Home Office to deport Edinburgh grad who’s lived more than half her life in Scotland

A petition has been started after an Edinburgh graduate was detained by the Home Office on 23rd March, who now plan to deport her to China.

Chennan Fei, 28, came to the UK in 2002 when she was aged just 13. Her parents at the time were here legally on Student Visas. Fei went to high school in Glasgow and later studied Accounting & Business Management while at Edinburgh.

Unbeknown to Fei, her parents visas had expired after a few years of her arriving in Scotland. There is no rule in the Immigration Act which deals directly with the ‘children’ of over-stayers, and yet the Home Office plan to deport her away from her home, her friends and her partner.

After being detained by the Home Office on 23rd March she was taken to Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre before being moved to Yarl’s Wood in Bedfordshire on the 25th.

Fei is in loving relationship with her Scottish boyfriend, Duncan. The couple had planned on moving in together in the next few months and Duncan had hoped to pop the question and ask Chennan to be his wife.

According to the petition, Fei has also volunteered at several agencies in Glasgow including the Scottish Refugee Council, putting the accountancy skills she learned at university to good use. The Home Office do not permit her to take up paid employment.

The petition is addressed to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Amber Rudd, and a hashtag #SaveChennanFei has been started.

It has already gained support from SNP MP Anne McLaughlin:

Please sign the petition here.