An Ashford couple who have been ordered to return to their native Zimbabwe say the move would be “a death sentence”.

Wellington Munyemweri, 45, and his wife Loveness, 44, have lived in Bryony Drive at Park Farm, Kingsnorth, for almost five years.

He works as a registered mental health nurse at a private hospital in Sevenoaks.

After 10 years of study and work in Britain they have received a bombshell notice that their latest two-year permit renewal has been rejected and they are now illegal residents and should return home.

Compassionate

The couple have been told the Home Office is not satisfied Wellington had completed 10 years’ continuous residency as he claimed and should go as soon as possible or risk a fine of up to £2,500 or six months in jail.

The Home Office said it could find no compelling or compassionate reason to prevent them returning and that they had no right of appeal.

With Zimbabwe in turmoil after Robert Mugabe’s disputed election victory Wellington, a member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said: “It is simply a death sentence if we go back, so it is not an option. It would not be safe to walk down the street.”

“We are both members of the opposition party. My wife is from the same village as Mugabe and I worked for his government in customs administration. If we go back we will just disappear from the face of the earth.”

He added: “When I came a decade ago, all I could see was a view for a bright future, now we are without hope. It has been emotional violence far worse than the beatings we would suffer back home.”

Home Office spokesman Laura McCleary said that they did not comment on individual cases.

She said: “All applications are carefully considered on their individual merits by the UK Border Agency, in line with the Immigration Rules, taking into account all evidence submitted.”

Full story in this week's Kentish Express