the Home Office’s UK Border Agency said: “If your appeal is unsuccessful and you do not leave the UK voluntarily, you will be removed to the country or territory of which you are national.”