"I will die as an invisible person.”
A widow from Birmingham faces being deported to India where she is fearful of dying an “invisible person”.
Gurmit Kaur, of Smethwick, was told her appeal to remain in the UK was rejected by the Home Office.
She now faces spending the rest of her life alone in India.
Originally from India, Gurmit entered the UK in 2009 where she was set to attend a wedding. She settled in Sandwell and is a volunteer at her local foodbank.
In 2020, more than 60,000 people petitioned for Gurmit to be allowed to remain in the UK, but the latest decision by the Home Office has placed her future into uncertainty.
#WeAreAllGurmit was set up and locals got together to protest that she was given indefinite leave to remain.
Speaking to Birmingham Live, the 78-year-old shared her feelings:
“I am so upset. I have no one to look after me there. I don’t know what I am going to do. I will die as an invisible person.”
The Home Office stated that due to the nature of her voluntary work, Gurmit was “fit and well” to return to India and that she must comply by leaving voluntarily or face being deported.
When Gurmit appealed the decision and said she did not have a home to return to, she was told she had contacts in the country, allowing her to settle back into a life in India.
Gurmit’s caseworker, Salman Mirza of Brushstrokes, a refugee and migrant organisation, deemed the decision as “bizarre”.
Salman said: “How can you tell an elderly lady who is well-loved in the community, and who volunteers at her local foodbank, that people she has not seen in 11 years can house and look after her?”
The director of Migrant Voice, Nazek Ramadan stated:
“We are standing with Gurmit Kaur because, like so many undocumented migrants in the UK, this country is her home and she is a deeply valued member of her community.
“We urge the Home Office to regularise her status, and that of all undocumented migrants in the UK, so that she and thousands like her can live without fear of being detained and deported.”
On behalf of the Home Office, a spokesperson said:
“All applications are carefully considered on their merits and the basis of the evidence provided.”
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