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Why am I the odd one out?
A political asylum seeker who has made his home in Eastbourne and plays football for a local team faces being deported by the Home Office.
Vladimir Da Silva Pimentel arrived in the UK from Angola as a 16-year-old back in 2000 with his older sister and brother.
The three were escaping persecution and started the process of claiming political asylum.
The 23-year-old has studied here and hopes to qualify as an accountant. He has 15 family members living in this country who have been granted British citizenship, his sister has been granted indefinite leave to remain and his brother can also stay.
But now Vladimir, who plays football for the Garden Bar at Sovereign Harbour, has been told he must return to Angola.
Vladimir says he has since learnt he should have applied for asylum as a family and not as his brother's dependent and his case has now been taken up by Eastbourne MP Nigel Waterson.
"I am not asking for a magic wand to be waved and my application granted, just that it is clearly and fairly considered and any action justified," said Vladimir.
"My asylum claim was on the same basis as my brother and sister. However, on arrival at Heathrow I was advised to claim asylum as my brother's dependent and not my sister who is oldest or in my own right.
"Clearly as a 16-year-old, I took that advice from a government official. I believed my family history had already been established and accepted as true by the Home Office in its dealing with my brother and sister.
"There was therefore every reason to expect that my claim would proceed without confusion.
"Unfortunately for me, my application has never been considered thoroughly by one officer or indeed one office.
"My case has been passed around while they argued over who should deal with it and they then used the discrepancies that arose from their confusion against me.
"Even my solicitor was unable to establish a single point of contact with the immigration service who could say with confidence exactly what was happening with my case.
"None of the different caseworkers has taken the time to accurately summarise the fact and link my case to those of my siblings.
"This lack of continuity has denied me the opportunity to have my case fairly examined, to the extent that it has been refused and appeals dismissed on technicalities, where logic, common sense and justice say that it should have been granted in the same way that my brother and sister were accepted.
"Throughout all this I have abided by every restriction and requirement imposed."
Vladimir says he has spent more than a third of his life in the UK but is now in a state of limbo and unable to continue with his studies, or work to pay for them.
He added, "Why is the Home Office denying my future, when it has happily accepted my brother and sister in almost identical circumstances?
"There is no dispute that we are related as claimed, the only difference is that I was a child when I arrived here, they were adults."
Vladimir is being backed by a friend, Rory Clarke, a businessman and football manager, who says he is a talented footballer who deserves to stay.
Mr Clark said, "He has been treated very unfairly. His life is here in the UK."
Mr Waterson said he had written to the Home Office and would be pressing for answers.
A Border and Immigration Agency spokesperson told the Herald, "All applications for asylum are carefully considered by trained caseworkers based on accurate up to date information, taking into account all the circumstances of an application.
"If an application is refused, there is a right of appeal to the independent appellate authorities against that decision.
"The UK Government is committed to providing protection for those individuals found to be genuinely in need, in accordance with our commitments under international law.
"However, in order to maintain the integrity of our asylum system and prevent unfounded applications it is important that we are able to enforce returns of those who do not need protection."
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Weather for Eastbourne
Sunday 27 May 2012
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