UK Grandmother detained in WA granted visa to stay with family
A grandmother from the United Kingdom has been granted a visa after being denied entry and detained in Western Australia due to her vaccination status earlier this week.
Claire Henderson travelled to Perth from the UK to see her family after not seeing them for almost three years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 9News
Claire Henderson spent two days at a Perth hotel under threat of deportation after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers denied her entry and rejected her vaccination exemption on Monday.
The 64-year-old was granted a last-minute visa after a campaign from her family, but she will have to complete one week of hotel quarantine.
The Manchester woman has temporal arteritis which causes the arteries in her head to become inflamed and is why she has not been able to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Ms Henderson's Michael said she had her vaccine exemption in order in November but rules in WA have tightened since then and it is believed there was a miscommunication about her status.
She didn't think she'd have any issues coming to Australia to visit her family after years of pandemic fuelled separation.
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'Diabolical' ordeal
Mr Henderson told 6PR on Tuesday that his family waited for her at the airport on Monday but she never came out and said the situation is "diabolical" and "disgusting".
"Unfortunately, seven hours later, somebody finally spoke to us to say they've actually declined her entry into Australia and she's now going to be deported," he said.
"She was interrogated three times on the record, they took her fingerprints, and they took her possessions away from her."
She was originally set to be deported on Tuesday night but that flight was delayed until Thursday as the ABF investigated her case further.
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Claire Henderson has been placed in hotel quarantine at the Holiday Inn in Perth after she was detained at the airport by border force officers over her vaccination documents. 9News
The Department of Home Affairs and the ABF have been contacted for comment.
"It's the federal government's responsibility in respect to international borders and it's their rules that have resulted in her being deported," WA Police Minister Paul Papalia said.
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