Asian migrants in the UK are calling themselves the latest victims of Britain's next Windrush scandal, as many face threats of 'wrongful' deportation by Home Office. While some are being accused of lying in their Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) application due to basic tax errors (that were cleared years back), others are being accused of cheating in Test of English for International Communication.
Hundreds of South Asian highly skilled migrants held a huge protest against delays in their ILR decision as well as visa refusal on grounds of 'threats to national security' because of 'minor' errors on their tax returns. More than 23,000 people have signed a petition to the newly appointed Home Secretary Sajid Javid, Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour and Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, urging them to put an end to this 'hostile environment' for 'legal' immigrants.
On last Wednesday, the highly skilled migrant group gathered at Parliament Square in pouring rain, wearing white t-shirts that said 'Stop Hostile Environment', holding placards saying 'Tax Correction is not a crime', 'Home Office don't rip-off our office' and 'We want justice' and shouting slogans “Injustice no more, attention Home Office.”
Suma, a business intelligence developer in IT sector for last 6 years, told Asian Voice, “Recently my ILR got refused after Home Office held the application for 23 months. It was due to one tax error made by my accountant, which I was not aware of. After that I have rectified the tax mistake and paid my due. I have also complained about my accountant but the registered body said that they cant take this case further, as my accountant's membership has elapsed. I am appealing my decision to Home Office.”
Nisha Mohite, who used to work as a Quality Assurance Officer in the pharmaceutical industry developing anti-cancer and anti-epileptic drugs told the newspaper, “I was a key member of the team, handling major projects by the company. In 2016 June, I got my first ILR refusal, for tax discripancy in 2010 and 11. I thought they had made some mistake and my solicitor advised me to re-apply with all evidences that I paid my taxes on time and cleared all my dues. Still after months of waiting, Home Office refused the application, yet again, saying that they were not satisfied with my tax rectification in 2013 for 2010-11.”
They booked her under section 322(5), branding Nisha as 'a threat to national security', defaming her character as 'not good enough for a settlement visa' in the UK. “I went through severe depression,” she said. “But finally gathered some strength and courage to come out and speak to people. My solicitor has advised me to challenge the decision in Court. My friends and family are supporting me as I have lost my right to work. I have sold all my assets and gold to survive in this country.”
She added, “People may question why am I so stubborn and determined to live in the UK. The answer is, I have lived here for 10 years of my life, I have contributed to the society like many others and have been a law abiding person. So I am here and fighting for my justice.”
Aditi Bhardwaj, one of the main organisers of this protest and campaign told AV, “The migrants campaigning here have been denied settlement under Section 322 (5), which was initially made for dangerous criminals, rapists and terrorists. Putting these people who had minor tax rectifications under the same bracket as terrorists is based on speculation. Most of these people have school going children. Their appeal rights have been taken away. Now they have to go for Judicial Review which is a very expensive route. They dont have a right to rent, right to work, it is quite hard for them to survive. The Home Office held the application for more than 12 months, for some it was 24 months. And then going to court for 2 years, how do you expect someone to survive in the UK for 4 years without work rights or appeal or justice?”
The group has reportedly raised £40,000 to challenge Home Office in the courts for using the controversial section 322(5) of the Act. This group of migrants include IT and medical professionals to name a few.
Among these migrants is Saleem Dadabhoy, a scion of one of the wealthiest families in Pakistan. He is facing deportation despite three different appeal courts having scrutinised his accounts and finding no evidence of any irregularities, and a court of appeal judge having ruled that he is trustworthy and credible, The Guardian reported.
His deportation would directly lead to the loss of 20 jobs, all held by British citizens, and the closure of a British company worth 1.5 million pounds.
Paul Garlick, a former QC who specialises in extradition and human rights law, and was a part-time judge at the crown court in London reportedly aid: "The decisions of the Home Office are beyond belief and deplorable."
Afzal Khan MP, Shadow minister for immigration, said: "Driven by a misguided net migration target, the Home Office has gone after what they perceive as easy targets..."
A latest report by The Times has also claimed that a senior Home Office official received a bonus upto £10,000 for removing illegal migrants. This claim was made by Yvette Cooper, Labour's Chairwoman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, during a Common's debate. Caroline Cokes, immigration minister has promised to investigate the claims.
7000 students may have been wrongly deported
Many students are facing deportation over accusations more than 35,000 international students accused of cheating in the Test of English for International Communication who insist that they have been falsely accused, the Financial Times has reported. Theresa May, the then Home Secretary had suspended Educational Testing Service (ETS) conducting this test after BBC Panorama four years ago uncovered fraud. The test was essential for migrants to meet their visa requirements.
However ETS was confident that 33,000 test candidates had used someone else to take the test and in 22,000 cases the tests were questionable. In an immigration appeal ruling two years ago it was found that in only 80% of cases the computer had indeed been correct, resulting into at least 7000 students then wrongly accused of cheating, their visa revoked and finally deported.
Lawyers representing some claimants have said that there are serious questions about the methods that ETS, the US company that administered the test, used to identify cheats. There are also serious questions about file handling at test centres and whether the voice recordings that have been used to accuse students were actually those that they recorded. Yet students lost all their income, rights to rent property and part-time jobs along with their visas.
Wahidur Rahman's visa was revoked over the allegations that he cheated in the English language test for students from non English-speaking countries and applicants for some other types of visas. He told the FT, “I have some relatives that live here. But, if anybody asked me would I suggest to somebody to come to this country as a student, I would definitely say no, because the current environment is really, really difficult.”
35 year old Sheikh Amin from Dhaka was reportedly arrested by immigration officers in Februaury last year and held him for three days at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre near Gatwick Airport before he was released on bail. 30 year old Nafis Karim lost his part-time job after Home Office revokef his student visa in 2015. His wife Irfana lost her job too, and a family with two young boys Ifraj, 4 and Ifham, 8 months, they have no income and face eviction from their flat in June. Story is also the same with Syed Hussain, 28, who has been homeless since his visa was revoked.
Most of these students spoke excellent English, raising questions about why would they need to cheat in an English exam.
