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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Home Office to meet Glasgow 'hunger strike' family | Home Office to meet Glasgow 'hunger strike' family |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A family has been granted a meeting with Home Office officials after staging a hunger strike outside an immigration centre. | A family has been granted a meeting with Home Office officials after staging a hunger strike outside an immigration centre. |
| The Kamils say they have been in "limbo" for the last 14 years pending a decision about their legal status. | |
| Originally from Kurdish Iraq, the asylum seekers told BBC Scotland they wanted the Home Office to rule on their request for permanent residency. | |
| They said the uncertainty was affecting their plans to work and study. | They said the uncertainty was affecting their plans to work and study. |
| The family began their protest on Wednesday evening outside Home Office premises in Brand Street, Glasgow. | The family began their protest on Wednesday evening outside Home Office premises in Brand Street, Glasgow. |
| Boxing champion | Boxing champion |
| They were granted leave to remain in 2012 after a request for asylum was refused. | |
| BBC Online understands their most recent application five years ago had been hit by legal delays. | |
| The youngest family member, 18-year-old Banez, said she could not start her studies in law because of the situation. | |
| Her older brother Daban, a mechanical engineering graduate, said he had had job offers rejected as a result. | Her older brother Daban, a mechanical engineering graduate, said he had had job offers rejected as a result. |
| Dastan, 19, is a Scottish amateur lightweight boxing champion but fears the issue could affect his career. | Dastan, 19, is a Scottish amateur lightweight boxing champion but fears the issue could affect his career. |
| An elder brother, Serbaz, 32, who runs an online business, told the BBC Scotland news website: "We are here to fight for our rights - and that right has been taken off us. | An elder brother, Serbaz, 32, who runs an online business, told the BBC Scotland news website: "We are here to fight for our rights - and that right has been taken off us. |
| "We deserve, like every other human, basically to get permission to stay in the country. | "We deserve, like every other human, basically to get permission to stay in the country. |
| "We've not had that - we've been in the country from 18 years, some of the family. | "We've not had that - we've been in the country from 18 years, some of the family. |
| "We believe they have dismissed us. They treated us very unfairly. | "We believe they have dismissed us. They treated us very unfairly. |
| "We are here on hunger strike to give us some sort of decision." | "We are here on hunger strike to give us some sort of decision." |
| 'We want answers' | 'We want answers' |
| He said the uncertainty was now holding his brothers and sisters back. | He said the uncertainty was now holding his brothers and sisters back. |
| He said "As a family, we want to be successful. We don't want to sit on our arses doing nothing. | He said "As a family, we want to be successful. We don't want to sit on our arses doing nothing. |
| "We want the Home Office to give us some answers, to do something. | "We want the Home Office to give us some answers, to do something. |
| "We have been in the country for long enough to not even think about returning back home." | "We have been in the country for long enough to not even think about returning back home." |
| He added: "If we had been just a couple of years here we could say 'look, fair enough. you have no citizens rights - go back to your country'. | He added: "If we had been just a couple of years here we could say 'look, fair enough. you have no citizens rights - go back to your country'. |
| "But we don't have anything in our country (Iraq) to look forward to - no friends, no family because we left everything when we were so young. | "But we don't have anything in our country (Iraq) to look forward to - no friends, no family because we left everything when we were so young. |
| "We feel this (UK) is our country. And I believe we have done a lot for the country. | "We feel this (UK) is our country. And I believe we have done a lot for the country. |
| "My brother has represented Scotland as a boxer. Another brother graduated as an engineer. | "My brother has represented Scotland as a boxer. Another brother graduated as an engineer. |
| "My sister wants to study law in Scotland. I have a successful business in Scotland." | "My sister wants to study law in Scotland. I have a successful business in Scotland." |
| 'Great urgency' | 'Great urgency' |
| A spokesman for the family later said they had been offered and had accepted a meeting with the Home Office next Thursday. | A spokesman for the family later said they had been offered and had accepted a meeting with the Home Office next Thursday. |
| Scottish Labour MP for Glasgow North East Paul Sweeney has taken up the family's case with the Home Office. | Scottish Labour MP for Glasgow North East Paul Sweeney has taken up the family's case with the Home Office. |
| He said: "I hope that we are able to provide clarity for the family, who were first granted leave to remain in 2012. | He said: "I hope that we are able to provide clarity for the family, who were first granted leave to remain in 2012. |
| "The matter is now of great urgency, to enable the youngest member of the Kamil family, Banez, to take up her place to study law at university this September. | "The matter is now of great urgency, to enable the youngest member of the Kamil family, Banez, to take up her place to study law at university this September. |
| "While I accept that the system requires certain procedures to be followed, we must not accept a bureaucracy which fails to recognise that these decisions affect real people. | "While I accept that the system requires certain procedures to be followed, we must not accept a bureaucracy which fails to recognise that these decisions affect real people. |
| "The Home Office just can't keep people's lives in limbo for years at a time like this." | "The Home Office just can't keep people's lives in limbo for years at a time like this." |
| A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We are currently reviewing the family's application, and have invited them to a meeting to discuss their cases." |