Durham university academics saved from 'unfair' deportation after campaign success

Home Office U-turn comes as tens of thousands rally behind couple

Durham University

The deportation of two Durham University academics who have lived in the UK for 11 years has been halted after a petition opposing the Home Office move was signed by tens of thousands.

Ernesto Schwartz-Marín and Arely Cruz-Santiago, who have an 11-year-old daughter, were asked to leave the country within 14 days after they spent some time abroad doing humanitarian work.

But the couple have now been given indefinite leave to remain after more than 70,000 signed a petition calling on the Home Office to reverse its "unfair" decision to deport the family.

“Their case is very distressing on a personal level, but it also sets a dangerous precedent for other non-UK academics working in universities and doing humanitarian fieldwork abroad,” it said.

The couple travelled to Mexico from July 2014 and July 2015 to build a DNA database to help locate people that had gone missing because of gang violence.

Earlier this month, Mr Schwartz-Marín received a letter from the Home Office telling him the family had to leave the UK within a fortnight after he spent more time overseas than was allowed on his visa – despite the existence of an exemption to this rule for those helping with humanitarian crises.

Barrister Jolyon Maugham QC launched a legal challenge against the Home Office decision – and already more than £22,500 has been raised for the legal costs.

Mr Maugham tweeted that the Home Office had put a “temporary stop on deportation proceedings” and he thanked everyone who had supported the campaign.

A Home Office spokesperson told The Independent: “Following a review of the initial decision, Dr Schwartz-Marin has been informed that his application and that of his wife Dr Arely Cruz-Santiago for Indefinite Leave to Remain, has been approved.”