To: The Rt Hon. David Cameron MP, Prime Minister
I feel compelled to address you on behalf of one Ms Myrtle Cothil. This missive is motivated purely on compassionate grounds, and was written without instructions after I read about the plight in which this sickly 92 year old South African, who presently resides in the UK with her daughter, one Mary Willis.
I understand that Ms Cothil is represented in the UK by a barrister, one Jan Doerfel.
To save time, I quote from a News 24 article in which I learned of Ms Cothil's plight, and which so moved me that I felt compelled to write this letter.
"Johannesburg – A 92-year-old South African woman, who sufferers from a chronic disease, could die from a broken heart if she is deported back to the country from the United Kingdom.
Myrtle Cothill's daughter Mary Wills said the deportation would "tear strips out of our hearts and probably would kill my mother".
Cothill has no family in South Africa to help care for her.
Her barrister Jan Doerfel has launched an online petition to call on the UK to grant Cothill leave to remain in the country.
In the petition, Doerfel said Cothill suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and macular degeneration which causes the loss of sight.
Cothill cannot walk unaided, has a chronic cough, poor vision, has difficulty hearing and is experiencing increasing confusion, he said.
"She is unable to care or cook for herself and relies on her daughter for emotional and physical support; Wills helps her mother with her personal care, housework, cooking and shopping."
Doerfel said Wills and her husband David, who is also British, cannot move to South Africa to look after Cothill because they have no right to live in the country.
David Wills also suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and Parkinson’s disease, leaving him unable to travel as both diseases affect his mobility and breathing.
"Both David Wills’ and Cothill’s medical conditions are degenerative and likely to deteriorate further in the future," Doerfel said.
He said the Home Office refused to allow Cothill to remain in the UK and the courts did not believe they could overturn the office's decision.
"This would rip the family apart and leave them broken-hearted," Doerfel said.
He said the UK introduced an immigration rule in 2012 on adult dependant relatives which made it "almost impossible" for British citizens to bring their elderly parents to live with them during their "declining years".
In the petition, Mary Wills is quoted as saying: "My mother just cannot live on her own and emotionally, for her as well as for myself, it would really tear strips out of our hearts and probably would kill my mother [and maybe myself as well]."
In a letter addressed to the Home Office, Doerfel asked that Cothill's leave to remain in the UK be granted and that the immigration rule be amended to allow for the previous rule on family reunion to be put back in place."
I mention in passing that I do not know any of the parties or their legal Counsel at all, nor had I even heard of them until I read article ten or so minutes ago.
It is evident from the above article that Ms Cothill, who is a sickly 92 year old woman faces deportation to South Africa subsequent to a decision taken by The Home Office in the UK. Ms Cothill will not only be removed from her family and the care she has been receiving from them, but once here in South Africa, she apparently has no family to care for her.
For what it's worth, I humbly request that you immediately familiarise yourself with Ms Cothill's circumstances with a view to ascertaining whether anything can be done to keep her with her family in what little time she has left.
I feel certain that once this dire case are considered, special and sad circumstances involved will warrant treating this case as an exception to any generally applicable rule on humanitarian grounds. In this regard it must be borne in mind that Ms Cothill's daughter and husband are British citizens and this case also affects their human rights.
Yours faithfully
Siegfried Walther
Advocate of the High Court of South Africa
Chambers
Cape Town.
+Home Office
+jan doerfel
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