Gurmit Kaur, 78, facing deportation to country where she'll 'die an invisible person'

[Premi]

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/black-country/widow-78-facing-deportation-country-28141192

Widow, 78, facing deportation to country where she'll 'die an invisible person'

Gurmit Kaur, from Smethwick, faces deportation to India after the Home Office rejected her latest appeal

BLACK COUNTRY

By

Nathan ClarkeCommunity Reporter

A 78-year old widow facing deportation to a country where she ‘knows no one’ and fears she will die ‘an invisible person’. Gurmit Kaur, from Smethwick, could spend the rest of her life alone after the Home Office rejected her latest appeal to stay in the UK.

Gurmit Kaur, originally from India, arrived in the UK to attend a wedding in 2009 and settled in Sandwell where she volunteers in the community and at her local foodbank. More than 60,000 people had backed the Sikh woman's bid to stay in Britain in 2020 - but the latest Home Office ruling puts her future in limbo.

Gurmit was previously told that her voluntary work proved she was ‘fit and well’ enough to be sent back to India, and that she must leave voluntarily or face deportation. Kaur appealed the decision arguing she has ‘no home to return to’ in India, but the latest Home Office ruling states she ‘does still have contact with people’ and she would be capable of reintegrating to life in the country.

Speaking to BirminghamLive, Kaur has said she was ‘extremely upset’ at the decision. “I am so upset,” she said. “I have no one to look after me there - I don’t know what I am going to do. I will die as an invisible person.”

While the Home Office accepted that Kaur had ‘built up a private life’ in the UK, it ruled that there were no ‘significant obstacles’ to her reintegration in India, given that she spent the majority of her life in the country and still speaks Punjabi. Kaur, however, said she had ‘no friends or family’ to care for her in the country and considers Smethwick her ‘true home.’

Salman Mirza, Gurmit's caseworker from refugee and migrant group Brushstrokes, slammed the ‘bizarre’ decision. He said: “How can you tell an elderly lady who is well loved in the community, and who volunteers at her local food bank, that people she hasn’t seen in 11 years can house and look after her?”

The campaign #WeAreAllGurmit was launched in 2020 calling for Kaur to be granted indefinite leave to remain. Campaigners say she is a victim of hostile environment measures put in place by successive governments to clamp down on illegal immigration.

Nazek Ramadan, Director of Migrant Voice, previously said: “We’re standing with Gurmit Kaur because, like so many undocumented migrants in the UK, this country is her home and she’s a deeply valued member of her community.

“We urge the Home Office to regularise her status, and that of all undocumented migrants in the UK, so that she and thousands like her can live without fear of being detained and deported, and protect themselves and their families, especially during this pandemic.”

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “All applications are carefully considered on their individual merits and on the basis of the evidence provided.”

[GurjantGnostic]

On 11/29/2023 at 4:35 AM, Premi said:

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/black-country/widow-78-facing-deportation-country-28141192

Widow, 78, facing deportation to country where she'll 'die an invisible person'

Gurmit Kaur, from Smethwick, faces deportation to India after the Home Office rejected her latest appeal

BLACK COUNTRY

By

Nathan ClarkeCommunity Reporter

A 78-year old widow facing deportation to a country where she ‘knows no one’ and fears she will die ‘an invisible person’. Gurmit Kaur, from Smethwick, could spend the rest of her life alone after the Home Office rejected her latest appeal to stay in the UK.

Gurmit Kaur, originally from India, arrived in the UK to attend a wedding in 2009 and settled in Sandwell where she volunteers in the community and at her local foodbank. More than 60,000 people had backed the Sikh woman's bid to stay in Britain in 2020 - but the latest Home Office ruling puts her future in limbo.

Gurmit was previously told that her voluntary work proved she was ‘fit and well’ enough to be sent back to India, and that she must leave voluntarily or face deportation. Kaur appealed the decision arguing she has ‘no home to return to’ in India, but the latest Home Office ruling states she ‘does still have contact with people’ and she would be capable of reintegrating to life in the country.

Speaking to BirminghamLive, Kaur has said she was ‘extremely upset’ at the decision. “I am so upset,” she said. “I have no one to look after me there - I don’t know what I am going to do. I will die as an invisible person.”

While the Home Office accepted that Kaur had ‘built up a private life’ in the UK, it ruled that there were no ‘significant obstacles’ to her reintegration in India, given that she spent the majority of her life in the country and still speaks Punjabi. Kaur, however, said she had ‘no friends or family’ to care for her in the country and considers Smethwick her ‘true home.’

Salman Mirza, Gurmit's caseworker from refugee and migrant group Brushstrokes, slammed the ‘bizarre’ decision. He said: “How can you tell an elderly lady who is well loved in the community, and who volunteers at her local food bank, that people she hasn’t seen in 11 years can house and look after her?”

The campaign #WeAreAllGurmit was launched in 2020 calling for Kaur to be granted indefinite leave to remain. Campaigners say she is a victim of hostile environment measures put in place by successive governments to clamp down on illegal immigration.

Nazek Ramadan, Director of Migrant Voice, previously said: “We’re standing with Gurmit Kaur because, like so many undocumented migrants in the UK, this country is her home and she’s a deeply valued member of her community.

“We urge the Home Office to regularise her status, and that of all undocumented migrants in the UK, so that she and thousands like her can live without fear of being detained and deported, and protect themselves and their families, especially during this pandemic.”

A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “All applications are carefully considered on their individual merits and on the basis of the evidence provided.”

Wow. Seva means you're healthy enough to go...so if she was burden...how backwards...boooo