His case has left the Government accused once again of ‘betraying’ the military, following round after round of spending cuts.Īnd it comes days after the furore over Fiji-born Lance Corporal Bale Baleiwai, 32, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, who was threatened with deportation last month because he was disciplined by his commanding officer for a fight with a colleague in 2010.įollowing an outcry, he was granted an 11th hour reprieve.Ĭampaigners for Sapper Hiri contrast his case with that of foreigners who have been allowed to stay despite awful crimes, such as Iraqi Aso Mohammed Ibrahim, who left a girl of 12 to die under the wheels of his car.
It is a decision that effectively leaves Sapper Hiri stateless as he faces certain arrest, prosecution and up to 25 years in jail if he returns to Botswana which deems enlisting in a foreign army a criminal offence. Officials ruled the soldier should be bracketed with murderers, rapists and drug dealers – ordering him to quit the country by next Friday. The 32-year-old from Botswana has had his application for citizenship rejected by the UK Border Agency who claimed the single offence was a sign of ‘bad character’. He has served in the British Army for four years with an ‘exemplary record’, but Poloko Hiri has now been ordered out of the UK – because of a speeding offence. 'Stateless': Sapper Poloko Hiri is now being denied citizenship in the UK due to a speeding fine which he received in April 2011