Woman threatened with deportation despite being in a coma
The Home Office has been accused of ‘sending people to their death abroad’ after threatening to forcibly deport a woman while she lay in a coma.
Bhavani Espathi, 31, was unconscious for a week-and-a-half after having a major operation to treat her Crohn’s disease.
But during this time, the Indian-national received a letter saying her application to remain in the UK had been rejected and she was liable to be forcibly removed.
The Home Office admitted it was ‘unlikely’ the life-saving care she was receiving would be available in India, but said this would not mean she would be allowed to remain.
Instead they told her she could get ‘palliative’ care if she was returned to her home country.
Her fiance, Martin Mangler, 33, desperately appealed their ruling as she lay in hospital and provided letters from her doctors stating her life was at risk if she was to leave.
Bhavani told the Independent: ‘I’m in a pretty vulnerable state right now with somewhat of an open stomach.
When does Lisa Dingle die in Emmerdale as Jane Cox leaves the ITV soap?‘It would be a risk to my life if I had to leave. I won’t have any of the drugs that literally allow me to move. I don’t think it’s too much to ask to not want to die.’
Bhavani came to the UK in 2010 on a study visa, but soon secured a work visa and established a career in the arts industry.
She has since lived in east London with Martin, who is originally from Germany, who must stay in the UK due to his job as a volcanologist.
She reapplied to stay when she fell ill under human rights medical grounds, but the application was refused while she was in the coma in September 2018.
Her appeal against the deportation was refused two months later.
Every single soap star who has appeared in Game Of ThronesBhavani was readmitted to hospital last month following complications, and doctors have said it is of ‘vital importance’ that she remains in the UK for treatment.
Chai Patel, legal director at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants called the Home Office’s decision to send Bhavani a removal order while she was in a coma ‘inhumane and cruel’.
He added: ‘Most people want our country to treat all those who call it home with compassion and respect, but at the moment the law allows the Home Office to send people to their death abroad. This law must change.’
A Home Office spokesperson told Metro.co.uk that they are currently reviewing Bhavani’s case after fresh evidence emerged in March 2019.
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