London:
A south-east London resident group has pledged to fight on after a “beloved member of the community” hailed by the late Queen’s representative for his services during the COVID pandemic, lost a legal visa battle and is now being deported to India.
The Rotherhithe Residents group has collected more than 177,000 signatures through an online petition in support of Vimal Pandya, who came to the UK from India on a student visa but was left in limbo after his educational institution lost its license to sponsor foreign students.
The 42-year-old recently lost a hearing at the immigration tribunal and is now said to be in talks with his lawyers about a way forward.
“We are devastated. He’s devastated. But we will not give up the fight, if a path forward can be found,” residents said in a Change.Org petition update last week.
“Vimal has always shown how much he cares about the Rotherhithe community where he lived for 11 years. Many of us have benefited from his help and support over the years, which is why we are fighting to prevent him from being unfairly deported,” they say.
Pandya, who had arrived in the UK from India in 2011 to study, was refused entry after returning home in April 2014 to return a seriously ill relative to her parents.
UK Border Force officials informed him that the college where he was enrolled had lost its sponsorship rights, but reportedly neither the college nor the Home Office had informed him of this.
When he was unable to access his original passport and other documents, he faced an uphill battle to address the issue. Since then he has spent thousands of pounds to regularize his immigration status and complete his education, in addition to many thousands of pounds in lost tuition fees and mounting debt.
“Pending permission to continue his studies, Vimal has become an integral part of the Rotherhithe community. Now he is really indispensable and we don’t want him to leave,” said the group of his local supporters.
Working as a local shopkeeper during the pandemic, Pandya is said to have worked tirelessly, dedicating “every waking hour” to ensuring that those self-isolating during the national lockdown received regular food and essential supplies.
His community service brought him to the attention of Sir Kenneth Olisa, Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, who wrote to him on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II last February to thank him for his extraordinary efforts.
“Everything has gone through the legal boundaries and we have to respect the country’s decision, but… if someone has given so much to the country, after being rewarded by the Queen, I don’t know why they should be moved,” said a resident. told Southwark News.
Local MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark in London, Neil Coyle, spoke out strongly in favor of Pandya at a recent hearing, but the judge noted that the tribunal was bound by “the laws that have been passed rather than the opinion of one MP “. .
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Featured video of the day
Struggle from 400 days to 2024: who controls the narrative war?