My home, Daraa, was one of the first cities involved in the uprising in Syria. Bombs landed on my street. On 15 January 2015, I ran away from the war. I was 14 years old.

I wanted to reach my brother who was in the UK, because I thought I would be safe with him. There was no way to reach my brother safely, so I started a long journey, on my own from Syria to the UK.

I was one of the children you see on the boats from Turkey. I thought I was going to die. Then from Greece to Calais. I ended up stuck in the Jungle in Calais for seven months. I saw a lot of violence. Every day people would try to find ways of leaving. Two of my friends died under trains.

There are other children like me, fleeing war, travelling alone or stuck in refugee camps in Europe - trying to reach family in the UK. That's why I'm asking Theresa May to help reunite children with their families in the UK. Please sign and support me.

I’m safe now and I feel so lucky to be with my brother in the UK. But every day I think about my friends who are still stuck in Calais, or other children in places like Italy or Greece, and the worried families they have waiting for them in the UK. I want to help.

Children in Europe who are fleeing war have a legal right to be reunited with their families – but it’s not happening fast enough and children are still stuck in camps like I was. So, along with Unicef UK and Citizens UK, I'm asking Theresa May to help other refugee children who are alone and speed up the process to reunite them with their families in the UK.

At the moment, there's not enough staff working to reunite refugee children with their families in the UK. If the Home Office had 10 more staff working on this – children could be reunited with their families in time to start school in September.

I am so lucky to be in London now, with my brother and looking forward to going back to school. Please sign my petition and help me help other children who are suffering.

Thank you,
Bilal

*I'm using the name Bilal on this petition to stay safe.