An Exception (Not) Conductive to Public Good

About the Book

On Rashid’s return from an overseas trip he was stopped in Heathrow. His passport was checked and confirmed that the residence endorsement was a forgery. He was interviewed by the immigration officer who tried his best to get rid of him but Rashid, being a strong, level headed, and intelligent person, resisted deportation.

Rashid tells his story to Anthony Clarke from his hospital bed where he was fighting for his life. Rashid came to UK and has studied to become a registered nurse due to the shortages in manpower in that field. He ended up with Mr Akhtoum to deal with his complex immigration matters only to make it more complicated. The solicitor dealt with Rashid’s immigration case and got him his residence in UK. Since Rashid has been a resident he has travelled extensively and also managed to educate himself to his Doctorate. He published series of articles and written a book in his field of work. He made considerable contribution to education development in the UK.

When Rashid was stopped his achievements, stable family life and commitments were not recognised. He was pressured to leave the country at any cost. He went through solicitors and ended up with the same reply from the Home Office consistently when there were asylum and bogus students cases that were being successful.

He had tremendous support from his best friend Zameer and Akbar. His wife was helping him maintain his sanity. His son was very much affected by the stress in the house. The entire situation was simply a big mess. The immigration service showed no mercy. Rashid had the support of other solicitors who simply could not do more. In fact they indirectly wanted more money. The more desperate one was, the more money there was to be made. The prices asked are mentioned in the book.

When nothing else worked, Rashid’s wife, Linda, started dealings with the Local Member of Parliament. His support went in vain. The reply was the same. Linda also wrote to the Secretary of the State to the Home Office. Following further refusal, in all desperation, Linda wrote to the Prime Minister who simply forwarded the case to the Secretary of State. There was nothing but refusal and Rashid was not ready to leave his son and return back to his country of birth as he knew that he would not be accepted back in the UK.

The pressures from the Immigration service broke Rashid down to the point that he had to leave his family. He was so tired and stressed from fighting for two years that he ended up in hospital where he was fighting for his life.

This story about Rashid deals with complex issues. It is an account of an ordinary man who had everything and had it pulled from under his feet within hours by a corrupt system. The story is written in the language a foreign person would normally speak so as to give the account the emphasis it deserves. There are so many developments in recent months about immigration laws that this story demands a reading as it tells the story from the immigrant’s perpective, feelings and interpretation of events. It also demonstrates that it is not always the immigrant who is at fault but there are also the unscrupulous practitioners who are there to fill their pockets.

About the Author

Born in Mauritius. I have been educated in various Univesities in UK. I have published a series of article in Nursing Management, a book for nurses working in the elder care sector and a romantic novel, ‰*÷All men are equal until‰*Ï Anthony Clarke. I currently work as manager with a Housing Association in London.N