Irene Clennell case
Irene Clennell (born 1964) is a Singaporean citizen who immigrated to the United Kingdom in 1988 and whose deportation in February 2017 garnered worldwide attention. Clennell married a British man in 1990 and received indefinite leave to remain status. However, as she spent extended periods in Singapore with her husband, and later alone caring for her parents, her status was revoked. Clennell's applications for a new visa were rejected and in January 2017, Clennell was detained for one month and then deported to Singapore. Campaigners took up her case as symbolic of the wider problems with the Home Office's immigration crackdown and agitated for her to be allowed to return. In August 2017, the Home Office approved a new visa for Clennell and allowed her to return to the UK. Background Clennell was born in Singapore (then a part of Malaysia) in 1964. Her father, a former soldier who had served alongside the British Army following the Second World War, inspired in her a strong attachment to the United Kingdom, and in 1988 she moved to the UK and worked as a hotel receptionist in Lancaster Gate, London. There she met John Clennell, whom she married in 1990. The couple