Resident who helped vulnerable Rotherhithe families during lockdown faces deportation

A shopkeeper honoured by the Queen for delivering essential goods to vulnerable families during lockdown is facing deportation.

Vimal Pandya, 41, worked 20-hour days serving 55 families from Halai General Stores in Rotherhithe despite being barred from having a job and living in “constant fear” as he fought the Home Office to stay in the country.

His work was recognised on February 12 last year when he received a letter from Sir Kenneth Olisa, the Queen’s personal representative in Greater London.

Vimal, 41, from Rotherhithe Street, Rotherhithe, said: “My parents in India have sold their house to fund the £40,000 it has cost me to challenge the decisions so far. I do not like to tell them what might happen, but they are very worried and so am I.

“All I have in the UK is the lovely people who have looked after me and helped me in this community. They have been incredible and amazing.

“It is something I had never experienced myself before. They have been a family to me in this very difficult situation.

“It is not nice at all knowing someone might visit at any moment and take you to the airport.

“This is my home. I have been here 11 years. Going back would be misery. I do not know what to do. I have been living in constant fear that someone would knock on my door and everything would be taken from me.”

He has been described as a “shining light” by local residents after dedicating his time to ensuring those in self-isolation during the first national lockdown received regular food and essential supplies. He visited the cash and carry every morning and delivered shopping on foot until 11.30pm most nights. In between, Vimal spent his time calling isolated and vulnerable members of the community to lend an ear and offer companionship. 

His community service brought him to the attention of Sir Kenneth, who on February 12 last year wrote to Vimal on behalf of the Queen offering thanks for his extraordinary efforts. 

But since then, Vimal has been informed of a final deadline of January 14 2022 to regularise his immigration status — a battle he has been fighting for many years and at great cost in the face of bureaucratic hurdles placed by the Home Office.

Vimal arrived from India in 2011 but was refused re-entry following a return home in April 2014 to take an ill relative to her parents. UK Border Force agents informed him that the college he was studying at had lost its right to sponsorship, but neither the college nor the Home Office informed Vimal. Officers also erroneously advised him that he could apply to another college for study and sponsorship using an immigration status notice that would be posted in due course. But this was never received, and having had both his passport and biometric residence permit retained by agents at London City Airport, Vimal was left unable to secure further sponsorship. 

It was only after instructing a solicitor to assist with the case before his visa expired in March 2015 that Vimal also learnt the Home Office had curtailed his initial stay to June 9 2014, a date that had already passed. 

Vimal has since spent £40,000 attempting to regularise his immigration status and complete his education, in addition to the many thousands of pounds in lost college fees. 

Residents have expressed their despair at the situation and are calling on the Home Office to ensure Vimal can remain in his home. A petition to keep Mr Pandya in the country has nearly surpassed 3,000 signatures.

Southwark resident Tom Chivers said: “During the 2020 lockdown my young family and I saw more of Vimal than we did of our closest relatives.

“He was a shining light in the darkness of the pandemic, providing a friendly welcome as well as practical assistance to vulnerable and shielding people in our community. I call on the Home Office to revoke their decision and to allow Vimal to continue serving the people of Rotherhithe — his home for 11 years — as he has done so bravely during the toughest time in our living memory.” 

Another resident of Rotherhithe Street, Diane Ferguson, said: “Vimal is what can only be described as a pillar of our community. During Covid he made sure that any vulnerable person he was aware of was ok. He shopped for them and obtained goods that were scarce during this difficult time.

“I know he still regularly checks on at least one local resident. This lady lost her husband during Covid and his help has been invaluable.

“He is much loved and appreciated by everyone in our community and returning him to India when his current situation is not of his making but due to Government administrative errors would be a travesty of justice.” 

Rotherhithe resident Siobhan Clifford said: “It has been my pleasure and privilege to know Vimal Pandya for many years. Vimal is an exemplary person, a true pillar of the community and one of the hardest-working people I have ever encountered. 

“Our area here in Rotherhithe would have suffered even more during the pandemic had it not been for Vimal. Nothing was too much trouble for this man, he would always go, without fail, the extra mile for his local community. Vimal worked all the hours possible to ensure that the community had access to food and essential supplies. We were always met with exceptional courtesy, politeness, a kind word and a smile.”