Manikarnika Dutta, an Indian historian based in UK, has been conducting research at the University of Oxford. But now she is at risk of being deported by the British authorities for staying abroad for too long, according to reports.
The 37-year-old has been looking into historic archives stored in India as well as taking part in international conferences.
Speaking to the Observer, Dutta said she never thought she would have to go through her current situation, adding, "I was shocked when I got an email saying I have to leave... A large part of my adult life has been lived in the UK since I came to the University of Oxford to do my master’s."
The UK Home Office rules stipulate that those who have been residents of the country for more than 10 years can stay overseas for as much as 548 days before they can apply for indefinite leave. However, Dutta was abroad for 691 days, according to The Guardian.
The Home Office also cited that Dutta does not have a family life in the UK despite the fact that she has been living with her husband and fellow academic Dr Souvik Naha for 10 years in Welling, south London.
Naha is a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow focusing on imperial and post-colonial history. Dutta, on the other hand, is an assistant professor in the school of history at the University College Dublin. She completed her masters in modern history from the University of Calcutta and MSc in the history of science, medicine, and technology funded by a Wellcome Trust Masters studentship from the University of Oxford.
Her first visit to the UK was on student visa in September 2012. Later, she got a spouse visa after her husband received a 'global talent' visa.
Dutta's October 2024 application for indefinite leave was rejected and her appeal for review also went in vain. The response for her administrative review warned her that if she fails to leave the UK voluntarily, she would be banned from coming back for 10 years and prosecuted for overstaying.
Responding to the reports of possible deportation of Dutta, historian and author William Darlymple called the Home Office decision "appalling and clearly ridculous".
Naga Kandiah, who is Dutta's lawyer, has filed a plea against the Home Office move to deport her, following which the authority said that it will rethink its decision in 90 days.