Orphaned refugees’ family face deportation to warzone
AFAMILY of four are facing deportation after a terrifying journey in which the father of three children and another dad froze to death.
The Sedeeq and Rebwah family fled Iraq in 2015 and made it to Bulgaria.
Mr and Mrs Rebwah had four young children while the Sedeeq family had three. All seven children are cousins.
When staying in a refugee camp, one day both fathers left to go and find food for their families. They never returned. The men both froze to death, leaving the mothers behind to look after the seven youngsters.
An uncle of both the families, Aram Faraj, lives in Swansea where he has permanent UK residence. Mr Faraj waited nine months for permission to bring the families back to the UK. During that time Mrs Rebwah died, also freezing to death, leaving four children as orphans.
The remaining family members travelled to Swansea where they have been helped by Swansea Bloom, an arm of the Linden Church which helps asylum seekers and refugees to integrate through visits, friendship and creating opportunities.
Rachel Matthews, of Swansea Bloom, said: “They have a great support network in Swansea from Aram and from Bloom who provide weekly support.”
The four Rebwah orphans; Alwand, five, Rozhan, eight, Omar, 11, and Rekan, 13, have been granted a stay in the UK for the next two-and-a-half years living with their uncle.
However, the Sedeeq mother and children have not been so fortunate. Trifa Sedeeq, who is Mr Faraj’s sister, and her three children – Mohammed 12, Dani 11, and Marwar, five – have not been granted asylum in the UK and are facing deportation.
The family were originally offered accomodation in Wrexham by the Home Office, which the family refused so they could remain with their cousins in Swansea.
Ms Matthews said Mrs Sedeeq “has been diagnosed with PTSD and has trauma-induced seizures”. Mohammed also has traumainduced seizures.
”The kids are doing great in school but have all lost ground since the Home Office refused,” said Ms Matthews. “Seizures have restarted; the children have terrible anxiety about being taken by the police and are having nightmares.”
The family say they have no support network in Iraq to go back to. They want to settle in the UK to receive support for the trauma they have been through.
Their plight as they travelled across Europe featured on documentary The Forgotten Children, which was shown on ITV last autumn.
In it Mr Faraj describes how Alwand was held hostage by people smugglers for a month until the family paid a debt.
Bethan Jenkins AM will next week urge the First Minister to make a statement on any urgent representations he is willing to make with the UK Government about the Sedeeq family’s rejected asylum application.
The South Wales West Plaid AM said: “This is a truly awful situation and I cannot believe that the UK Government are being so heartless in how they make these decisions.
“There is nobody in Iraq that could care for them. Their uncle is a British citizen and has guardianship, so as a local community we cannot understand why the UK Government has decided that they cannot stay.
“They are vulnerable and need support, and have recently been awarded funding for therapy for the trauma they experienced before arriving in Wales, and that is due to start soon.
“The local community have been so supportive of the family, and will campaign robustly against their deportation. These are innocent children that deserve our support and warrant sanctuary here in Wales.”
A Home Office spokeswoman said: “The UK has a proud history of granting asylum to those who genuinely need it, and every case is carefully considered on its individual merits.
“Where people establish a genuine need for protection or a well founded fear of persecution refuge will be granted.”