NEWS: Murray Stable Advocate in Refugee Family Reunion

Posted On: 13 January 2011

Joe Bryce, Advocate, and instructing solicitor Neil Barnes, partner at Loughran Barnes LLP, assisted in reuniting Pascaline Kunda-Kilufya with her family whom they helped bring to Scotland from Congo.

Pascaline was granted asylum from the war-torn central African country in 2007. But her family were left behind in great hardship in a Zambian refugee camp. The Scottish Refugee Council Family Reunion Unit, now closed, tried to persuade the British High Commission in Zambia to let the children in to Britain, but the door was firmly shut. The authorities' problem was that some of the children were actually grandchildren whom Pascaline had adopted in the Congolese courts following their parents' deaths. British law does not recognise Congolese adoption orders, not even when the children are orphans.

At that point, Neil Barnes brought in counsel, Joe Bryce, who first of all framed a successful judicial review application to bring the children's cases into the immigration appeals system in this country, and who then proceeded to win the entry clearance appeal before the Immigration Judge. Joe says "The legal problem was that Scots Law didn't recognise the Congolese court adoption papers, so Pascaline had to rely on quite a difficult and novel area of law under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It was a complex argument and it was very satisfying when it was successful."

At an impromptu ceremony in Loughran Barnes' Glasgow office at the end of October 2010, the children introduced themselves to Neil and Joe. They are now settling into life in Glasgow and overjoyed to be with their granny again.

The Scottish Refugee Council said:

"Pascaline's case highlights the many difficulties refugees face in seeking to be reunited with their loved ones. Our recent research report on family reunion 'One Day We Will Be Reunited' showed the importance of expert advice to guide and support people through a process which is long, complex and emotional. We congratulate Joe and Neil for all their hard work in reuniting Pascaline with her children and grandchildren and wish the family all the very best for their new life in Scotland.

The UK Border Agency has committed to review the UK family reunion procedures. We continue to await the results of this review but hope that it will result in a process which puts the needs of refugees to be reunited more swiftly and easily with their loved ones at its heart."