Should bureaucracy or compassion be our priority

NanaBridget Fri 19-Feb-16 09:08:51

I often wonder about whether the UK civil servants put bureaucracy before compassion.

For instance today's headlines about the 92 gran

A Home Office decision to deport a 92-year-old widow who wanted to spend the “end of her days” with her only child in Britain could kill the pensioner, her daughter has said.
Myrtle Cothill, who was born under the British flag in 1924 and whose father fought for Britain in the first world war, has been ordered to travel to Heathrow on Tuesday for a flight to South Africa.
Mary Wills, her daughter, told the Guardian that officials said she should go back to South Africa, where she has no family, and seek help from the Red Cross.
The pensioner has fought a campaign since last year to stay with 66-year-old Wills in Poole, arguing she has no support in South Africa and is independent from the state with her £300-a-month pension.
“My mother is in a terrible state. She is just shaking and shaking,” said Wills. “It is so cruel. We don’t know what to do.” She added that officials said the government would pay for her flight to South Africa and give her “£1,000 to tide her over”.
“My mother gets a private pension from my late father so she wouldn’t qualify for assistance from Red Cross. But she should be with her family. The heartbreak of leaving us at her age could finish her off and finish me off, too,” said Wills.
“If she doesn’t go to the airport on Tuesday, they will probably take her to detention centre. That will be signing her death certificate,” she warned.
In December, Cothill said: “I don’t want to go. I’ve got nobody there and I am not well enough to travel. I’m very upset. I’m very old. I’m 92. I want to live with my daughter for the end of my days.”
Cothill, whose husband died more than 40 years ago, survived on her own in South Africa with the support of her friends and her local church. But as she got older and her community thinned, it became apparent to her that she needed to be cared for by her daughter in Britain. She has an enlarged heart and poor hearing and has lost the sight in one eye
The Home Office says that Cothill’s application was rejected as her “condition was not deemed to be life-threatening” and that “suitable medical treatment” was available in her country of origin.She has been in Dorset since February 2014 and made an application to the Home Office for leave to remain the country as an adult dependent on human rights grounds.

Sent from my iPad

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Eloethan Tue 23-Feb-16 23:18:26

On the face of it, it seems totally inhumane. However, I'm not sure we have all the information relating to this case. For instance, how was this elderly lady managing before she came to the UK? Are all the details permitted to be put into the public arena or are there some details which cannot be, or which have not been, divulged?

Personally, I think the immigration rules relating to reuniting families are unfair, but they are unfair to a lot of people who perhaps don't get the coverage that this particular case has.

I think it's even worse that a person (and children) from outside the EU who does not have UK citizenship cannot join his/her British citizen spouse if that spouse is not earning a minimum of £18,600 per annum. Apparently almost 40% of British citizens earn less than that amount.

According to a BBC report in 2015, a non-UK/EU resident who has £2 million to invest in government gilts or bonds, buy shares or give a loan to a Company operating in the UK can get a "Tier 1 investor Visa" - initially for three years, which can be extended by two years and then permanent residency applied for. I don't know if this covers family as well.

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durhamjen Tue 23-Feb-16 23:32:38

Unfortunately she only has a pension from her husband's employment of £300 per month.

I think the reason this woman got so much coverage is because of her age.

I agree about the rules being unfair. James Brokenshire says the rules are unfair as they do not apply to those in the EU, so he is going to close the loophole.
I assume he means he will apply the rule to all immigrants, not reduce the amount, as suggested in court.
A bit like when the pension rules were evened up for men and women, and most people thought it would mean men could retire earlier.

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durhamjen Tue 23-Feb-16 23:40:42

I think, Eloethan, the problem was that they did not apply the right way.
She came in on a holiday visa, and then applied. She should have applied when in South Africa, but they did not know that.

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WilmaKnickersfit Wed 24-Feb-16 10:18:03

Thanks for that information dj.

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WilmaKnickersfit Wed 24-Feb-16 10:25:35

Eloethan I think that a similar arrangement was offered to people living in Hong Kong at the time it was handed back to China. That's how the mega rich Hong Kongese ended up in London.

Every time I read about the £18600, it crosses my mind that most people don't know about it.

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M0nica Thu 25-Feb-16 07:49:29

If I was an only child and had an elderly parent living 6,000 miles away without any family around her then I would move heaven and earth to get them to the country I was living in to live with me.

Given the irrational way our immigration system works I can well see that the parent and child involved could be tempted to be 'economical with the actualite' as a senior civil servant said in a court case, in order to ensure that they are allowed to stay.

This dancing around the facts of this case is ignoring the basic facts: A 92 year old parent 6,000 miles from their only child and with no family in their country of origin. If this is not a case for compassionate leave to stay, then nothing is.

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durhamjen Thu 25-Feb-16 19:36:33

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/24/myrtle-cothill-92-year-old-facing-deportation-at-risk-of-death-in-months

An update on her situation.

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durhamjen Sat 05-Mar-16 22:10:08

www.change.org/p/the-government-ailing-92-year-old-facing-forced-removal-from-uk

She's allowed to stay.

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durhamjen Sat 05-Mar-16 22:11:09

www.change.org/p/the-government-ailing-92-year-old-facing-forced-removal-from-uk/u/15724274