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Woman deported to Singapore despite 27-year marriage | Woman deported to Singapore despite 27-year marriage |
(about 7 hours later) | |
A woman married to a British man for 27 years has been deported to Singapore. | |
Irene Clennell was being held in a Scottish detention centre, but told the BBC she has been sent back to her country of origin without warning. | |
She had been living near Durham with her husband, and has two British sons, as well as a granddaughter, in the UK. | |
Periods spent abroad caring for her parents are thought to have invalidated her residential status. The Home Office does not comment on individual cases. | |
Mrs Clennell told the BBC she was put in a van and taken to the airport from the Dungavel Detention Centre in South Lanarkshire on Saturday. | |
She had been held at the facility since the start of February. | She had been held at the facility since the start of February. |
She told the BBC she was unable to contact her lawyer and did not have the chance to get any clothes from her home. | She told the BBC she was unable to contact her lawyer and did not have the chance to get any clothes from her home. |
Mrs Clennell, who had been living in Chester-le-Street, was given indefinite leave to remain in the UK after her marriage. | |
She says she has made repeated attempts - both in Singapore and in the UK - to re-apply for permission to live with her husband. | She says she has made repeated attempts - both in Singapore and in the UK - to re-apply for permission to live with her husband. |
Mrs Clennell says her husband is in poor health and she has become his principal carer. | |
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. | 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." | "We expect those with no legal right to remain in the country to leave." |
The charity Migrant Voice says a campaign is starting to bring her back to Britain. | The charity Migrant Voice says a campaign is starting to bring her back to Britain. |
Director Nazek Ramadan said her case was "yet another example of how arbitrary policies tear apart families and ruin lives". | Director Nazek Ramadan said her case was "yet another example of how arbitrary policies tear apart families and ruin lives". |