Dying Syrian grandmother allows for a turnaround in the Ministry of Home Affairs to come to the UK | Immigration and Asylum

A Syrian grandmother who died of cancer has been allowed to come to the UK on her last day with her grandson she had never met before, after turning around in her home office.

The government had wanted to stop Soaad Al Shawa, who had liver cancer, and it would only take a few weeks to live by a doctor, from spending his last day with his daughter Ola Al Hamwi, son-in-law Mostafa Amonajid and his three seven-year-olds, five-year-olds and a child. Al Shawa can only communicate with his grandchildren via video calls.

The family now lives in Glasgow and fled Syria in 2015. They blew up their children at their home in Damascus and couldn't be with Al Hamwi's mother.

The Ministry of Home Affairs rejected applications for a refugee family gathering held at the end of last year after a diagnosis of advanced cancer. The family agreed to appeal and judge in the first-level court of immigration court in April.

The family was happy and passed the news to Al Shawa, who began to prepare for the trip to England. But they were shocked when the Ministry of the Interior sought permission to appeal the judge's ruling; Al Hamwi's move said, “Broken my heart.” Further appeals may take about eight months – the time doctor does not want Al Shawa to have.

But now, the Home Office has told the family lawyer that his application is withdrawing, and that his grandmother can come to the UK and speed up visa issuance. The family hopes it will be processed this weekend in a center near Jordan, from which Amonajid will collect Al Shawa. Refugees are not allowed to return to the country they fled, so Al Hamwi and Amonajid cannot reenter Syria with Al Shawa.

“My mom was really happy when she heard the news and started eating more,” Al Hamwi said. “All she wanted to do before she died was to meet us and the children.”

Amonajid welcomed the Ministry of Home Affairs’ turnaround, which suggests it will speed up visas. “I thank the home office for listening to Ola and me,” he said. “The kids are so excited that they are finally going to meet their grandmother. She will sleep in their bedroom and they are fighting for who they are sleeping next to her.”

Usman Aslam of Mukhtar & Co, the family’s attorney, said: “We welcome the decision of the Ministry of Home Affairs to withdraw from the case, and in addition, it can help speed it up. Now, we hope that a daughter and mother can spend any time together. The refugees are no different from anyone else.

Home Ministry sources said Al Shawa's leave to the UK has been granted outside the rules and the visa process was accelerated on a compassionate reason.