Home office reviewing Lankan carer's case
A Sri Lankan born Birmingham refugee, living under the threat of
deportation, has told of her agonisingly long wait for news.
Olivia Senaratne has been providing 24-hour care for frail Bert
Reynolds, 93, in exchange for board and lodgings at his home on Adrian
Croft, Moseley. Senaratne 60, claims she was forced to leave her four
children and five grandchildren after enduring nearly 20 years of
domestic violence at the hands of her alcoholic, ex-military policeman
husband.
She fled to the UK and eventually ended up caring for both Bert and
his wife Iris, who was blind, severely diabetic and bed-ridden, before
she died in January.
More than 100 members of St Agnes Church in Moseley had launched a
campaign to force a Home Office U-turn but Senaratne was twice served
deportation orders because she could not provide evidence of the abuse
she suffered at the hands of her alcoholic husband.
In September 2007, she was taken to Yarl's Wood Removal Centre in
Bedfordshire and then Heathrow Airport before a last-minute reprieve was
granted.
She is now waiting for news from via solicitor as the Home Office
reviews her case.
Friend and neighbour Phillippa Cheong said Senaratne, who has never
claimed a penny in benefits, is on "tenterhooks."
Cheong said: "Senaratne is very worried about her future. She does
not want to return to Sri Lanka".
"Recently she heard from her daughter in Sri Lanka who said her
husband is still looking for her and making threats against her family
if they were to allow her to visit or stay with them."
Cheong said Senaratne's campaigners were writing to MP Lynne Jones.
BirminghamMail.net, UK
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