BRITAIN: Kidney doner refused visa

In mid-May, the British immigration department rejected a visa application from Tamil Sri Lankan Theivanai Balanchandran, who is willing and able to donate a kidney to her desperately ill British daughter-in-law Suthakaran Lalitharani. Lalitharani has suffered from end-stage kidney failure, and is dependent on five hours of dialysis every second day. Her rare blood type has made it highly unlikely she will get a transplant elsewhere. Guys Hospital in London is supporting the six-month compassionate visa application, pointing out that it is vastly cheaper to do the transplant than maintain the dialysis. In a letter explaining the decision, an immigration official said that he believed Balanchandran, whose husband and small children will remain behind, is "simply finding a reason" to flee Sri Lanka, giving as evidence that she lives in a region where Tamil people are "harshly affected" by civil war, and that her house was damaged in the Boxing Day tsunami.

From Green Left Weekly, April 6, 2005.

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From GLW issue 621