Irene (not her real name) came to the UK in 2013, brought here as his maid by her rich Saudi employer. Her pay was only £200 per month working long hours every day 7 days a week. She looked after 5 children as well as doing all the house- work. She escaped from her employer one day and has stayed in the UK without documentation.
She got a job as a carer for a couple who were both severely ill – the man had a brain tumour and the woman had breast cancer. Irene looked after them for many years until the main died from the tumour.
She now looks after an elderly man who is 90 years old and who has to use a wheelchair. The lockdown rules have meant an alternate carer could not come to relieve her and she has had to live in and work all day/ 7 days a week for the last 3 weeks. The family members of the elderly man are also not able to visit him.
Irene has 6 children in the Philippines whom she has to support.
She fears for their safety considering the much worse virus situation in the Philippines.
She is also afraid because if something happens to the elderly man she is looking after, she will be left destitute as she has no papers.