The UK and EU are failing people who flee violence 

People seeking safety in Europe are forced to navigate systems that are needlessly cruel. Instead of finding help when they need it most, they  are being pushed away. Often literally and into danger.  

In the UK, our politicians are busy wasting our time and money trying to pander to the worst of our nature. But we can’t and won’t forget those who get caught up in their dysfunctional system. 

The most obvious sign of this is the Rwanda scheme. For Aalem and Jalimah, it was applying for family reunion following the chaos of Brexit. 

Aalem faced years of waiting in awful conditions in a camp in Greece for no good reason. Their application for family reunion had been unjustly rejected. They described the years of limbo as “the biggest curse a person can have”.

After his application was rejected, our family reunion project put in an appeal. But this process takes years. As their lawyer Rhona said:

“I’d love to ask the Home Office, ‘was it worth it?’ Aalem and his family suffered years of anguish, years of their childhood that they won’t get back, for no reason.” Rhona

Legal support can cut through these challenges 

Finally, Aalem’s appeal was successful and he has now joined his family.

This is what legal support can mean. Our work reunites families, cuts through red tape and gives hope to those stuck in seemingly endless limbo. And it gives hope. 

When asked how they kept going, it was this hope that the family highlighted, “I always had a very strong hope that we would succeed and be reunited again.”

You can read their story in full below. We've changed names to protect their identities and protect their family in Afghanistan. 

How you can help 

As many pf our allies are forced to close their doors for lack of funding, it’s critical that we can continue providing expert legal support to families like Aalem’s. 

We need your help more than ever.

Every donation makes a difference. Just £30 can be enough to answer somebody who needs our help. We need to raise a minimum of £8000. 

This will allow us to: 

• Help reunite families in the UK. We'll work with them to navigate the complex post-Brexit process. 

• Support people to claim asylum in Greece 

• Make sure those recently arrived in the UK have the legal information to make informed decisions about their future  

At a time when the rights of people who migrate are under threat like never before, every donation truly makes a difference. 

Thank you,
The RLS team

Aalem’s story 

Aalem is about to turn 20 but, thanks to the stress of the last 6 years, he looks old for his age. He’s been losing his hair, which has also started to turn grey.

He always knew that his journey to flee the Taliban would be tough. But for the last 3 years it's been the UK’s Home Office that's left them in limbo. 

His lawyer, our colleague Rhona, has talked about the family’s incredible resilience, “I couldn’t imagine being that young and going through so much”.

I recently sat with Aalem and his sister, Jamilah, to discuss their story. 

Fleeing home

After the Taliban took over in Kabul, Aalem and his little brother had to flee. Their father was a policeman and had already been killed by the Taliban.

Aalem was just 14 years old, his brother 10. They were trying to reach the UK, where their sister, Jalimah, was living with her British husband. 

Through a difficult journey and with exploitative agents, the brothers tried to stay close. However, when they had to flee gunfire, Aalem grabbed the wrong hand in the chaos. He mistook another child for his brother and they were separated. The start of a long, lonely journey. 

Alone in Greece

Aalem was determined to find his little brother. He heard that he was in a camp in Greece. However, when Aalem arrived he learnt that he’d missed his brother by around 3 weeks. 

Those few weeks were crucial. While his little brother was able to reunite with his family in the UK under EU rules, Aalem would need to try to navigate the mess of a system that was left post-Brexit. 

His first application under this system was rejected. We knew this wasn’t right, so we appealed the case. 

“I was away from my family and so lonely” Aalem.

The importance of expert legal support

This is a complex system. It’s not navigable without expert legal help and taking a case to appeal isn't possible without a lawyer. There’s almost no other legal support available in this area, so our family reunion project was essential to bringing the family back together.

“I can simply say that Rhona is a great woman. I’m very appreciative of her hard work. The services we received were absolutely excellent. God bless you for helping me. You made two mothers happy.” Jamilah

Finally, safety and security 

This was a lengthy process. While their first application could have been accepted, instead we had to fight for 3 years. 

Finally, in the last couple of weeks, Aalem arrived in London to join his family. “We see light at the end of the tunnel. We have lots of plans for the future together.”

A message for the Home Office

When asked about her message to the Home Office, Jamilah told us “they should expedite the process of family reunion. It tears families apart. It disorientates them and they lose their health because of this situation.”

“People going through the same process should not lose their hope. They should do what they can to reach their goal.”

You can help

While we’re ashamed of the pain that Aalem and his family went through, we were delighted by the outcome of their case. The family are finally back together and can look to the future.

There are more families who need our help. If you can donate, whatever you might be able to give, it will help us to support more families like Aalem's and Jamilah's.

Thank you for your continued support.

Photo credit @bookerphotos