21-year wait for a chance to start over

21-year wait for a chance to start over

Asylum-seekers’ journeys to the UK can be arduous and dangerous — and very very long. One of the longest was by Tag Bashir.

He left Sudan for Lebanon in 1997 where he remained for almost a year until he took an overcrowded boat for Europe.

Unfortunately, it started sinking. Fortunately, he and 74 others were rescued by a Lebanese fishing boat and scrambled to safety in Cyprus, home to a British military base.

He breathed a sigh of relief: A British base: he would soon make it to the UK.

“Soon” turned out to be 21 years, trapped in what lawyers described as “legal limbo”.

The British government doggedly argued that the rescued families had no links with Britain and could be resettled in Cyprus.

After lawyers batted around 74 lives like ping pong balls, the UK appeal court finally ruled that the survivors’ conditions were unacceptable and that the Refugee Convention should apply to the case.

Even after the verdict, their evacuation to the UK was not immediate. But they were on the way.

Bashir admitted at the time that the frustration of waiting had been great and “that anywhere in Britain is better than [the base]”. He was and is amazingly un-bitter.

Now in his 50s, Bashir lives in Scotland, with his wife and two children. “We were very happy to start our life again,” he says. His wife (a Filipina he met in Cyprus) works as a carer and will soon complete her nursing training. “The kids are doing great. They started school in Cyprus — they speak Greek too.” His oldest son lives in Newcastle.

Bashir was the first of the rescued group to get a job, after “going to many building sites in the hope of getting an interview.” He still works in construction:  “I’m looking to develop it as well. I’m looking to buy some flats, and refurbish and sell them.”

The couple also run a small restaurant: it started with Middle Eastern cuisine but has switched to Asian food.

“I find Scotland wonderful. I met many people who are very good. We try our best to integrate. People are very friendly.”

He says he is lucky to have the chance to start over again: “I've waited all my life. It’s hard when you look back, it’s hard to get over it, but I reached my goal, made a family, started a new life, and became happy.”

Last Christmas he became British.

Do the children know about his amazing story? “We keep them away from that. They are at school, we don’t want them much involved with the past.

“But,” he admits, “I’m looking forward to writing a book about my journey.”

Photo credit: Tag Bashir.