SAJID Javid, the Home Secretary, is to examine the case of a British serving soldier living in Scotland whose daughter in Kenya has been refused a visa to come and live with him in the Highlands.
Drew Hendry, the SNP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, raised the case of Denis Omondi during Prime Minister’s Questions and later denounced the Home Office’s decision as a “disgrace”.
He told MPs: “My constituent, Denis Omondi, is a British citizen. He has uncontested custody of his young daughter Ann, who is in Kenya.
“Although he visits her as often as he can, she has been denied a visa because the Home Office claims that he has not spent enough time with her. The problem is that Denis is a serving soldier in the British Army.
“He is stationed at Fort George, and has served tours in Afghanistan, Iraq and Cyprus at the behest of the UK Government. Does the Prime Minister believe that this situation is fair? Will she look into how this loyal soldier and loving father can be reunited with his daughter?”
Theresa May thanked Mr Omondi for his commitment to the British Army and told Mr Hendry she did not know the details of the case but added: “I will ask the Home Secretary to look into it and respond to him.”
After PMQs, Mr Hendry said: “It is a disgrace that we have a situation where a citizen of this country, serving in the British Army, is being prevented from having his daughter come live with him and her family here, despite the fact that he has full custody of his daughter.”
The Highland MP went on: “It beggars belief how they expect a serving soldier who has done a tour in Afghanistan and Iraq to also be in Kenya with his daughter.
“It doesn’t get much more hostile environment than this. Denis and his wife Shelagh just want to give Ann the home she deserves and the only thing preventing them from doing this an ideologically driven Tory Government with a one-size-fits-all approach to immigration.”
Mr Hendry insisted that rather than working to keep Mr Omondi and his daughter apart the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence should be doing everything they could to bring this family together.
“I have no intention of letting the minister off the hook. He has discretion to overturn this decision and I would encourage everyone to get behind this family; it is the very least they deserve from us,” he added.
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