My story 

I am Yamen Al Batran. I am 19 years old and I am a refugee here in the United Kingdom. My life completely changed since I left home, Syria, five years ago in 2015. I run away and arrived in the United Kingdom in 2016. I have been living by myself in Glasgow since then.  

I had to run from Aleppo because of the war in Syria. I was in danger because at that point ISIS was recruiting young men in my area and forcing them to join them. I did not want to be a part of that.  I was 14 years old at the time. I had to flee. It would have been impossible for my family to come with me. It was too risky and too expensive. Because of this, we took the hard decision that I should leave. We had no choice. I left behind my parents and my 7 siblings, 5 sisters and 2 brothers. I have not seen them since I left Syria. 

Ever since I settled here in the UK, I have been trying to reunite my family. I hope they will be allowed to come to United Kingdom where we can be reunited again as a family and they can have a safe future, away from the war.  

My case

In early 2019, I submitted the visa applications for my family to join me here in the United Kingdom, after I collected all the necessary documents hoping that finally I may meet my family. After a few months, the Home Office refused their applications. We are now trying to challenge this decision in Court. 

What I am trying to achieve 

After the visa applications was refused, me and my lawyer decided to take the case to the Court, hoping the judges will understand how difficult it has been for me to be apart from my family and how allowing my family to be here with me will mean that they could be safe. This would mean I could have my family back and live my life again without worrying about them and their safety every single day.  

The Court has asked me to pay £420 in legal fees for my family’s case to proceed. I am struggling with this fee because I am student at college and I am not working. During the last few months, I only managed to save part of this, but not the whole sum. 

I hope this will help me raising the fee and give me the chance to see my family again after being apart from them for over five years.