MORE than 30 leading writers and actors have joined a campaign opposing the deportation of playwright Lydia Besong and her husband, Bernard Batey.

A letter has been sent to Home Secretary Theresa May calling for them to be granted asylum and be allowed to return to their home in Kestrel Drive, Bury.

The couple have been booked on a flight to Cameroon on Saturday after being told their claim for asylum has been refused.

Among the well-known names to have signed the letter are Monica Ali, Alan Ayckbourn, Joan Bakewell, Nick Hornby, Helena Kennedy, Caitlin Moran, Michael Morpurgo and Juliet Stevenson.

The letter, which has been organised by English PEN and Women For Refugee Women, states: “The UK should be proud to offer Lydia protection from the persecution she suffered in her home country.”

Michael Morpurgo, author of War Horse and ex-Children’s Laureate, said: “How this country treats asylum seekers is the measure of what kind of people we are.

“Lydia was oppressed in Cameroon. That there is risk she will be imprisoned and abused again seems undeniable. That she is extraordinarily brave in her stand against oppression is clear. And that her talents would be of great value to us as a citizen in our society would seem to be obvious.

“On these grounds, I would ask, beg, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, to look again, think again, and allow this remarkable woman the right to stay here and live amongst us.”

Mr Batey and Mrs Besong claim they had to flee Cameroon in 2006 for their involvement with the SCNC, a pressure group which campaigns for independence for southern Cameroon.

They say they were both imprisoned and tortured in Cameroon and Mrs Besong was raped by a prison guard.

Since arriving in the UK, Mrs Besong has written three plays, one of which, How I Became an Asylum Seeker, was performed in London in 2010. Another is currently in rehearsal, with a performance scheduled for March.

But the couple were taken into detention on January 10 and told they would be removed, despite claiming they were still awaiting a decision from the Home Office on a protection claim filed in October.

A UK Border Agency spokesman said: “The UK has a proud record of offering sanctuary to those who need it, but where we and the courts have found they do not qualify for protection they must return to their home country.

“Where individuals seek to frustrate their removal through the courts it can delay the returns process. However we will continue to pursue removal in these cases.

“Our rules are clear — if you have no right to be in the UK, you will be required to leave or you will be removed.”