revealed 27 August 2024
9 minutes of studying
A mom dwelling in Glasgow has lastly been reunited along with her household who survived war-torn Sudan after a spot of 10 years.
Kaltuma Ibrahim mentioned she was “overjoyed” {that a} marketing campaign led by the Church of Scotland had allowed her husband and two teenage youngsters to remain within the UK.
Husband, Hassan, and youngsters, Nasir, 19, and Awadia, 16, just lately arrived in Glasgow and at the moment are settling into their new residence and rebuilding their lives.
The comfortable ending brings to an finish a deeply painful and painful chapter within the household’s story as Mrs. Ibrahim and her husband misplaced three youngsters to the battle in Sudan.
The refugee, who was granted depart to stay in 2019 giving her the suitable to reside and work within the UK, is a valued member of the Gorbals Parish Church neighborhood.
He hosted a particular celebratory lunch within the sanctuary on Sunday to thank the congregation and the broader neighborhood for all their help.
Mrs Ibrahim, 51, mentioned: “I’m so comfortable to lastly be reunited with my household in any case these years aside and they’re now dwelling safely with me in Glasgow.
“I’m very grateful and grateful to all of the individuals who have helped me in so some ways to make this occur and we will lastly begin a brand new chapter in our lives.”
Talking for herself and her brother, Awadia mentioned: “We’re each very comfortable to be reunited with our mom and be collectively once more in any case these years.
“We really feel very protected in Glasgow, we love the town, particularly Glasgow Inexperienced, and everybody we have met to this point has been very pleasant, useful and welcoming.”
tears of happiness
The couple enrolled in an English as a second language course at Cardonald School this week and Awadia is hopeful she is going to get a spot at Shawlands Academy to proceed her schooling.
Ms Ibrahim was born and raised in Chad – a former French colony – and met her Sudanese husband there however the couple had been compelled to flee the nation after repeated threats to his life.
They moved to neighboring Sudan however civil struggle compelled the household to flee for his or her lives in 2014 and so they made their strategy to Libya, the place they boarded a ship sure for Italy throughout the Mediterranean.
Tragically it capsized shortly after departure and the couple’s two youngsters, Mohammad (6) and Faisal (4) drowned.
Survivors reached shore and Mrs Ibrahim was separated from her husband and three surviving youngsters after she was taken to hospital for therapy.
After leaving him he seemed for them however couldn’t discover them.
Finally Mrs. Ibrahim was compelled to surrender and return to Chad, and her husband and youngsters had been capable of return to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.
She thought she can be protected in Chad however the nation is terrorized by Boko Harum, a violent Islamist militant group, and she or he was overwhelmed and tortured by folks in search of her husband.
Buddies paid him to flee and he was capable of journey by lorry to France and ultimately to London in December 2016 and claimed asylum.
Ms Ibrahim moved to Glasgow the next yr and was granted refugee standing and a residence allow in 2019.
With the assistance of the Crimson Cross, Ms Ibrahim was capable of hint her now 73-year-old husband and youngsters in Khartoum, and for years that they had sporadic contact through WhatsApp whereas the web labored.
Mrs Ibrahim is an energetic volunteer at Gorbals Parish Church with a weekly neighborhood kitchen mission and lives regionally in social housing.
She is at the moment learning at Anniesland School to enhance her English and works part-time with disabled youngsters for Glasgow Metropolis Council.
Catriona Milligan, neighborhood improvement employee at Gorbals Parish Church, first met Mrs Ibrahim 5 years in the past and has supported her each step of the way in which in her battle to be reunited along with her household.
The refugee utilized to carry his household to reside with him beneath the UK Authorities’s household reunification coverage.
His lawyer submitted the papers to the Dwelling Workplace almost two years in the past however a choice was solely taken after the church first publicly highlighted the household’s plight in December final yr.
Tragically, the couple’s 13-year-old daughter, Safa, was killed in a rocket assault in Khartoum whereas they had been awaiting the result of their household reunification visa software.
Former SNP MP for Glasgow Central Alison Thewlis had already taken up the household’s case on the Dwelling Workplace and after the marketing campaign started, she redoubled her efforts and raised the case on the ground of the Home of Commons.
Paul Sweeney, a Labor MSP listed in Glasgow, raised the household’s plight within the Scottish Parliament in the course of the debate on asylum coverage and persuaded the Scottish Authorities to make representations to the UK Authorities.
Trapped in Egypt
Shortly after the marketing campaign started, the Dwelling Workplace issued household reunification visas to the household however they had been unable to gather them from the British Embassy in Khartoum because it was closed as a result of civil struggle.
The household had been informed they must journey to Egypt to gather their passports and visas from the British Embassy in Cairo.
They got letters from the Dwelling Workplace explaining the state of affairs to be offered to Egyptian land border officers to allow them to enter the nation.
They had been allowed to move and picked up their journey paperwork on arrival on the British Embassy.
Gorbals Parish Church and the broader local people donated cash to purchase the household airfare to Glasgow and the church requested St Andrew’s Refugee Service in Cairo to assist them whereas they waited to depart.
They had been as a result of fly to Glasgow on the finish of March however Egyptian immigration officers on the airport refused to allow them to go as a result of they didn’t have exit visas.
It was feared that amassing the papers may take many months as the method was difficult by the truth that the household entered the nation with out passports.
The church urged the British ambassador to Egypt, Gareth Bailey, to step in and assist, and he and his crew prioritized the case, ultimately convincing the Egyptian authorities to let the household go.
Throughout this unsure time, the household continues to be supported by St Andrew’s Refugee Service and they’re deeply grateful for the help.
They arrived in Glasgow on the finish of Might and took a while to reacquaint themselves with one another and settle into their new residence within the Gorbals.
civil struggle
Sudan gained independence from the UK in 1956 and since then the nation has been wracked by civil struggle for many of the intervening years.
The most recent struggle started in April 2023 when the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Fast Assist Forces (RSF) started combating across the capital metropolis of Khartoum and the Darfur area.
1000’s of individuals have died and hundreds of thousands have been displaced as they flee in hopes of relative security. Regardless of its historic hyperlinks with the UK, there isn’t a protected and authorized route for Sudanese folks to hunt security right here.
There are extra displaced folks on this planet at this time than at every other time in historical past, and the Bible is evident in its expressions of God’s loving concern for strangers and refugees.
The Church cries out for peace and justice on behalf of these fleeing conditions comparable to refugees, offering support to humanitarian wants and calling for reconciliation and human rights to cease this disaster of compelled displacement.
Though Mrs. Ibrahim Gorbals is a part of the parish church neighborhood and her husband and youngsters are anticipated to be concerned, they’re Muslim.
It’s a key concern for congregations, nevertheless, because the Christian religion teaches that giving in addition to receiving hospitality is a present that enriches us all, and the Church works intently with interfaith and international companions.
Jesus mentioned, “Once I was a stranger, you welcomed me.”
The Very Rev David Lunan, Moderator of the Basic Meeting of the Church of Scotland 2008-2009, led worship at Gorbals Parish Church on Sunday.
Addressing Mrs Ibrahim and her two youngsters, he mentioned: “We welcome you right here to the Church, to this neighborhood, to the Gorbals, to Glasgow and to Scotland and hope you end up at residence right here.
“We’re so grateful to you for offering this feast for us at this time and it’s a very beneficiant strategy to present your appreciation to everybody who helps carry your loved ones collectively.
“All of us admit that we don’t know of the hardships and sorrows you may have been by over time.
“I wish to thank everybody who helped make this reunion attainable.
“Those that donated cash, those that prayed and strangers to us in Scotland, England, Sudan and Egypt who helped make this dream come true.
“However particularly Catriona Milligan whose contribution has been essential to all of this and with out her persistence, perseverance, optimism and prayers none of this is able to have occurred.”
A welcoming congregation
Ms Milligan mentioned she was glad the marketing campaign had a contented ending.
“I really feel humbled, impressed, comfortable and relieved as a result of there have been occasions once we questioned if we’d be capable to carry them again collectively,” he added.
“Regardless of all our efforts it is just now that the household’s journey has been troublesome however to see them collectively once more after 10 years makes all of it value it.
“Kaltooma is now a distinct individual to the one I first met 5 years in the past and it is stunning to see.
“Dignity, love, prayer and dedication, all these items got here collectively and the battle to reunite Kaltuma together with his household introduced us collectively as a congregation and a bigger neighborhood.
“We now have all the time prided ourselves on being a welcoming congregation and this case has examined that and proved that these should not simply phrases.
“Kaltooma was well-liked and members of the broader neighborhood would frequently go to the church and ask him how he was and provides him hugs.
“Folks dug deep to donate cash for the airfare and I observed that individuals I knew who did not have some huge cash quietly slipped one thing over to Kaltooma to assist out and it was very transferring.
“The ripple impact of the household reunification marketing campaign shall be lengthy overdue.”
Love wins
Mr. Sweeney attended the luncheon to supply his greatest needs to the household for the long run.
He mentioned: “It was humbling to hitch the household and parishioners right here at this time to see the love and solidarity that everybody feels for them and what they really feel for one another.
“If there’s one lesson to be taught to the neighborhood at massive it’s that love can overcome hate, ignorance and bigotry.
“It is a privilege to play a small half in attempting to reunite households in Glasgow.
“They’ve nice attitudes and it is nice to see them doing so properly and I want all of them the perfect for the long run.”
