Grandmother fears she will die if deported

A press release brings the news:

Liberal Democrat MP for North East Fife, Wendy Chamberlain, has urged the Home Office not to deport a 70-year-old grandmother.

Valentyna Yakoleva fears she will die if she is deported to the Ukraine, where coronavirus is out of control.

Mrs Yakoleva has lived in the seaside village of Tayport, in Fife, for ten years while helping to raise her grandchildren.

The Home Office intends to send Mrs Yakoleva back to the city of Kharkiv, near the Russian border, where she has no family.

Lib Dems have called for a stop to deportations during the pandemic.

Wendy Chamberlain said:

I disagree with the Home Office decision to deport Valentyna and I think many will agree that deportations are the wrong priority for any government in the middle of a pandemic.

All parts of the UK Government should be fully focused on fighting the virus, administering the vaccine roll out and supporting our recovery, not deporting 70-year-old grandmothers to countries where they no longer have any family.

Valentyna has made her life here in the UK for a decade, helping raise her grandchildren and caring for her family here.

While I would like to see the Home Office allow her to stay permanently, the least they could is allow her and others in her situation to stay until the pandemic is over while the government has more important things to attend to.

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