UK: Gada family appeals to Cameron

via UK: Gada family appeals to Cameron – New Zimbabwe 20/01/2015

THE grieving parents of a five-year-old girl whose Zimbabwean grandparents have been refused a visa to attend her funeral have appealed to the prime minister – “as a father not as a politician” – to overturn the Home Office’s decision.

Wellington and Charity Gada, whose daughter Andrea died after being hit by a car just before Christmas in Eastbourne, East Sussex, said the Home Office had refused permission for the temporary visa because the grandparents were deemed “too poor” and therefore likely to abscond once in the UK.

The couple had said Mrs Gada’s father, Stanley Bwanya, 65, her mother, Grace, and her sister, Mona Lisa Faith, would even offer to wear electronic tags and report regularly to a police station during their stay, but to no avail.

Their local MP Stephen Lloyd had offered to personally guarantee their departure from the UK after the funeral, which had been planned for 9 January but has now been put on hold.

The couple, who are Seventh Day Adventists, said it was very important to them “both for cultural and for religious reasons” that Charity’s close family attend the funeral.

They hope for a private meeting with David Cameron next week. Mr Gada said: “We will say to him please help us. The pain of losing our daughter is more than enough to deal with. We just need to have a chance to say farewell to our daughter together with our close family, and fulfil our cultural and religious beliefs.”

Appealing for Cameron to reverse the decision, Mr Gada, who is studying finance and accountancy, said: “He is not just a politician. He is also a father, and he is a father who has also lost a child. I wonder why he lets this stress pile on us, because he knows exactly what we are going through.” Cameron’s son Ivan, who had cerebral palsy and epilepsy, died in 2009 aged six.

When Lloyd raised the subject in prime minister’s questions last Wednesday, Cameron told the Commons it was “heartbreaking” when children were killed in accidents, and said: “I will certainly look at the case – I was just discussing it with the home secretary – and make sure that the Home Office has a careful look to see what can be done.”

But a day later immigration minister James Brokenshire wrote to the Liberal Democrat MP informing him that the request had been rejected after a review “taking into account the tragic circumstances”. Rejecting Lloyd’s offer to personally guarantee that they would return to Zimbabwe, Brokenshire said: “I am sure you will understand that I am often asked to exercise discretion in individual cases. I am also frequently offered assurances or guarantees, despite the tragic circumstances involved.”

Andrea was just yards from her home while walking home from Shinewater primary school with her father and brother Victor, 8, when she was hit by a car. The spot is marked by messages and flowers placed by members of the local community who have rallied to support the couple, even raising £5,000 to pay the travel costs of the grandparents and aunt.

Andrea’s bedroom, decorated with Hello Kitty pink soft furnishings with toys piled up on the pillow, remains untouched since her death on 16 December. Her mother, who was taking an exam on her adult nursing course on the day her daughter died, said: “I haven’t been able to touch anything. I can’t really begin to grieve properly because of all these problems with the Home Office.”

Both Victor and older brother Takuru, 16, who rushed to the scene and attempted CPR, are traumatised, said Charity, especially Victor, who “had blood all over his hands” from trying to help his sister and has since refused to walk to school past the spot she was hit. “They need some form of closure. We need to have the funeral,” said Charity. “But I cannot think of it without my family with me.”

Andrea’s death is being investigated.

Mrs Gada’s parents are both street traders and her sister is a hairdresser. The couple had applied for fast-track visas for the relatives, which have cost them £600. Documents show that the visa office in Pretoria, South Africa, where such applications are handled, rejected the request on 2 January. Among the reasons stated was that immigration officials were not satisfied that this would be a “simple visit” or that “your intentions are genuine in wishing to travel to the UK”.

The Gadas, who both have full asylum status after fleeing political persecution in Zimbabwe, said they were appalled at the suggestion that the death of their daughter was not seen as a genuine reason to request a visit.

“I don’t think words can explain the pain of those words. What is not genuine about my five-year-old daughter being killed in front of my eyes?” said Mr Gada. The authorities had been given the interim death certificate and provided with emails from the funeral directors and coroner, he said.

“They [the grandparents] are being refused because they are poor. Full stop,” said Mr Gada. “They cannot produce pay slips and bank statements. Which is not surprising. They are street traders. But that is the only reason that makes sense.”

Mrs Gada said: “I really need them here to support me. And they really need to be here as grandparents. It’s not the same for them to be told of her funeral over the phone.” There was also a cultural ritual her mother needed to perform at the funeral, she said.

“I feel very, very alone. There is a gap which no one else can fill for me but my mum and dad. I need them to be there. We are not asking for much. There is nothing I can do. For me I can’t contemplate going ahead with the funeral without my family here.”

In a letter sent to the prime minister, the couple pleaded: “We hope you find in your heart the sympathy and empathy to help us overcome this predicament.

“We hope and trust that the Britain we know and call home, the Britain that champions human rights, multicultural society, diversity, equality, multifaith, etc, will show us the compassion and human dignity that we ask for and allow our family as a whole to bury our daughter and bring closure.”

Their fight is being supported by the bishop of Cirencester, the Rt Rev Dr Martin Warner, who condemned the decision in a letter of support which said it offended “at the most elementary level of human compassion”. The moral case for granting a visa would be evident to any person who had ever experienced grief, he said.

Warner said the Gadas were not rich or influential people and that the family were Seventh-Day Adventists, for whom the funeral rite was more than a ceremony. “What are the grounds for refusal of this consolation in grief?” he asked.

Mrs Gada, 32, came to the UK in 2001 and her husband, 38, came in 2003, at which time he was working for Air Zimbabwe. They were already married.

Mr Gada was found to have an illegal stamp in his passport and served five months in UK prison. He then spent another five months at Haslar detention centre in Gosport, Hampshire.

They lived in Huddersfield in Home Office accommodation for four years before moving to Eastbourne, East Sussex. Mr Gada finally got asylum status in 2012 after a long legal fight which also allowed Mrs Gada to stay as his wife.

According to Home Office communications, the relatives were refused visas for three reasons. It was said they had not previously travelled out of Zimbabwe, they could not demonstrate a regular income and there was a danger they would abscond.

Lloyd said he was disappointed that the Home Office had sent their second rejection letter within 24 hours of Cameron’s promise to look at the case.

He said: “What the Home Office is really saying is that the grandparents and aunt of Andrea can’t be trusted with a temporary travel visa to attend the funeral and return to Zimbabwe afterwards because they are ‘too poor’. That view is simply wrong on every level. I am asking David Cameron to do the right thing for Andrea and her family.”

Cameron’s official spokesman said the prime minister had only ever promised to make sure the Home Office followed the right process.

“He said he would look into it and ask the department to ensure they had looked at all elements of the case. I’ll let the department set out the outcome of that process. He understands why the case, for example, was raised by the MP and the right thing to do when that sort of thing is asked is to go away and ensure that the right process is followed and to look at all the relevant considerations.

“He understands entirely why it is a very difficult situation in regard to the family. That’s why he said he would ensure this was looked at very closely.”

Labour’s immigration spokesman, David Hanson, called on Cameron to personally reconsider the refusal. He said: “It’s very disappointing that just hours after the prime minister promised to look at this case, the Home Office were sending out another rejection letter.

“The minister seems to be treating this as just another immigration case despite all parties calling for the government to find a humane and compassionate solution for a family facing terrible tragedy.

“The government need to fully explain the reason why this request can’t be met, why the offer of guarantees and the community support already shown is being ignored and the prime minister needs to live up to his word and examine this case personally.”

But a Home Office spokesman said: “All applications are considered on their individual merits, including any compelling and compassionate circumstances, and in line with the immigration rules. We looked at this case again on that basis.”