An engineer who trained Ministry of Defence personnel is facing homelessness because the Home Office has not completed a review of a controversial immigration policy it promised to report on by July. Owais Raja, whose profession is on the government's shortage occupation list, has been forced to sell all his family's possessions to pay for food and rent.
Raja, from Pakistan, made a minor amendment to his tax records in 2016, which he says was the fault of his accountant, who was later imprisoned for a £1m tax fraud. Raja paid the £1,200 he owed HMRC within 24 hours of being alerted to the mistake. HMRC accepted the amendment without charging a fine or interest, but the Home Office said it was proof that his character was 'a threat to national security' under paragraph 322(5) of the immigration rules.
Paragraph 322(5) removes migrants' rights to work, rent property or use the NHS. Raja's son cannot receive potentially life-saving NHS treatment for a hole in his heart, his wife cannot be treated for severe health problems, and Raja cannot afford antidepressants prescribed by his GP. 'I have no life here,' he said. 'But if I return to Pakistan under a 322(5), I will have no way to earn a living there either.'
Raja's mother died over Christmas; he could not attend her funeral. He trained British engineers from the Ministry of Defence at City College Plymouth before his right to work was removed two years ago. He wrote the training programme himself and was earning £32,000 when he applied for indefinite leave to remain in 2016.
This week, his landlady told him she wants to evict his family on 2 October. Paragraph 322(5) has removed his right to rent a new property and his right to access public funds. Social services have said they will do their best but cannot guarantee finding his family a home in time. Lord Taverne will write to the Home Office minister Lady Williams this week to complain about Raja's 'horrendous punishment', comparing the use of 322(5) to 'the punishment of transportation to Botany Bay in the 19th century'.
Luke Pollard, Raja's MP, says the Home Office's treatment of Raja is 'deliberately appalling'. The home secretary, Sajid Javid, confirmed on 8 May that the Home Office is reviewing all applications from tier 1 migrants refused under paragraph 322(5). All case decisions are on hold while the review is pending, leaving applicants like Raja in limbo.
