The Despair of One Afghan Migrant Wanting To Be Reunited With His Wife & Baby in the UK

The Despair of One Afghan Migrant Wanting To Be Reunited With His Wife & Baby in the UK

Today I met with an Afghan male who during the US lead war in Afghanistan was a translator for the British Army.  He didn’t want his name used or a photo of him for reasons you will understand as I tell his story.

During the war in Afghanistan this man was standing side by side British Soldiers, risking his life just as much as the soldiers, but when the soldiers packed up and went home for good, the Taliban walked straight back into Afghanistan and tore the place up again.  The Taliban have attack, beaten and even killed people who helped the coalition force that was fighting the Taliban.  They have no defense, no help, all they could do was run, flee Afghanistan and head to Europe and hope for a better life.

This man, I will call him Joe, actually made it all the way to the UK from Afghanistan to Greece and through Europe and across to the UK.  His wife had already been living in the UK and was accepted for asylum during the war in Afghanistan and Joe followed later.  Joe had actually arrived in the UK in 2011 and lived as an illegal immigrant in the UK with his wife and applied for asylum himself within the first year of being in the UK, but after 12months he heard back that his application to stay in the UK had been denied and so he made an appeal.  Again another 12months past before he got his answer and it wasn’t good news, his appeal had been declined.  During the 2yrs he was living in the UK, he didn’t cost the state one single penny, he lived with his wife, and she worked and paid the bills, the rent and her taxes.  Joe’s wife contributed to society not only by paying taxes but as a pillar of the local community as a social worker helping vulnerable old people and even with all this Joe was told he had to be deported, it would be another 3yrs of trying with appeals, talking to the local MP, but it was no good, and Joe was to be deported back to Afghanistan.

By this time Joe’s wife had become pregnant, but the stress of her husband being under the threat of being deported caused complications with the baby and she was rushed to hospital, but it was too late, the baby was dead.  Shortly before Joe was finally deported, his wife became pregnant again.  Joe has not seen his new baby girl who is now just a few months old.

Joe left Afghanistan again last month and travelled the route to Turkey and then instead of crossing the Aegean Sea like before, he went over land via Bulgaria where he was attacked and beaten several times by local gangs, all his money stolen along with what little possessions he had.  Finally getting across the border of Bulgaria and into Serbia, he headed to Belgrade and has been there now for a few days.

With no money, he is now waiting for his wife to earn enough money to send to him to continue his journey, a journey that will cost more money paying smugglers to get across into Hungry and further on into Western Europe with the hope of one day seeing his wife and little girl who he’s never seen.  For Joe it is now a waiting game, he knows it’s not worth heading back to the UK where his wife now lives in Kent, he intends to head to Germany and apply for asylum there.

The stress is again taking its toll on Joe’s wife who is becoming very ill again because of the stress and is suffering from depression, but still instead of sponging off the state, she continues to work and save money to send to Joe so he can get that one more step closer to them being reunited as a family for the very first time.

Now I personally don’t believe in the UK we should just drop our borders and let everyone in who applies for asylum, but this man served alongside the British Army and for that alone he should be treated with the respect that deserves and be granted Asylum in the UK and not only that, but his wife has become a local pillar of the community by being a social worker working with the elderly.