Deported woman's family say Amber Rudd lacks compassion

The family of a woman removed from the UK after losing her indefinite leave to remain have condemned the home secretary for a lack of compassion, as MPs, campaigners and lawyers warned such cases were becoming common.

Irene Clennell, 52, who first arrived in Britain in 1988, was deported on Sunday and landed in Singapore on Monday afternoon local time after more than a month of detention in an immigration removal centre.

She had no chance to say goodbye to her British husband of 27 years, their two sons or her two-year-old granddaughter, who all live in north-east England.

Her sister-in-law, Angela Clennell, told the Guardian that Amber Rudd, the home secretary, needed to look at how the immigration system was treating families. “She needs to have some compassion,” she said. “What if it was one of her children or one of her relatives? How would she feel?

“Irene’s been deported from the country with the clothes on her back, £12 in her pocket and nothing more and just left. It’s absolutely atrocious, it’s horrendous, it’s unbearable to think about.”

Angela Clennell said Irene had been met by her sister after arriving at the airport, with reports saying a Singaporean government official who had been supposed to meet her there had not turned up. She is staying at her sister’s cramped apartment, where the only space to sleep is on the living room floor.

Irene Clennell first arrived in London in 1988 and married John, who is British, two years later. She was granted indefinite leave to remain and the couple settled in County Durham and had two children.

However, after spending long periods back in Singapore caring for her dying parents, her leave to remain lapsed. She made repeated attempts – in Singapore and back in the UK – to reapply for permission to live with her husband, which have all been rejected.

Speaking from Singapore on Monday, Irene Clennell described her ordeal. “It is a bloody disgrace; they treat me like a terrorist and anything else under the sun,” she said.

“They embarrass me in front of everybody, the only thing I did wrong was marry a British man and want to stay in the country with my kids and my husband. I have never done wrong to anybody; all I want is my family and this is what I get.

“The people who escorted me to the airport told me there would be someone to meet up with me but they did not do anything. The officers handed me a letter from the Home Office which says I have exhibited disruptive and violent behaviour. It also says my case is subject to orchestrated public protest.”

The Scottish National party called on Rudd to provide answers and said they had “very serious concerns about the manner of the deportation”.

Clennell was moved from the North East of England detention centre to Dungavel in Scotland before being deported.

Joanna Cherry QC MP said: “This case is another example of the inability of the Home Office to take account of special or compassionate circumstances when required and the human cost of the inflexibility of the UK’s immigration rules. This approach suggests relentless prioritising of the net migration target against a sensible and humane approach to individual cases.

“Following the recent outcome of the MM Case in the supreme court, concerning the particularly harsh spouse visa rules, this action in relation to Mrs Clennell further places the Home Office’s respect for family life under question.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “All applications for leave to remain in the UK are considered on their individual merits and in line with the immigration rules. We expect those with no legal right to remain in the country to leave.”

Hilary Brown, the managing director of law firm Virgo Consultancy Services, based in south London, said such cases were becoming increasingly common and betrayed an increasingly hardline approach at the Home Office. She said she had handled similar cases before, including a 60-year-old Jamaican last year whose application for indefinite leave to remain was denied after her husband died, despite them having children in Britain.

“It’s about the Home Office now not being prepared at all to exercise any type of discretion,” Brown said. “It is certainly possible under the current rules for this lady to have been granted leave to remain in the UK, even on a discretional basis.

“The fact that they just said, ‘No, go away’, is awful. It’s absolutely awful. What stronger compassionate compelling circumstances are there other than your family, your immediate family, and the fact that you haven’t used deception, you haven’t committed any criminal offences, previously you had indefinite leave to remain. What more could she have done?”

Antonia Bright, of the rights group Movement for Justice, said such removals risked disproportionately affecting women, who were more likely to have caring responsibilities and thus unable to support themselves or be required to spend time overseas with sick relatives.

Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, said the case illustrated everything that was “brutal and unfair” about the Conservative government’s immigration policies.

“Women are more likely to be involved in having to help with elderly relatives abroad, so I think it will disproportionately affect women,” the Labour MP said. “And it’s women in the cases that we’ve seen: women with caring responsibilities who’ve had to spend extended periods of time abroad because they are from communities and cultures where it’s expected that they will do their share of caring. And then, having spent their adult life in the UK, they’ve found that they’ve lost their leave to remain.”

In a separate statement, Abbott said: “Tory anti-immigration policies have gone too far when a woman who is lawfully married, and has lived in the UK most of her adult life, is cruelly separated from her British husband and children. I will be taking this case up with the home secretary.”

Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: “This case highlights the complete irrationality and inhumanity of our immigration system. When the rules are this arbitrary and rigid, anyone can find themselves on the wrong side of them.

“The Conservative government’s lack of empathy is destroying Britain’s reputation as an open and tolerant country. The home secretary must intervene immediately to bring Ms Clennell home and give her the opportunity to appeal without further distress being caused to her and her family.”

Angela Clennell said the family had been overwhelmed by the support of the public, who have donated more than £43,000 to a fundraising page to help Irene fight her case.

“You just have to hope for the best, keep our fingers crossed. I mean the generosity of people, like on the GoFundMe page, is just overwhelming. It’s nice to see that there’s people on your side and helping you fight it,” she said.