Home Office backs down over move to deport mum
Officials had ordered woman to be separated from Scots husband and child
The Home Office has apologised to the mother of a Scottish toddler after admitting it ordered her to leave the country “in error”.
Volha Merry, who is known as Olya and lives in North Lanarkshire with her husband Derek and their twoyear-old daughter, was told she could be deported back to Belarus if she did not leave the UK early this month. Her case prompted protests, including an online petition and the intervention of MP Hugh Gaffney, amid controversy over the Windrush scandal and the government’s “hostile environment” policy on immigration.
Now the Home Office has admitted to Mr Gaffney the threat of deportation was made by mistake.
In a letter to the Labour MP for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill, immigration minister Caroline Noakes wrote: “Mrs Merry applied for permission to appeal the Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber on 10 January, 2018 and 8 March, 2018; both applications were refused. Following this refused application, Mrs Merry was served with an enforcement notice, advising her of the liability to removal from the UK on 4 April.
“The Home Office apologises for issuing this notice in error. It will now
be withdrawn and the reporting conditions set upon Mrs Merry will be cancelled.” The admission comes after weeks of chaos for the Home Office amid scandals over the Windrush generation and immigration targets that prompted former home secretary Amber Rudd to resign late on Sunday night.
Ms Rudd was replaced on Monday by Sajid Javid.
Mrs Merry applied for residency in the UK in 2015, but her request was rejected by the Home Office. The 28-year-old, who was born in Belarus, was told that she didn’t meet the relevant criteria.
After two years of appeals the mother to two-year-old Milana was told she would have to leave her home. But hours before she was due to report to an immigration centre last month, Mrs Merry was granted a reprieve while her case was reviewed.
Mr Gaffney said: “The important thing is that this Coatbridge family will not be broken up. However, this error suggests a horrifying level of either incompetence or indifference in the Home Office.
“This family chose to make Coatbridge their home. While it is wonderful news that they will remain together, something is clearly rotten in the Home Office.
“I have tabled questions to the immigration minister asking fora review to be conductedon how many of these bogus notices have been issued.
“Sajid Javid clearly has his work cut out changing the culture of the Home Office – a culture of fear and hostility created by the Prime Minister.”
Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs Fiona Hyslop said:“i am pleased that this error has been rectified by the Home Office and that the Merry family is no longer facing separation as a result of the UK’S immigration rules.
“Alongside raising this case with the former home secretary Amber Rudd, I and the Scottish Government have consistently opposed the UK government’s restrictions to family migration, questioning the changes to UK family migration policy.
“We also believe that the UK government should continue to protect the rights of the family members of EU citizens after Brexit, and should take account of the value of family life by extending these rights to the family members of UK citizens.”