Family of Afghan boy stranded in France accuse Priti Patel of making false promises

The family of an 11-year-old Afghan refugee stranded in France after getting separated from his parents in the Kabul airport bombing last year has accused Britain’s Home Secretary Priti Patel of making “false promises” over safe routes into the UK.

Qamar Jabarkhyl, a 28-year-old UK citizen, said his “heart melts” when his young cousin, Obaidullah, calls him crying every day from the tiny flat where he is staying in Strasbourg, Bloomberg reported.

Obaidullah and his parents, along with his twin brother and older sister, fled his home city of Jalalabad during the chaotic US troop withdrawal in August last year.

According to Jabarkhyl, the family had hoped to get a flight to the UK but were separated when a bomb was detonated outside the airport on August 26.

Obaidullah was mistakenly put on a flight to France, where he has been stuck “unhappy and scared” for the last eight months, Jabarkhyl, said.

A 22-year-old Afghan refugee living in a studio flat in Strasbourg has taken Obaidullah under his wing, but works long hours and cannot afford to care for him full-time.

Bloomberg reported that in March, a family reunion visa application was made for Obaidullah on the advice of the Home Office, which promised it would be dealt with swiftly, Jabarkhyl said.

The same month, Obaidullah had his 11th birthday, thousands of miles away from his loved ones for the first time.

“It was really hard. I asked the guy he lives with to buy him a birthday cake but he said he was crying all day long. He didn’t even want to cut his own cake,” Jabarkhyl said.

“It just melts your heart when an 11-year-old boy is calling 20 times a day just to say ‘hello’ and ‘hi.’

“He’s not the same boy I would talk to on the phone in Afghanistan years ago, telling me hundreds of stories about his friends, what vegetables his family is growing in their garden.”

Four months later, the family say the Home Office has still failed to confirm whether Obaidullah will be able to stay with them in the UK, Bloomberg reported.

“I just feel the Home Office don’t even care, with these empty promises Priti Patel makes about letting people from Afghanistan settle in the country,” Jabarkhyl said.

Obaidullah’s parents and sister could not be evacuated and have moved to a rural area of Afghanistan Jabarkhyl said, adding that the boy’s twin brother made it to the UK.

The youngster is desperate to be reunited with his brother and eventually the rest of his family, Bloomberg reported.