The family of a pensioner with dementia who have fought for almost a year against plans to deport him have won their case.
A petition to save Hakeem Muhammad Haleem, 77, from being sent thousands of miles away to Pakistan gained more than 22,900 signatures after his story was shared around the world.
The Home Office has ruled he can now stay in Oldham with his family on human rights grounds.
His son, Muhammad Nadeem, 46, said: “We are so relieved, and we don’t think we could have done it without the help of our supporters. It has been such a long fight for us but finally we have good news.
“Now he can stay until 2019 and we believe this has saved his life. Our only wish was always to be able to care for my father and keep the family together. My wife and I would like to thank the thousands of people who have signed the petition to halt the proposed deportation.”
The family of Haleem, who is partially blind and deaf and also suffers from a heart condition as well as vascular dementia and needs 24-hour care, feared he would not survive the journey to Pakistan.
In April, the Home Office told Haleem his father would not be granted a visa and must return to his homeland. Officials issued a deportation order and instructed he report to a detention centre.
A letter from the Home Office says that, although Haleem cannot stay under immigration rules, he has been granted “leave outside the rules”, which means he will be able to remain in the country until May 2019 on compassionate grounds.
Haleem, from Peshawar, first came to the UK with his wife Irshada. She returned to Pakistan as part of ongoing treatment for diabetes and died there in 2011. Since then Haleem has lived with his son, daughter-in-law Mehwish, 25, and his four-year-old granddaughter, Manahal.
Before 2012, settled UK residents could be joined by parents or grandparents over 65 if financial and living support could be provided. But a strict new law means that only stands if long-term care in their home country is either more expensive – or non-existent.
A Home Office spokesman said all applications were considered on their individual merits, including exceptional circumstances and in accordance with the immigration rules.
He added: “We do not routinely comment on individual cases.”
