Please could you help? …….

There is a family of asylum seekers living in Clitheroe, comprising Mum, Dad, and two little boys aged 6 and 4.  They are Kurdish Iraqis, who fled Mosul in December 2015 to escape significant persecution.   They endured an often life-threatening journey, eventually arriving in England in July 2016, when they applied for asylum.  Their application failed, but they were granted leave to appeal.  Their Legal Aid solicitor missed the deadline to submit their appeal, and they are now living in dread of removal back to Iraq – a country where ISIS still operates, which has been devastated by fighting, and which is overrun with refugees and displaced persons.  They have no family there to whom they could return, and no home, and no access to healthcare (Mum suffers from epilepsy and depression).  They have brought up their little boys to speak English, and the boys have no memories of Iraq, and are happily settled here with many friends at school and nursery.  Mum and Dad are working hard to improve their English, which is good enough now that they can volunteer in a charity shop and at the local primary school, and make the best contribution that they can to the place that is giving them refuge.

We have been working with this family to try to get them leave to remain, but next steps require strong legal representation, and this must be paid for.  A very experienced solicitor has been found through Caritas, who is willing to take on the case.   The initial interview costs £200, with overall fees amounting to anything up to £2,000, depending on how long the case runs.

This is a very genuine and deserving family.  Please would you consider making a donation towards their legal fees?   The Home Office has very recently decided that they no longer have the right of appeal, and so we need to act very quickly to instruct their new solicitor and to request a judicial review.  Funds are therefore needed immediately!

Should circumstances change such that the money cannot be used, if you give your name and contact details and the amount of your donation, we will return it to you, or, with your permission, we would pass it on to the annual Clitheroe Refugee Day appeal, which our parish hosts to give refugees in our Diocese a day out in the country.

Thank you,  Tom Clay + Carol Hartley