A Zimbabwean carer says she will be persecuted if she is forcibly returned to Zimbabwe from the UK. Siphiwe Moyo has been a UK resident fo...
A Zimbabwean carer says she will be persecuted if she is
forcibly returned to Zimbabwe from the UK. Siphiwe Moyo has been a UK resident
for the past 12 years.
She has cared for quadriplegic patient Yvonne Gade from
Trull, Somerset, for nine years, but her visa permission was refused after a
relationship breakdown. The Home Office said deportation would only happen when
a safe return was guaranteed.
Ms Moyo said that after her relationship broke down the
Home Office told her last month she had to leave.
She said the prospect of returning to Zimbabwe was
"frightening". "I don't want to go back, we all see what's
happening there," Ms Moyo told the BBC.
"People are killed and tortured. They know I've been
here for 10 years, and I don't know what's waiting for me there.
Ms Gade requires 24-hour care after a brain aneurysm, and
her partner Karen Atwell has also been diagnosed with an aggressive form of
breast cancer.
"Siphiwe is family - she's lived with us for
eight-and-a-half years," Ms Atwell told the BBC. "Before her, we
didn't have a consistent carer and it was really hard."
Ms Atwell said the Home Office had not considered the
impact the deportation would have on her partner.
"[Ms Moyo's] irreplaceable. We can't just make up for
eight-and-a-half years' experience overnight with another carer," she
added.
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