Elderly migrants ‘too old to go home’ allowed to retire in UK | UK | News
Analysis of recent decisions by immigration courts has found that deporting some elderly migrants would violate their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Migrants successfully claim asylum on the basis of the fact that they are retired and need to continue their lives in Britain. There is no official data on the types of asylum claims but a Home Office whistleblower told The Telegraph that older people will be the next big source of claims.
In one case, a 61-year-old Chinese woman previously convicted of identity fraud was granted asylum on the grounds that she was too old to be deported. A separate court ruled that an 87-year-old Syrian widower could join his son in Britain because the level of care he needed was not available in his home country, where care homes are not a “cultural practice”.
In another case, 71-year-old Pakistani Muhammad Ilyas Butt was allowed to remain in the UK after the court heard he was “lonely and isolated” and needed the support of his son. The court heard the man suffered from heart disease, diabetes, angina, back pain, anxiety and depression. Initially, the Home Office rejected his request because it found that he could access treatment in Pakistan. However, the retiree appealed the decision, claiming that he had evidence proving that he was unable to access the healthcare services required by his conditions.
Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Ruddick said: “[Mr Butt] He has no immediate family in Pakistan. She became a widow in 2016 and all expert reports describe her as lonely and isolated.
“Evaluated by Senior Clinical Psychologist [Mr Butt] over the course of four home visits.
“He told her [Mr Butt’s] The deterioration of his mental health was directly related to the loss of his wife in 2016 and the subsequent migration of his children.
“From this I conclude that [Mr Butt] Before his separation, he was dependent on his children for his emotional well-being, and he feels this makes it more plausible for him to continue to be emotionally dependent on them.
“The available evidence [Mr Butt’s] Treating psychologist repeatedly states: [Mr Butt’s] emotional bond with their children, [son].
“It also documents a direct correlation between his contact with his family. [Mr Butt’s] mental and physical health.
“[The psychologist] wrote this [Mr Butt] “He said that he lived with his children until they immigrated and that ‘he was always happier and more confident when he was with his children.'”
The cases come at a time when a record 111,000 asylum applications were lodged in the year to June this year and a sharp increase in appeals by people whose claims were initially rejected by the Home Office. The number of appeals has more than doubled in just over a year to now exceed 50,000.
However, not every case was accepted. Maria Marletta, an Argentinian grandmother, has applied to move to Britain to live with her daughter, who is a British citizen. He claimed that he could not afford treatment for hypertension, cognitive impairment, hearing impairment and chest pain in Argentina. But judge Anna-Rose Landes rejected his appeal and ruled that other relatives could look after him, in accordance with the ECHR’s right to family life provisions.
Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood is set to launch a new crackdown on asylum seekers later this month. The measures are expected to limit the ability of migrants to rely on the ECHR when appealing against their removal from the UK on the grounds that it would violate their family life or put them at risk of persecution in their home country.
