Deported Grandmother Says She Was Treated "Like A Terrorist" By Security Escorts

    Irene Clennell spoke to BuzzFeed News from Singapore as MPs called on the home secretary to intervene immediately in her case

    A grandmother who was deported on Sunday after living in Britain for nearly 30 years says she was treated “like a terrorist” by the security guards who escorted her to Singapore.

    Speaking to BuzzFeed News shortly after arriving in the country, Irene Clennell, who had just £12 in her pocket when she was put on the deportation flight, said: “They were treating me like a terrorist. They got my arms and walked me around as if I was going to run away. People were staring at me in the airport in Edinburgh. It was really degrading.”

    She added: “Every question I asked them they were writing down in a file. When I went to the toilet they wrote it down… I couldn’t even go to the toilet on my own on the flight. They stood outside.”

    MPs called on the home secretary to “intervene immediately” in Clennell's case after BuzzFeed news reported that she was being deported on Sunday. Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, said the case "illustrates everything that is brutal and unfair about this government's immigration policy".

    Clennell was taken suddenly from Dungavel detention centre in South Lanarkshire without time to contact her lawyer or say goodbye to her husband in person. She is a full-time carer to her unwell British husband John and has two British children and one grandchild.

    Readers reacted to the story by pledging to help her find accommodation in Singapore and offered legal advice. A fundraising page set up after BuzzFeed News first reported her legal battle when she was in detention was flooded with donations overnight and has now far exceeded its target of £20,000.

    Clennell was overwhelmed by the response. She said: “I want to thank everyone for helping, especially now I’m in Singapore and won’t be able to get legal aid. It will be really helpful and I’m so grateful.”

    Her sister-in-law Angela said the family had been inundated with calls and pledges to help. “I’d like to thank BuzzFeed for the post,” she said. “The fund has just gone through the roof and lots of people have offered to put her up.”

    John Coventry from GoFundMe said "The outpouring of support for Irene and her family is kindness at its very best as people across Britain and the world show support for a family in an awful situation."

    When Clennell landed in Doha, Qatar, on a layover on the way to Singapore, she still had no idea if she would have somewhere to sleep for the night. She had only a small amount of cash with her and all her own clothes were back at her home in Chester-le-Street, County Durham.

    Describing her panic at finding a place to stay, she said: “I called my sister from Doha and she said she can’t put me up because she’s only got three rooms and she’s got three boys and she’s already sleeping on the settee. [The guards] gave me the phone number for the IOM [International Organisation for Migration] but the number was from Thailand and when I called from Doha the office was shut.”

    She added: “The guys said someone from Singapore will be at the airport to meet me and help me find accommodation and get me settled.” But when she arrived there was no such person.

    Fortunately her sister scrambled to meet her: “At the last minute luckily my sister said she’d come and meet me at the airport but [the guards] told me there would be someone there and there wasn’t.”

    She will sleep on a blanket on her sister’s floor tonight until she finds a more permanent solution. She now has 28 days to lodge an out-of-country appeal.

    Clennell’s husband John said he was furious at the government for deporting his wife. Speaking to BuzzFeed News from their home in County Durham on Monday, he said: “We’ve been married coming up 27 years and it’s a downright disgrace."

    In a statement, Diane Abbott said: "The case of Irene Clennell, who has been married to a British man for 27 years and has two British children, illustrates everything that is brutal and unfair about this government's immigration policy. She has been forcibly removed from this country on a technicality. Apparently she spent too long overseas caring for elderly parents.

    "Tory anti-immigration policies have gone too far when a woman who is lawfully married, and has lived in the UK most of her adult life, is cruelly separated from her British husband and children. I will be taking this case up with the home secretary."

    Liberal Democrat shadow home secretary Brian Paddick said: “This case highlights the irrationality and inhumanity of our immigration system. When the rules are this arbitrary and rigid, anyone can find themselves on the wrong side of them.

    “This Conservative government’s lack of empathy is destroying Britain’s reputation as an open and tolerant country.

    “The home secretary must intervene immediately to bring Ms Clennell home, give her the opportunity to appeal and prevent any further distress being caused to her and her family.”

    Nazek Ramadan of Migrant Voice, who had been helping Clennell with her case, said the organisation was still in shock. “We spoke to her on Friday and she was really optimistic. She was so confident and relaxed because she was sure there was a new solicitor working on her application. She was feeling this was the end and she’d be out soon. She said, ‘I’m OK now, but there are other people here who need help more than me.’”

    In a further statement, Ramadan said: “Covertly forcing a grandmother – who has lived, worked and raised a family here for decades – out of the country goes against any British sense of decency and should never have happened.

    “This case marks a new low for our out-of-touch system. Irene has British children and grandchildren, cares for her sick British husband, and has contributed more here than her country of birth.

    “Irene will continue to challenge this inhumane decision. For the sake of Irene and many like her, the Home Office need an urgent rethink.”

    A Home Office spokesman said on Sunday: “All applications for leave to remain in the UK are considered on their individual merits and in line with the immigration rules. We expect those with no legal right to remain in the country to leave.”