The 52 year grandmother who has lived in Britain for nearly half a
century has been told she will be deported unless she can prove her right to
citizenship.
A petition
has been set up to keep Ms Birkenhead in the UK and already has more than 2,000
supporters.
Winnie
Birkenhead has also been told she cannot work and must take an English exam if
she is to stay in the country. The 52-year-old, who is recovering from breast
cancer, now fears she will be deported to Malaysia where she does not speak
the language.
She came to
the UK from Malaysia in
1968, aged five, on her mother’s passport and her late stepfather served in the
British Army. Ms Birkenhead, of Burnley, Lancashire,
said: ‘It’s terrifying knowing that they can come for me at any time and take
me away.
‘Every time
my dog barks or there’s a knock at the door I panic – I just don’t know what to
do I feel like I’m stuck in limbo. ‘My mum gave up her Malaysian citizenship
the day we came here to be British, so I just assumed I was a British citizen
too.
‘I’ve never
had a passport but that’s just because I like going to places like Cornwall and
Devon for my holidays and don’t want to go abroad.’She claims she doesn’t know
anyone in Malaysia apart from a sister, who she isn’t in contact with.
Ms
Birkenhead is now asking friends for photographs from her past to prove she has
lived in England
for 48 years. She does have a National Insurance number and driving licence and
was CRB checked eight years ago when she began working for Pride Community
Care, a company which supports vulnerable adults. Her employer Amanda Balmer
said she was shocked to receive a letter from the Home Office saying Ms
Birkenhead couldn’t work.
The letter
also states Pride Community Care could face a £20,000 fine for employing an
‘illegal immigrant’, which Ms Balmer claimed would force the company to close.
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