Saleh Ahmed Handule Ali, 33, left the UK in 2008 for East Africa. But he became stranded.
Ali arrived in the UK at the age of nine in 2000 with his mother and two younger siblings from Somalia. They had gone to join Ali’s father, whom the government had granted refugee status. Since the family was recognized as refugees, Ali was given a travel document by the refugee convention, valid for ten years.
After being diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2008, Ali decided to travel to Djibouti in December of that year. He hoped that the warmer weather there would aid his recovery.
However, he lost his refugee document in Djibouti and could not return home. Since there is no British embassy in Djibouti, he travelled to Ethiopia. When he reached Addis Ababa, he tried at least twice to get assistance from the embassy. But he was unsuccessful.
It was later found out that the Home Office had failed to keep a record on its database of the fact that he had been granted leave to remain in Britain as a refugee. According to a ruling in the Court of Appeal last week, he has been “stranded in Ethiopia, undocumented, ever since”.
His mother, despite her illness from several conditions, had to save up some money for several years to engage a solicitor to try and bring her son back home.
In 2015, the Home Office denied Ali permission to return to the UK. The family appealed, but their appeal was rejected by the upper tribunal of the immigration court.
Meanwhile, Ali is undocumented in Ethiopia, and as a result, he is living hand to mouth, impoverished existence, and unable to work. His only consolation is his mother, who sends him money.
Shamis Dirya, Ali’s mother, told the Guardian that, “I have been crying for 16 years over the loss of my son. We want the Home Office to bring him back to us. But they are not listening to us…”
Ali’s brother and his mother, Shamis Dirya, in Bristol.
However, in the Court of Appeal, the lead judge, Lady Justice Andrews, said in the ruling by three judges: “This is by any standards and in many different respects a most extraordinary case.”
Although the judgement granted Ali’s appeal against the refusal of his case, the matter is not yet concluded. It has been sent back to the upper tribunal for a fresh decision. Unless the Home Office concedes and grants him entry clearance, the process might still take months to be concluded.
source: The Guardian
