A dozen filipino nurses, working as senior carers, in Cambridge, United Kingdom face possible deportation after the Home Office refused to renew their work permits according to a report by the Cambridge Evening News.
Home Office officials also announced they will no longer issue work permits to foreign nationals for senior carer positions after the position has been taken off the list of shortage occupations.
"We treat each work permit renewal on a case-by-case basis and cannot comment on individual cases. The shortage list is made up of roles where professionals within the industries involved have told us there is a chronic shortage of applicants." A Home Office spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, local city official David Howarth has taken the cudgels for the filipino nurses. "These are qualified and hardworking nurses who came to this country at our request and they are now simply being discarded. This is not the way to treat people doing a very important and difficult job." He said.
In a letter to Minister of State for the Home Office, Liam Byrne, Howarth said, "This policy seems unfair and ill-judged and I hope your department will reconsider it. This decision will lead to a shortage of carers.
Many of the nurses have lived in Cambridge for four years after being recruited to help ease staffing shortages in 2003.
