Raise Money for Alex’s Asylum Appeal

After 15 months waiting for his case to be dealt with, Alex’s application for asylum has been rejected, and he has just 14 days to appeal the decision, placing him at risk of deportation to Colombia where his life is under threat. As an asylum seeker, he has no right to work and so no capacity to pay for the legal support he desperately needs to ensure that he is able to access justice, rights and protection.

I met Alex a year ago through a research project that he volunteered to participate in, and he and I and my family quickly became friends. I am therefore trying to help him to urgently raise the £1,640 that his solicitor says will be the cost of putting together his appeal and representing him.

Alex’s Story

Alex is a 29 year old optical consultant from Colombia. Alex’s mother was always committed to providing support and assistance to vulnerable young people and victims of drug addiction in the city where the family lived. Unfortunately, the nature of her social work drew the family into conflict with members of a criminal gang involved in drug trafficking and extortion, who saw her as interfering with their ‘business’. When his mother announced her intention to serve on a community action board working for the safety of the community and well-being of children and young people, gang members sent a message to her stating that she must stop all her social work and involvement with the community action board, and threatening the whole family.

Unwilling to be intimidated, Alex’s mother continued her social work, and on September 23, 2018, gang members responded by brutally murdering Alex’s beloved elder brother, who was just 28 years old. Those responsible for this horrific crime were never pursued, caught or prosecuted. As Alex puts it, ‘for the humble and poor in Colombia, there is no justice’. Devastated by the murder, the entire family grieved and struggled, unsuccessfully, for justice for several years. In 2022, Alex’s mother decided to resume her social work and to participate in the community action board of their neighbourhood. She served long hours, among other things helping to raise local awareness of the board, so that the entire community knew about the support it offered, including the support it provides to young people affected by drug addiction.

It was then that the threats to the family from criminal gang members resumed. Alex, his mother and their entire family were told that they must leave the country immediately, or they would regret it. In light of what had happened to Alex’s brother in 2018, and the absence of any hope that law enforcers would offer protection given their failure to investigate and prosecute the brother’s murder, the terrified family sought ways to escape. Relatives clubbed together to buy flights to Spain for Alex’s mother, sister and remaining brother, where they successfully applied for asylum. However, because Alex was struggling with his sexuality at the time the renewed violent threats were made, and because his family is homophobic, he asked for a flight to the UK rather than accompanying them to Spain.

Alex arrived in the UK at the end of January 2023. For 15 months, still grieving the loss of his brother, and still struggling to come to terms with his sexuality, he has been trapped in limbo. As demonstrated by the fact that his mother and other members have been granted asylum in Spain, Alex has strong evidence to support his claim that if forced to return to Colombia, his life will be in danger from the gang that executed his brother. However, this evidence was not considered during his asylum interview because all of the documents were in Spanish. There were other procedural irregularities, and he desperately needs a lawyer to support him through the appeals process. He has found a lawyer who can represent him, but he does not have the required £1,640 fee. All monies raised here will be used to pay the lawyer’s fees.