93-year-old Mollie Manley was ordered to leave Australia because ‘she was a burden on the health system.
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The British great-grandmother has passed away and her family said the stress of applying for a new visa may have contributed to her death.
Mrs. Manley relocated to Perth, Australia eleven years ago to be with her family, including her 9 great-grandchildren.
However, her health declined in recent years and she was placed in a home two years ago where she became bedridden and blind. She passed away at the home last week.
Her permanent visa application was rejected on May 12 and she was given 28 days to return to Britain where she had no living family or friends.
The decision was changed at the last minute after public outrage. Unfortunately, her health had already deteriorated ever since she went for a medical test for visa application.
Her son-in-law, Rob Rowe, slammed the ‘disgusting’ treatment by the Australian government and vowed to fight to have the law changed so no other family has to suffer the same experience.
He told SBS News: “She went downhill from the time she had to go for the medical (test) for the visa.”
Mr. Rowe said the stress of the visa could’ve contributed to her death. “I think her having to be taken for the medical [test] just caused her body to go into decline because she was quite weak then.”
He added: “Every single person that’s ever spoken to me regarding this…they say, “Isn’t it disgusting what our government is doing”. And it is disgusting – ordinary people have a much more moral view than the government do.”
Mrs. Manley, whose husband passed away in the 1980s and has no living relatives in the United Kingdom, moved to Australia on a temporary bridging visa while her application for an aged-parent visa was in process.
But she failed to get a permanent residency visa after she went blind and moved into a health care facility two years ago.
On May 12, she was informed that her application for an aged parent visa was declined as she doesn’t the criteria because of her poor health.
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