UK: Elderly Indian woman facing deportation gets huge community support
Nov 27, 2023
London [UK], November 27 : Gurmit Kaur, an elderly Indian woman has received widespread support against her deportation from the United Kingdom.
A petition has been filed on change.org titled 'Help Gurmit Kaur stay in the UK' and has garnered over 65,000 signatures.
According to the petition, Gurmit has no family of her own neither in UK nor in Punjab. She has been adopted by the local Sikh community of Smethwick
"Gurmit applied to stay but has been refused even though she has no family to return to in Panjab, India," the petition states.
It further describes Gurmit as a very 'kind' and 'generous' women, who spends most of her days volunteering at the local Gurdwara. Even during the Black Lives Matter protest, Gurmit was providing fruits to the protestors in solidarity.
https://x.com/iamgurmitkaur/status/1286945462751289344?s=20
According to the petition, Gurmit Kaur arrived in the UK in 2009 for a wedding & has resided in Smethwick ever since. At the time she did not have the money to buy her passage back to India so she stayed with her son.
However, her husband has since passed & she is now estranged from her children. She has been relying on the kindness of the community in Smethwick for shelter and support, & it has rallied around her, referring to her as a 'kind aunty'.
In 2020 the community launched a campaign "we are all Gurmit Kaur" to help her fight for the right to remain. She was told to leave the country voluntarily or risk deportation despite having no one to return to in India.
She appealed the Home Office's ruling but this was rejected by the courts. A petition calling for Gurmit's right to remain has more than 65000 signatures.
The petition says, Gurmit is a very kind woman, even though she has nothing she is still generous and will always give what she can, when she can. Most of her days are spent volunteering at the local Gurdwara.
"Gurmit is an asset and a kind auntie to Smethwick. We want her to stay here. Smethwick is home!" the petition adds.
Riding on the massive support, 'We Are All Gurmit Kaur' has been trending across social media platforms.
