Some 47 highly vulnerable migrants have arrived in the UK on an “unprecedented” family reunion flight from Greece.
British refugees travelled to Heathrow to greet nephews, brothers, husbands and wives after Monday’s flight brought people from Syria, Somalia and Afghanistan to join close family in the UK. The reunion was the result of two months of intense lobbying by the campaign group Safe Passage and the British peer Alf Dubs.
Many of the individuals, some with severe health problems, had been living for several months in the dire conditions of Greek refugee camps.
Vulnerable asylum seekers in Europe can apply to be transferred to another EU country where they have close family, but as Covid-19 spread family reunions ground to a halt. Along with children stranded on their own, married couples and vulnerable adults were brought together with relatives who have offered to support them.
Among them was an 18-year-old from Somalia who joined his uncle in the UK after a process of many months, during which he lived in the Moria camp in Lesbos. Some had spent years in Greece while their claims for family reunion were processed. A stateless boy originally from Kuwait was able to join his brother only after his lawyer overturned several Home Office refusals of their claim.
Ahmed, 22*, left his north of England home in the early hours of Monday to reach Heathrow. He was given refugee status in the UK after escaping the Syrian war and has been working nights to support his little brother Wahid who was trapped on Samos. After a lengthy bureaucratic process, Wahid had been about to board a flight in March when it was cancelled.
“He was so disappointed,” Ahmed told the Guardian, “I phoned everybody I could think of to try to get him on a flight, I offered to pay myself. Nobody could help me then just suddenly a few days ago I was told he was coming. I have everything ready for him, we will just sit and talk.”
Peers from both sides of the Lords worked to persuade the Home Office to allow the flight to go ahead, including Lord Dubs who has campaigned for several years for more lone children to be accepted into the UK.
He told the Guardian: “In these bleak times this is a rare but wonderful good news story to emerge from the coronavirus crisis. The conditions in the camps in Greece are truly awful. They’re no place for children or vulnerable people, especially now.
“I hope it is only a start, because there are other children who want to join their family in Britain and there are also children who are in the Greek camps who may not have family here but also need to be helped to find safety.”
The UK Home Office was criticised last month for refusing to take unaccompanied minors from the overcrowded camps. In April, Germany took 49 children and Luxembourg took 12.
Beth Gardiner-Smith, the CEO of Safe Passage, said: “The UK and Greek governments have shown real leadership in reuniting these families despite the travel difficulties and we now urge the UK and other countries across Europe to continue these efforts to ensure no one is left behind.”
A UK Home Office spokesperson said “The UK has a long and proud tradition of providing help and support to the vulnerable, and now more than ever it is important we honour that.”
Eirini Agapidaki, Greek special secretary for the protection of unaccompanied minors, told the Guardian that Greece’s prime minister and the minister for migration had worked with the Home Office as well as Lord Dubs to ensure the reunions went ahead. “Among these people are children that will finally be with their siblings, men and women to finally be reunited with their spouses,” she said.
“It’s the collaborative teamwork that allows us to be effective in times of corona restrictions, a legacy that we need to sustain not just at national but also at the EU level.”
*Some details have been changed
