The UK Home Office has been blamed for the murder of a Sri Lankan man named Sudharsan Ithayachandran after he was deported to his home country.
The 41-year-old, who admitted to using false documents and working illegally at a British multinational supermarket called Tesco, was deported from the UK on December 24, 2019, leaving behind his deaf wife, Subatra, and two children, ages eight and nine.
The UK Guardian reported on Monday that all three are British nationals. However, the date of deportation coincided with his wedding anniversary.
Ithayachandran belonged to the Tamil community of Sri Lanka.
The report stated that at an immigration tribunal verdict in November 2023, Judge Bonavero granted Ithayachandran’s appeal, stating that he had the right to reside with his family in the UK.
However, the Home Office was accused of delaying the process of issuing a return visa to the deceased for several months, causing him to live in perilous conditions, according to a report titled “Disappearance, torture, and sexual violence of Tamils 2015 – 2022.”
Before his death, Naga Kandiah, a legal counsel with MTC Solicitors, filed a judicial challenge against the Home Office for the delay in issuing return visas.
However, on May 19, 2024, Ithayachandran was discovered slumped at his Sri Lankan accomodation and died after being transported to the hospital. His death is assumed to have been caused by sepsis, while HowAfrica found no medical records in this case.
The family blamed the Home Office, claiming that Ithayachandran was depressed at home as a result of his separation from his children, and that he was not eating or caring for himself properly.
His mother-in-law, Yasadora Nagendra, 60, described him as “the pillar of the family.”
She said, “I don’t know how the family is ever going to get over this. When he was here, he looked after everybody. He was such a kind and supportive man. Nobody can replace him. I believe that if the Home Office had not deported him he would still be alive today. We blame them for his death.
“He was treated in a very unfair way by the Home Office. He was so depressed that even after he won his case last November, the Home Office delayed making arrangements for his return to the UK. He couldn’t understand why he still had to wait to come back to his family. “
Kandiah claimed that “the tribunal accepted our client’s genuine and subsisting relationship with his children and that living without them would be ‘unduly harsh’.” He had spent years battling with the Home Office to just reunite with his family. He eventually won his lawsuit, but he died before he could complete it.”
Lou Calvey, director of the nonprofit Asylum Matters, stated that “serious questions must be answered about this heartbreaking case.” Why was Sudharsan deported when he had a clear right to remain here? Why did the Home Office delay implementing the court order that reversed the deportation, and why did he have to die alone without his family?”
An anonymous representative for the Home Office stated that “all deportation orders are considered on a case-by-case basis, based on the evidence provided.”
“Once an appeal has been allowed against the refusal to revoke a deportation order, the responsibility of applying for entry clearance to the UK lies with the individual and their representatives.”
On May 21, 2024, a disabled Nigerian man, Anthony Olubunmi George, who had resided in the UK for 38 years, faced the prospect of being forcibly removed from the country by the Home Office.
In 2019, he experienced two strokes that had a significant impact on his ability to speak and move.