Kidisti’s* journey to reunite with her daughter is one of extraordinary determination and strength.
In the 10 years she was waiting to be reunited, Kidisti tells us that only survived on hope.
No mother should be forced to face such challenges.
Her lawyer from RLS, Ellie Doyle, says that Kidisti’s case was “one of the longest we’ve seen.” She explains that it would be understandable for Kidisti to be impatient and frustrated with the extensive delays in her case, but she was “incredibly patient and positive throughout the whole process.”
Kidisti’s story highlights the resilience needed to fight against a dysfunctional system to reunite with loved ones. It also shows the importance of legal support.
Without support from RLS lawyers, Kidisti and her daughter, Semira*, might still be separated.
This Winter, we’re urgently trying to raise £10,000 so we can continue reuniting families and supporting people on the move in 2025. Every donation helps us towards our goal.
Visit our campaign page to make a donation: https://refugeelegalsupport.org/winter-fundraising-appeal-2024/
Life at home
Born in Eritrea, Kidisti lost her mother when she was a child. She had no siblings, so it was just her and her father.
Kidisti has fond memories of playing games with other children growing up, including ‘soozi,’ which is a game played with an elastic string, like skipping.
A tumultuous childhood
By the time Kidisti was 12 years old, they had fled their home several times.
They moved from Eritrea to Ethiopia so Kidisti’s father could find work. But, after a few years, the Ethiopian authorities started deporting Eritreans. The family had to flee.
After spending a few years in Eritrea, they once again had to uproot their lives. Kidisti’s father is a Pentecostal Christian, a group that was now being arrested for practicing their faith in Eritrea. The family fled to Sudan.
Moving home is a stressful experience for any child, let alone when they are forced to flee due to persecution.
The birth of Kidisti’s first daughter
At 19, Kidisti gave birth to her first daughter, Semira.
Struggling to find work in Sudan, she moved to Beirut to find a job as a domestic worker, leaving Semira in the care of a trusted friend. The plan was to go to Beirut for a short period of time.
However, Kidisti was unable to return to collect her. Semira’s guardian had to move back to Ethiopia, so she took Semira with her. She was 3 years old at this time.
Kidisti faced serious challenges and trauma in Beirut. Again, she was forced to flee. She had an incredibly long and difficult journey to find safety.
She travelled through Syria and then Turkey, and eventually made it to Greece, where she stayed for four years. Whilst there, Kidisti was able to start rebuilding her life. She met her husband and became pregnant. She also learned lots of languages: Arabic, Greek, Tigrinya, Amharic, and English.
Kidisti was soon granted asylum in Greece. However, when she tried to bring Semira over to join her, her application was denied.
Determined to be reunited with her daughter one day, she made the incredibly brave decision to leave her husband and her new community behind in Greece and fled to the UK whilst pregnant with her second daughter.
This isn’t a decision that anyone should have to make, and shows just how dysfunctional the system is. Mothers are forced to risk their lives on dangerous journeys to find safety and reunite with their children.
RLS lawyers gave Kidisti the support to keep going
Kidisti got in touch with RLS in 2021. By this time, she had given birth to her second daughter, and she had been granted refugee status in the UK.
She’d been on the move her whole life, forced to leave one country after another. She simply wanted to settle down and to find stability for her family and for her kids to go to school.
Family reunion cases in the UK look straightforward on paper. You just need to prove the parent has refugee status, and prove the dependent is their child.
However, in reality this can be a long and traumatic process.
RLS lawyers had to show why leaving Semira as a young child was the only option for Kidisti.
To do this, Kidisti had to provide a detailed witness statement explaining her background, why she had to leave Semira in Ethiopia, and her journey to the UK. It can be very upsetting for people to relive these experiences, especially when they’ve endured so much on their journey to safety.
RLS lawyers also had to speak with everyone who had been caring for Semira during this time. Her guardians had to explain how they’d been taking care of her, and how Kidisti had been involved. This part was easier: despite the distance, Kidisti was always involved in Semira’s upbringing.
DNA evidence was also required to prove they were related, as well as family photos and call records.
Compiling and submitting the extensive evidence required in family reunion cases can be difficult, and often requires legal support to do so. Our Winter appeal means RLS lawyers can continue to do this important work in 2025.
More waiting
After submitting all the evidence it took a year to hear the decision. Unfortunately, this is common for family reunion cases, as it usually takes at least 6 months to a year to hear back from the Home Office.
This period of waiting is stressful for the entire family. Kidisti says that on the days she was struggling,
“RLS lawyer Ellie gave me the moral support that I needed to keep going.”
A successful decision, but still not the end
In 2023, Kidisti and her family finally received the good news that Semira had permission to come over and join her mother in the UK.
Despite this positive outcome, the family faced further obstacles and delays as Semira needed an exit visa to leave Ethiopia.
As Semira didn’t have permission to be in Ethiopia she was unable to get permission to leave the country.
It took a long time to resolve this issue. RLS lawyers wrote to Kidisti’s MP and involved the Home Office and Foreign Office, but everyone kept coming up against the obstacle of the Ethiopian authorities.
Eventually, Kidisti was able to get an exit interview for Semira, and Semira came over to the UK in July 2024.
Back together at last
When Semira arrived, they celebrated with friends and loved ones. Kidisti video called Ellie with Semira as a surprise to tell her the good news. It was an emotional end to a long legal process, with a family reunited at last.
Life in the UK
Kidisti explained that before they were reunited, life was very stressful, as she was always worried about Semira. It’s hard to imagine the heartache that comes with being forced to live thousands of miles away from your children for reasons out of your control.
Now that they’re back together, Kidisti says she has peace of mind as she knows Semira is safe with her.
She says that they have a good quality of life in the UK. They’re safe, and they have access to educational opportunities. Semira has already started school.
Kidisti’s only dream for her daughters is for them to be successful.
For RLS lawyer Ellie, seeing Kidisti and Semira’s long awaited reunion was a highlight of RLS’s Family Reunion from Europe project.
Kidisti’s story shows how important this project is. Legal support is often the only way to reunite families who have been separated by a dysfunctional and unjust system. Without it, families like Kidisti’s may remain torn apart.
If you’re able to donate to our Winter appeal to ensure we can continue reuniting families in 2025, please visit our campaign page: https://refugeelegalsupport.org/winter-fundraising-appeal-2024/
*We’ve changed Kidisti’s and Semira’s names and omitted some details to protect their identities.
