- Streatham MP said his constituent ‘massively regrets’ move to London
- Unidentified man believes it would be less dangerous in Somalian capital
- Man’s story was told by former Labour leadership hopeful Chuka Umunna
- Told Commons how man’s youngest son was stabbed on Tulse Hill estate
Ministers have been begged to allow two brothers to return to Somalia after they were stabbed in separate attacks in London.
Former Labour leadership hopeful Chuka Umunna said his constituent ‘massively regrets’ moving his sons to London and believes it would be less dangerous for them to live in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.
One of the brothers is living in foster care for ‘his own safety’ while the other cannot leave hospital as it is judged ‘too unsafe’ from him to live at home, Mr Umunna said.
The MP for Streatham, in south London, insisted the case is a ‘damning indictment’ of the violence on the capital’s streets.
Mr Umunna told the Commons he has written to ministers asking them to issue the appropriate papers to ensure the two brothers can travel back to Somalia to be with their mother – in line with the family’s wishes.
He raised the case during an adjournment debate addressing the issue of gangs and serious youth violence in London.
Mr Umunna said his constituent’s youngest son was stabbed on the Tulse Hill estate.
He added: ‘In recent weeks, his brother was stabbed on another estate in Streatham, was critically injured, taken to hospital and now cannot leave hospital because it has been deemed too unsafe for him to return home.
‘Both those sons are victims of serious youth and gang violence that continues to grip parts of my community.
‘This constituent had come to the UK with his sons from Somalia, a country ravaged by lawlessness, extreme violence and civil war because he wanted a better future for his children and for them to be safe.
‘He is completely bewildered by what has happened and when I asked him whether he felt his sons would be safer in Mogadishu than in London, he told me it would be less dangerous for his children to live there than here.
A man carries a large fish through the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia, where an unidentified man said he wished he could move his two children back to from London
Police officers at an estate in Tulse Hill. Chuka Umunna told the Commons how the son of one of his constituent’s had been stabbed on a Tulse Hill estate, prompting him to want to return his son to Somalia
‘He massively regrets moving them to this capital city of ours. That is a damning indictment of the situation on London’s streets.’
Mr Umunna went on: ‘I don’t want to say any more about the particular case of my Somalia constituents, other than to highlight to the minister that I have written separately, in detail, about the family to ministers.
‘And I would ask, I would beg that ministers exercise their discretion in this case to grant my constituent’s two sons, in particular, appropriate papers – they do not have them at the moment – so that those sons may travel back to Somalia to be with their mother as the family wishes.
‘What this case illustrates is that for all the promises that have been made – I’m not making party political points today – for all the attempts that have been made by national and local governments of different political persuasions to deal with this problem, we still have a major problem of youth violence and gang culture impacting on a small minority of our youngsters in inner city areas like mine.’
