Indian professionals in UK protest being branded ‘threat to national security’ outside Downing Street

LONDON: Highly skilled Indian migrants joined a protest by South Asians outside 10 Downing Street on Tuesday, airing their fury about having their applications for indefinite leave to remain refused or being forced to wait years for a decision with their passports confiscated. A man in the protest chanted “Who are we?” They replied, “Highly skilled!” He said: “What do we want?” They cried “Justice.”
Most were migrants on tier 1 visas who had applications for indefinite leave to remain turned down because of mistakes in their tax returns.In the refusal letters, the home office branded them as “undesirable” and “a threat to national security”. Some were given 14 days to leave, whilst others were allowed to stay and appeal, but not to work.
The refusal of 32-year-old Aditi Bhardwaj’s application for indefinite leave to remain cost her a £80,000 business and her marriage. She came to the UK from Delhi as a student, then in 2016 applied for permanent residency as a dependent on her spouse’s visa. At the time she was about to open a restaurant in which she had invested £80,000. But the home office was not convinced she had lived consecutively in the UK for 10 years and turned her down.
“I was not able to go ahead with opening my restaurant and it put so much strain on our marriage we separated. I suffered so much with the home office,” she said, adding, “I have lived here 15 years so it is not an easy step to go back to India.”
Mumbaikar Nisha Mohite, 32, was working on a tier 1 visa as a quality assurance officer. She has had two applications for permanent residency declined because of an amendment in her tax return. She was unable to visit her sick grandmother in India who eventually passed away as she did not have her passport. She has now filed for a judicial review but is not allowed to work. “I have sold all my assets, my gold and borrowed from friends,” she said.
Rahul Hajare, 29, came to the UK from Mumbai as a student aged 18, then switched to a tier 1 visa and started a real estate and restaurant business. He had his application for permanent residency refused on Monday, after waiting two years, owing to an error in his tax return.
He now has 14 days to appeal and has to find £6,000 to pay barristers. “Coming to the UK and starting my own business was my dream and now I feel crushed. I have missed both my sisters’ weddings in Mumbai,” he said.
The Indian professionals waved placards that said “Taxpayers don’t deserve a hostile environment” and “Let me stay, let me work, let me contribute.”
A home office spokesman said: “We are committed to distinguishing between applications from those who have followed the rules and contributed to the UK’s growth and those who have not.”