Please can you help Hana’s friends to raise the money for her to remain in the UK and stop their deportation to Eritrea?

Hana and her 5 year old son Yasbera (born here) have leave to remain, but this needs renewing at the end of June. She is very happily settled in the UK and is doing really well here volunteering with a local charity and is hoping to soon start training to pursue a career as a care worker.

Hana came to the UK from Eritrea and applied for asylum. Once here, she entered into a relationship and Yasbera was born. However her partner left her soon afterwards and she was left to look after her son on her own. Her asylum application was refused but she was granted leave to remain in the UK (together with Yasbera) on the basis of her family and private life. (It may have been possible for Hana to appeal the refusal of her asylum application, but she was not told this).

This form of leave requires her to apply for further leave every two and half years until, after 10 years, she is can apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK. But the applications are expensive: an application for two and half years to remain in the UK for Hana and her son will cost her an astonishing £3066.* It’s unclear how the Home Office expect this to be paid - perhaps they know it can’t be. They do not consider living on benefits as a reason not to pay, and no means testing is done.

This came as a shock to Hana, who wasn’t told this by her lawyer. She then assumed that she would be able to apply for legal aid in the same way that she was for her initial asylum application. But cuts to legal aid mean that’s not possible.

Hana doesn’t have the money to make these applications, and relies entirely on benefits as her work is voluntary and unpaid for now. If she does not make the application before her current leave expires she will lose her benefits, her home, her ability to study/work, and soon the Home Office will try and remove her back to Eritrea.

Eritrea is not a safe home for Hana and Yasbera. Also, Yasbera is in school here, he has made friends and is doing well. To remove him to an unsafe country he has never visited, and where he does not speak the language would be awful.

We are therefore raising money to help Hana pay for the application fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge. Any donation, big or small, will be a lifeline to Hana and Yasbera. Thank you so much for your kind support.

*For each person who is part of the application the Home Office charges £1033, plus the Immigration Health Surcharge of £200p/a. So an application for two and half years to remain in the UK for Hana and her son will cost her £3066.