A man who fled Ukraine after the invasion by Russian troops has had an appeal to the Home Office to allow him to come and live with his parents in Dumfries accepted.
Refugee charity, Massive Outpouring Of Love, had backed Naeem Hijazi’s mum and dad’s campaign for their son’s visa application to be overturned after it had been rejected.
A spokesman for the group said on Wednesday: “We just heard today that Naeem has had his appeal accepted by the Home Office.
“It will take a while but he is going to be able to join his parents and wellwishers here.
“We’d like to thank everyone who signed petitions, wrote to the MPs and helped in any way.”
Following the invasion, Naeem, 23, fled by train to the western city of Lviv and then walked for miles to the Polish border.
Despite fearing he would not be allowed to cross into an EU country as he’s not a Ukrainian citizen, Naeem was eventually put on a coach, driven through Poland and ended up in Germany.
The UK Government has relaxed visa requirements for Ukrainian refugees but, as Naeem is Syrian, the specific schemes didn’t apply to him.
His parents Sareb Meslmani and Abdul Majeed Hijazi pleaded with the Home Office to review his application and allow him to be with them in Dumfries.
They moved to the town more than three years ago after leaving their home in Syria as civil war spread through the country.
At that time, Naeem spent time with his family as a refugee in Lebanon then moved to Sudan to study medicine.
When revolution swept through the African country, he left for Egypt and applied for a visa to Ukraine.
He enrolled at a university in the eastern city of Kharkiv but just two months later the Russian invasion put his studies on hold once again.
“It’s really brilliant news that he can now do that.”
