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Indian historian at Oxford Univ in UK faces deportation
Manikarnika Dutta, who has lived in the UK for 12 years, traveled to India to access historic archives essential to her academic work and attended international conferences.
Manikarnika Dutta. / X/@DManikarnika
Manikarnika Dutta, a 37-year-old historian affiliated with the University of Oxford, has been warned of deportation from the UK, according to a report by The Guardian. The Home Office ruled that she exceeded the permissible number of days spent abroad during her research.
Dutta, who has lived in the UK for 12 years, traveled to India to access historic archives essential to her academic work and attended international conferences. However, Home Office regulations state that individuals applying for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) based on long-term residency cannot spend more than 548 days abroad in a 10-year period. Dutta was outside the UK for 691 days, resulting in the rejection of her application.
“I was shocked when I got an email saying I have to leave,” Dutta told The Observer. “I have been employed at different universities in the UK and have lived here for 12 years. 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. I never thought something like this would happen to me.”
The Guardian reported that The Home Office also denied her right to remain based on family life, despite the fact that she has been married for over a decade and lives in south London with her husband, Dr. Souvik Naha, a senior lecturer in imperial and post-colonial history at the University of Glasgow.
Dutta, now an assistant professor at University College Dublin’s School of History, first arrived in the UK in 2012 on a student visa. She later obtained a spouse visa as a dependant of her husband, who secured a visa through the “global talent” route.
According to The Guardian, her lawyer Naga Kandiah of MTC Solicitors, argued that Dutta’s research trips were not discretionary but “essential to fulfilling her academic and institutional obligations.” Kandiah added: “Had she not undertaken these trips, she would not have been able to complete her thesis, meet the academic requirements of her institutions, or maintain her visa status.”
Dutta applied for ILR in October last year along with her husband. While his application was approved, hers was denied. An administrative review upheld the Home Office’s decision, instructing her to leave the UK or risk a 10-year re-entry ban and potential prosecution for overstaying.
Her husband, Naha, expressed distress over the situation. “This decision from the Home Office has been terribly stressful for both of us. It has taken a psychological toll. I sometimes give lectures about these issues and have read articles about people affected, but never thought it would happen to us.”
Dutta has received widespread support from academic colleagues. Kandiah has launched a legal challenge against the Home Office’s decision, prompting the department to agree to reconsider its ruling within three months, The Guardian said. However, the original decision may still be upheld after this period, leaving Dutta in uncertainty.
Kandiah criticized the policy’s impact on academic talent retention in the UK. “If the UK genuinely seeks to position itself as a global leader in academia and innovation, it must foster an environment that is welcoming to top talent,” he said. “Without such an approach, UK universities will continue to lose highly skilled PhD researchers in whom they have invested years of resources, expertise, and funding.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “It is longstanding government policy that we do not routinely comment on individual cases,” The Guardian reported.
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