28 Can’t Stay. Can’t Go. Refused asylum seekers who cannot be returned SOME OF OUR REFUSED ASYLUM SEEKERS Enaya’s story Enaya is 37 years old and comes from the Occupied Palestinian Territory of Gaza. She came to the UK five years ago with her husband and eight-month-old baby daughter. Her husband was stopped at the airport and returned to Palestine. Subsequently, he was arrested and killed. Enaya and her daughter were refused asylum in the UK. Enaya has approached the Palestinian mission on a number of occasions to get a passport, but an official written response from the Palestinian mission confirmed: “Due to the Oslo Accord between the Palestinian Liberation Organisation and Israel, the Palestinian Mission to the UK does not have authority to issue passports.” Furthermore, Enaya’s daughter has not been registered as a Palestinian citizen. In Palestine, a child’s mother cannot pass on her nationality to her child, only the father can do so by registering the child in Palestine. Unfortunately, this was not done before the family fled, which leaves her daughter stateless. The Palestinian mission has confirmed: “As per your daughter, we cannot assist you in issuing her a birth certificate or any other documents due to the fact that she is not registered in the Palestinian Registry Office, this procedure should be carried out only by her father.” Enaya remarried in the UK, but following the breakdown of her marriage after 18 months, her application for a spouse visa was rejected. She experienced domestic violence when her husband hit her and the child. She went to the police and her husband then kicked her out. Her application for further leave to remain based on domestic violence was also refused because she had not been granted a spouse visa. Enaya is seeking advice on putting in a Stateless application for herself and her daughter who is now five years old. This is a long, drawn-out process and legal aid is not available. Kayla’s story Bisrat’s story Kayla is from Zimbabwe and has been living Bisrat left Eritrea in 2008, aged 18 and with in the UK for 13 years. She does not have no documents. As a child, he lived in many a Zimbabwean passport. She has her birth different East African countries. Bisrat was certificate, but the Zimbabwean embassy born in Eritrea, but went to live in Ethiopia says this is not sufficient to obtain travel when he was one year old. During the 1998– documents. She needs her ID number, 2000 war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, his which is issued only in Zimbabwe when an father was deported back to Eritrea when individual becomes 16 years old. When Kayla Bisrat was nine years old. They later went to left Zimbabwe, she was too young to obtain live in Sudan and Djibouti. Having grown up an ID number. She cannot go back now to in Ethiopia, Bisrat speaks Amharic. Because get one because she does not have a travel of this, the Home Office do not believe he is document. The Home Office believe Kayla is Eritrean. Bisrat is trying to establish whether from South Africa. She is trying to resolve this he is entitled to an Ethiopian passport. He and has approached the South African High has completed the application form and sent Commission to help establish her citizenship. this to the Ethiopian embassy. However, six Six months later, she is still awaiting a months later, the embassy has not replied or response to this request. In 2014, Kayla even acknowledged his request. He is too applied for leave to remain as a stateless scared to approach the Eritrean embassy. person, which was refused. Meanwhile, she Bisrat is trying to contact an aunt in Eritrea to is living in limbo. She has no basis to stay in locate his birth certificate. the UK, but she cannot be returned to either Zimbabwe or South Africa.