Campaign to let cancer sufferer stay in UK fails
I am at a complete loss how they can feel this is acceptable Salman Mirza
THE Home Office has refused to re-consider Birmingham cancer sufferer Lewin Williams’ application to stay in the UK.
It says the frail pensioner will be sent back to Jamaica.
The news comes despite 140,000 people signing a petition urging the sick old man be allowed to stay in this country.
Mr Williams, aged 74, from Acocks Green, has been battling with the Home Office since 2019 to stay in the UK whilst undergoing treatment for his cancer but fears he will be sent to a country where he has no family and cannot afford medical treatment.
He came on a visitor’s visa, which lasted until June 2004, and remained under the impression he had settled status.
Mr Williams’s application to stay was rejected in 2019 and the court allowed him to appeal but it has now been rejected.
He has lived in the UK since 2003 and was first diagnosed with cancer in 2019. Since Lewin’s diagnosis he has been in and out of hospital undergoing chemotherapy – something the Home Office acknowledged in its refusal.
It said in legal documents: “That the current treatment being received is chemotherapy and the continuation of this is vital.
“The prognosis whilst on the treatment is up to two years which would reduce to six months if chemotherapy was ceased all together.”
The Home Office went on: “There is no evidence submitted to demonstrate that Mr Williams would not be able to access his current treatment; an appropriate level of care or adequate alternative treatment from the functioning health service in Jamaica.”
It did not mention the widespread support for Mr Williams’s petition ‘Let Lewin Stay’ in its reason of refusal. The petition was started by his caseworker Salman Mirza, from Brushstrokes.
Ms Mirza said: “We have tried to get the Home Office to reconsider their decision. Sadly, they think it’s reasonable for a 74-year-old to find thousands of dollars to pay for lifesaving cancer treatment who has made a life for himself here in the UK for the last 18 years.
“I am at a complete loss how they can feel this is acceptable.”
Jess Philips, Labour MP for Yardley, also requested a reconsideration
of Lewin’s application. She said: “My office has made representations to the Home Office on behalf of Mr Williams.
“However, currently I am gravely worried about my constituent’s health. I hope the Home Office recognise the compassionate grounds
in Mr Williams case and ease my constituent’s suffering.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “We do not routinely comment on individual cases. All applications are considered on their individual merits in line with the Immigration Rules.”