My uncle is facing the possibility of being forced to leave the United Kingdom because of a system that does not take into account the strength of family ties.

I am petitioning against the removal of Mr Chaib Boulhout (uncle, friend and brother) from the United Kingdom. His removal from the United Kingdom would be a grave tragedy for the community and our family.

Chaib has been living his life with me (his nephew), niece, sister and brother in law in the United Kingdom for 17 years, having arrived from Spain in January 1998. With a lack of job prospects in Morocco, Chaib left as a teenager in 1991 and travelled to Spain in the hope that he find a better life for himself. He did not have any family in Spain and therefore sought to come to the UK, from Holland, where the majority of his immediate family reside. In 1998, he travelled to England and has remained here since.

Chaib is an extremely well mannered, and extremely caring individual. He has been working as a highly skilled chef at a top London restaurant and has always paid taxes and contributed to the government. Chaib has never been out of work and has never relied on the government to provide him with anything.

Chaib made two unsuccessful applications in order to regularise his citizenship in the United Kingdom, in 2010 and 2012 respectively, however these were both refused by the Home Office.

In February 2014, his human rights were violated when he was taken from his place of work and detained by the Home Office Brook House Immigration Removal Centre, Perimeter Rd, Gatwick, West Sussex RH6 0PQ. . Chaib was given immediate removal direction to be deported to Morocco. A successful injunction was lodged at court to prevent his deportation however a court hearing is now scheduled to take place in November 2014, to hear his appeal.  Chaib is currently on bail awaiting his court hearing, however has been unable to work. Nevertheless, Chaib has used his culinary skills to volunteer at a church providing food to the elderly.  

Chaib and his family have experienced a tremendous ordeal in defending his removal from the United Kingdom which has meant he has been unable to work and moreover has ruined his relationship. Chaib has led a normal life in the United Kingdom for 17 years and would not be able to adjust to life away from his family in Morocco, a country he has not been in for over 24 years.

My uncle has always been there for me whenever I have needed or asked him for anything, he would be the one person that I could always rely on the most. My uncle and I have shared the same bedroom since he arrival in 1998 until the present day and as a result we have a very close relationship, to the point where I now consider and introduce him as my brother. My uncle and I both share love for football and are both avid Arsenal fans, I would often organise football matches with my friends in which my uncle would participate.

The Home Office have the power to overturn these unfair, cruel and unreasonable rules, and I plead that you let my uncle stay with our family and continue to live his life. I plead that Chaib be given discretionary leave to remain in the United Kingdom. Chaib’s removal would have a disastrous effect on the community, his friends and family. These rules are brutally cruel, that they tear loving family members apart. This ordeal has changed my perception about the defence of people’s human rights in the UK. I am in the legal profession myself and had always seen the UK as a place where people’s above all else your human rights would be not only defended but supported. It was one of the main reasons why I pursued the profession in the first place. However, this experience has made me doubt my faith in this ideology.

I do not envisage my life would if he were to go back to Morocco. It would make my life and the life of my family extremely difficult, simply because he has been there for me and my family from my early years and he has seen my sister and I grow up. My mother has grown to rely on her brother, financially and emotionally, and vice versa. When my mother first arrived in the UK in 1988 she felt isolated as she did not have any family. Having our uncle around has made my mother happy and has made us feel like part of a close family, if he wasn’t able to see us anymore we would be truly devastated. I am worried that if my uncle is deported to Morocco, I will also lose my mother.

Please sign this petition – not just for me, but for anyone who loves or has loved their family, for anyone who cannot go a day without speaking with their family, to restore my faith in our human rights, to let my uncle lead his life, to let our family lead our lives, for anyone who’s loved one has been deported.  Together, we can show the Home Office that the public does not want this shocking violation of our human rights and it is time to take into account the strength of these family ties.