Syrian family, whose child died waiting for UK resettlement, finally given date to move to Britain

The family were first given permission to come to the UK in 2018

Firas, who had cerebral palsy, with his mother Hanan (Bel Trew)

A Syrian refugee family whose disabled child died in dire conditions waiting for resettlement in the UK, has finally been given a date to transfer to Britain, after The Independent repeatedly raised their case with the Home Office.

The story of Firas, 13, is just one of several of where refugees who were promised resettlement as long ago as 2018 have died, or are at risk of dying, during the long delays.

The United Nations said in December that over 2000 refugees had been promised resettlement, some as long as four years ago, but were still waiting.

One, a Syrian Kurdish disabled woman, is currently at risk of suicide as she has been left in severe pain without assistance in Iraqi Kurdistan unable to pay for her medicine.

It comes amid growing uproar at the UK’s handling of refugees, after Britain struck a £120m deal with Rwanda to send asylum seekers, who had arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel in small boats from Europe, to live in the landlocked African country.

On Tuesday the British government was set to start transferring the first group claiming the controversial scheme will combat people trafficking and strengthen “safe and legal routes” to the country.

But the United Nations refugee agency has called the action “catastrophic” and unlawful, adding it likely contradicts the Refugee Convention. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York joined vehement criticism from opposition parties on Monday, describing the plan as “immoral” and saying that it “shames Britain”.

Rights groups and lawyers representing refugees affected by the Rwanda plan or already promised resettlement but struggling with delays, say in practice the British government has “systematically” shut down safe and legal routes to the UK.

Hanan and her family sit on the floor of one of two rooms they live in (Bel Trew)

Firas, 13, had cerebral palsy and together with his family was granted resettlement in 2018. He died in February in awful conditions in Lebanon waiting to be moved to the UK.

Because of the unprecedented economic collapse in Lebanon, his father Omar had been forced to dig through dumpsters for food to feed his family and could not afford life-saving medicine from his son.

“Whilst we are really pleased that there has finally been progress in Omar’s case and his family now have a date for their resettlement in the UK, where they can rebuild their lives following the tragic loss of their son… we are concerned about the continued delays for some of the other clients we are representing,” said Hannah Jandu who is representing the family at the solicitors firm Duncan Lewis.

She said they were particularly worried about Sara, 36, a Syrian Kurdish woman, who has been waiting since 2020 to be resettled.

“We are concerned about the continued and ongoing delays in Sara’s resettlement owing to her own medical vulnerabilities and known risk of suicide, which are being exacerbated by the delays in her resettlement,” Ms Jandu added.

“We are concerned that the urgency of her situation has not been fully appreciated by the Home Office to date, as they are yet to provide a date for her resettlement in the UK.” Sara told The Independent she is “increasingly desperate” and admitted she felt suicidal.

“I am always ill, I have paralysis in one leg, which affects the backbone and the neck, that forces me to remain bedridden,” the Syrian Kurdish woman said. “When I walk a bit, I feel tired immediately. I always suffer headaches, because of the inflammation, which causes pain in the head and the eyes. Sometimes I don’t see very well.”

She said the last communication she had with the British authorities was last month who told her they were able to find her a house in the UK, but later said it had not worked out.

The rundown neighbourhood of Beirut where Hanan and her family live (Bel Trew)

“I do not know what to say. I am desperate,” she added.

The Home Office declined to discuss any of the individual cases.

A spokesperson told The Independent that the UK “has a long history of supporting refugees in need of protection” and had resettled since 2015 more than 26,000 refugees through “safe and legal route direct from regions of conflict and instability – more than any other European country”.

The spokesperson added: “It can take time to find suitable placements to meet the specific needs of vulnerable families. Once a family is accepted by a local authority, arrangements are made for their arrival in the UK as soon as practicable.”

However Detention Action, one of the charities that has brought a defeated legal appeal to halt the deportation flight to Rwanda, told The Independent the government has “systematically shut down safe routes to seek asylum over the last several years”.

“This includes closing down resettlement pathways from Afghanistan and from Syria and failing to offer safe routes from other countries where people are facing persecution and conflict,” said Graeme McGregor from the organisation.

“That leaves people with no option but to take dangerous journeys across the Channel if they want to reach the UK.”

He said instead the government proposes a “cruel, expensive and convoluted policy” to punish those who made the dangerous journey through sending them to Rwanda.