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A man who the Home Office repeatedly tried to deport after illegally bringing his badly burned niece to the UK for treatment has won the right to stay in Britain after a six-year battle.
Najat Ibrahim Ismail, 35, fled torture in Iraq and came to the UK in 2004. He and his British wife, Emma Ismail, have three children and live in Portsmouth.
Ismail was distraught to hear in January 2016 that his niece Rewen Tahsin Ibrahim, then seven months old, had suffered 50% burns after falling into an open fire at a refugee camp in Dunkirk. Raven’s family had fled Islamic State and were planning to travel from northern France to the UK to seek asylum and reunite with family members when the accident happened.
Raven received immediate treatment at a hospital in Dunkirk, but her family said it was impossible to prevent her burns from becoming infected in the camp’s unsanitary conditions.
Ismail decided to travel to France to bring the child and some of his family members to the UK where he could live in a safe and clean environment and receive the medical care he needed. . He was prosecuted for assisting illegal entry into the UK and was jailed for two years in May 2017.
The Home Office made three attempts to deport Ismail to Iraq in 2019, all of which were stopped at the eleventh hour. Since then he and his lawyers have been fighting for him to be allowed to stay in the UK with his family. Rwen’s family has been given leave to stay, and the two families are very close. Ismail said that Rwen has recovered well and is doing well in school.
He said that he and his family are very happy that they are no longer at risk of being separated. “For the first time I can sleep well,” he said. “I’m the happiest person in the world and I can’t stop smiling. I can’t thank my lawyer enough. She saved my life. “
During his criminal trial, the judge criticized Ismail for his scheme to help illegal immigration but said: “I accept that you were not someone who manipulated for gain. These were family members that you decided to help.
Ismail, who has been diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety disorders, won his appeal against deportation at an immigration tribunal in July. The Home Office sought permission to appeal the ruling, but it was refused and documents for his leave of absence are being prepared.
The judge upholding his appeal said in his ruling that it would be “unjustly harsh” to separate him from his family and deport him to Iraq. He said he “considered the unusual circumstances surrounding the commission of the crime” in making his decision.
Ismail’s solicitor, Hannah Baines of Duncan Lewis, said: “We are very pleased that Najat will be allowed to stay in the UK after so many years of uncertainty. The judge acknowledged that Najat’s mental health was at risk of deterioration if he was forced to live separated from his family in Iraq, where he has an absolute fear of persecution.”
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