Campaigner helps deliver Sudanese refugees petition to Downing Street

A CAMPAIGNER from Henley has presented a petition to the Prime Minister demanding that the Government provides a safe and legal route out of Sudan for refugees with family in the UK.

Krish Kandiah, founder of the Sanctuary Foundation, went to Downing Street with representatives of Sudanese and Ukrainian families in Britain.

He called on the Government to give Sudanese families living here the opportunity to host relatives who urgently need to flee violence and unrest in Sudan. This would be the same deal that was offered to Ukrainians wanting to help relatives fleeing their country after the Russian invasion.

The petition has been signed by more than 23,000 people, including many Sudanese, Ukrainian and British people who have also offered to host Sudanese people in their homes.  Mr Kandiah was joined in Downing Street by Algaly Saeed, 56, from Rotherham, who came to Britain from Sudan 20 years ago and has not seen his son, Hussam, since he was eight.

Hussam fled the war in Khartoum and is in temporary accommodation in Egypt. Mr Saeed said he wanted a family resettlement scheme so he could bring his son to the UK. 

Also presenting the petition was Tania Orlova, 44, who came to the UK from Kyiv last year with her mother and then eight-year-old son, Danylo. She said she was full of praise for the welcome they received and would like the same to be offered to Sudanese families in need.

Dr Kandiah, who lives in Henley with his wife Miriam and six children, launched his charity shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 to inspire people to come forward and sponsor Ukrainian refugees.

He then helped advise the Government on its Homes for Ukraine scheme, which was launched in March last year. He wants the Government to set up a similar scheme for Sudanese refugees.  Dr Kandiah went to Egypt earlier this month to meet people fleeing Khartoum.

He said: “Most Sudanese refugees told me they were hoping for sanctuary in Africa or the Middle East. However, there is a small minority who have relatives in the UK.

“We must find a way to offer those people the same opportunities we gave to Ukrainians. 

“I visited Cairo and Aswan in Egypt because I couldn’t get into Khartoum but I was meeting with members of the Sudanese community who were desperately worried about their families.

“If you listen to the news in the UK it seems like everybody wants to come to Britain but actually they wanted to stay in the region. They know the culture, they speak Arabic and they have skills so they can apply for jobs there.

“I only met one person who wanted to come to the UK — Hussam, whose dad, Algaly, is here. He wanted to flee the war and see his father.

“He was only eating three meals a week and that was why we wanted to present a petition to Downing Street. We want them to have the same privileges we gave to Ukrainians.

“The bigger problem is our Sudanese friends living here and serving the country well who are trying to get their families out.

“For example, I know an NHS consultant who wants to get her mother and sister out. It is unsafe for them and they can’t even get money out of the banks because they have all been looted.

“There are no safe and legal routes for refugees to come to the UK unless they are from Ukraine. If you try to come without a visa and apply for asylum, you could get repatriated to Rwanda or stuck in a detention camp or put into a barge.

“You can’t come and then claim asylum and you can’t apply for asylum outside the country either. It’s a catch-22.

“We want the Government to use the same mechanisms we employed for the Ukrainians, where strangers could host or families could receive them.

“Now we wait for a government response. At the moment it seems there is little appetite but we want to encourage the public so they know this is happening and make some noise.”

Henley MP John Howell said: “There is quite a lot of interest in creating more safe and legal routes in the UK and the debate has come up in the House of Lords quite a lot. I support this. It seems like the obvious thing for a country like the UK to do.”