A Nepalese asylum seeker who has made Fife his home for more than a decade is facing deportation after losing his latest appeal to stay in Scotland.
Kishor Dangol (47), who has lived in Kirkcaldy for over 11 years, will almost certainly be sent back to Nepal next month after the Court of Session upheld the Home Office’s decision to deport him some time ago.
Solicitors acting for Mr Dangol had argued their client’s 11-and-a-half years in Fife and his contribution to the local community, the fluctuating situation in Nepal and delays in dealing with the case should be reason enough for him to stay.
They also suggested his removal from the UK would breach Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which ensures people can have their private lives respected and only interfered with to an extent that is “lawful and necessary.”
However, a written judgment by Lord Bonomy has now formally rejected the appeal and ruled Mr Dangol would not face a “grave risk of serious harm” should he be returned to his country of origin.
The decision is not only said to have devastated Mr Dangol and his supporters but is set to finally bring to an end a legal wrangle which has dragged on for years.
Kirkcaldy councillor David Torrance, who has backed Mr Dangol’s campaign throughout, said he could not believe the outcome and hopes something can still be done to prevent Mr Dangol being deported.
He said, “We sat through the court procedures at the appeal for two days and we came out feeling very, very positive but for a result to come back like that? I find it very hard to take.
“Kishor has been in the country for 11 years, he’s heavily involved in the community and he is a fantastic resident in Kirkcaldy how can someone like that be uprooted like this?”
Mr Torrance added, “Kishor is usually very bubbly and cheery, but he’s absolutely devastated and deflated by what’s happened.
“He is someone who started off as a constituent coming to me with a problem and he’s now become a personal friend, which makes this an emotional decision for me.
“I think it’s the wrong decision and I think it’s a disgrace, to tell you the truth.”
Mr Dangol worked as a photojournalist in Nepal before arriving for the Edinburgh Festival in August 1999.
Granted a work permit until September 1999, he was later discovered working at the Amritsar restaurant in Kirkcaldy in October 2001 and was served with illegal entry papers.
After claiming asylum that month and then seeing that refused in August 2002, Mr Dangol then had an application for leave to remain as a student submitted in March 2004 but similarly rejected in March the following year.
He was discovered working illegally again at the Amritsar in October 2005 and asylum claims and appeals were heard and rejected in the years that followed with Mr Dangol found working illegally at the restaurant for the third time by immigration officers.
A “legacy review” was sought in 2008 but it was again refused, prompting Mr Dangol to take his case to the Court of Session in what would appear to be a last-ditch attempt to stay.
With that process now at an end, he will have to sign in at an Edinburgh police station for the next few weeks and, if another appeal is not lodged with the Supreme Court within 21 days, he will be sent back to Nepal.
As Mr Dangol has been relying on goodwill from local campaigners, fund-raisers and the Nepalese community to stay in Kirkcaldy, Mr Torrance admitted it is unlikely the case will be pursued much further.
“We will have to sit down and weigh up his options, but Kishor is not allowed to work and has been living on the goodwill and gestures of his friends,” he said.
“Everybody has rallied around and he will have to speak to his lawyers about the costs of another appeal but it doesn’t look good.”
Mr Dangol’s lawyers had criticised the time taken to deal with his case but Lord Bonomy ruled the time taken had simply “reflected the system working fairly and effectively.”