The Guardian: London backtracks on deporting a Yemeni family
English - Monday 05 April 2021 الساعة 11:43 am
Aden, NewsYemen:
The British Home Office reversed the decision to deport 3 young Yemenis and return them to Spain, after they entered the United Kingdom secretly, using smugglers at the border, after they finally met their father, who entered “legally” to the country, and the government's position changed within days. From the Home Secretary's announcement that how people enter the UK will have an impact on their asylum application.
According to a report by the British Guardian newspaper, Sunday 4 April 2021, this family seeking asylum was told earlier that their members could not stay together in the United Kingdom because the father traveled to the country by plane, while his three sons arrived on a small boat, before retreating. The British Home Office, and confirms that their case will be examined after a procedural shift by the Department of Homeland Security.
Preeti Patel, the UK's Under Secretary of the Home Office, said asylum seekers should stay in the first safe country they arrive in rather than travel to the UK.
The story of the father and the three sons
The family, whose members asked to be referred to by their first names only, lived in a Gulf state, but when the state revoked the family's residency permits, their members were forced out.
Although the four asylum applications are based on the risk to their lives in Yemen, Father Hussein, 52, was able to fly to the United Kingdom after obtaining a visitor visa, and his journey from the Middle East to the United Kingdom took a few hours and did not put his life at risk.
But his three sons, Hamza (26), Hassan (24), and Hazem (22), were unable to obtain visas, so they turned to the help of smugglers to reach the UK.
Their journey took a year, cost much more than their father's and put their lives at risk several times.
Meet after a long parting
The father, had arrived in the UK before his sons arrived, who were thrilled when they called and the Home Office agreed to put the family together in Manchester.
However, the Home Office later arrested and detained the three sons and said that they would be deported to Spain, which they had already passed through before arriving in the UK.
Hussain said he cried throughout his sons' dangerous journey to the United Kingdom. "I felt very anxious about their survival the whole time, and I felt guilty that my journey was so much easier than theirs," he added.
Meanwhile, Hassan, one of the sons, expresses their great relief after the Ministry of the Interior informed them that they no longer face separation from their father and deportation to Spain.
Family members also learn English at the Prince's Trust, a local college, and volunteer at FareShare. "A great weight was lifted from our hearts when this news arrived," Hassan said.
For her part, the family’s lawyer, Hannah Baines, expressed her happiness after this decision, after days of suspicion and anticipation, and said in this regard: “After a feeling of suspicion, the Ministry of the Interior agreed that Hassan, Hamza and Hazem's asylum applications could be considered in the United Kingdom, And that there are no longer any plans to take them to Spain. "
"The last few months have been particularly stressful, so it is a good idea for the brothers to be able to stay in the UK with their father, whose asylum application is already being processed in the UK," she added.
"But it is not clear exactly why the Ministry of the Interior decided to do this. All we were told was that this was due to their individual circumstances."
