Gran is deported after 30 years in Britain
A GRANDMOTHER who has been married and lived in here for more than 30 years was yesterday forcibly removed from Scotland and sent to Singapore.
Irene Clennell, 53, had been held in Dungavel detention centre in South Lanarkshire because the Government wanted to remove her to Singapore.
She is the main carer for her sick British husband, John, and has two British sons and a British granddaughter.
Speaking from the plane on the runway at Edinburgh airport, she said she had just £12 in her pocket, nobody to stay with in Singapore, and no change of clothes.
She had been planning to see a new lawyer today to discuss the potential for a fresh case.
Mrs Clennell, from County Durham, said she didn’t have the chance to see her husband before being bundled off to the airport this morning.
She said: “I didn’t even get to say goodbye properly. I was just in tears, I wasn’t able to say much.”
“I don’t know what I’ll do when I land. I called my sister [in Singapore] and she said she can’t put me up, so I just don’t know. How can I stay anywhere? I don’t have a wallet with me, I’ve got about £12 in my pocket. I don’t even have my clothes, they’re at home.”
Mrs Clennell is the latest victim of the Government’s spousal visa system that requires the British partner to prove earnings of at least £18,600 – and the couple being able to show long stretches of uninterrupted time living in the UK.
She spent too long out of the country while looking after her dying parents in Singapore, which meant she lost her leave to remain.
Her only hope of a life in Britain now is an out-of-country appeal, which she has 28 days to lodge, but no means to fund.