Sudanese mother prevented from entering UK by Home Office to donate organ to dying woman

May 23, 2016

Rasha Abdalla’s kidneys failed in 2004 and she had a transplant in Egypt
But 2 years ago her body rejected the organ and she now needs another
Her mother Nimat Salih is a match but has been refused entry to the UK
In the past, Mrs Salih applied for a visa with an incorrect date of birth – and now it has been corrected the Home Office say the dates don’t match up

Madlen Davies for MailOnline

Published:
09:48 EST, 20 May 2016

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Updated:
02:04 EST, 23 May 2016

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A dying woman’s chance for a live-saving operation has been blocked because her mother is not being allowed into the country to give her a kidney.

Rasha Abdalla desperately needs another transplant after her body began rejecting a donor organ two years ago.

The 36-year-old, who first had a transplant in 2004 and was fine until 2014, says a kidney from her Sudanese mother Nimat Salih, 63, is her only chance of survival.

But Mrs Salih has been blocked from coming to the UK because her husband entered an incorrect date of birth in a previous visa application.

Ms Abdalla, a mother-of-two, from Manchester, says this is her only chance for a long life with her children, and says the Home Office is ‘heartless’ for refusing her mother entry to the country.

Rasha Abdalla desperately needs a kidney transplant and her Sudanese mother Nimat Salih has agreed to donate an organ. But her chance for the life-saving operation has been blocked because her mother has been prevented from coming to Britain to give her a kidney, she claims

Ms Abdalla, a GP practice manager, first had a transplant in Egypt in 2004 after one of her kidneys failed.

A decade later, her body rejected it – and she had to go on dialysis- in which she is hooked up to a machine which manually clears her blood of toxins.

Medics told her the chance of finding another suitable kidney would be slim because of the increased levels of antibodies in her system which caused the failure.

She was handed a lifeline after mother Mrs Salih was tested in Sudan and proved to be a match.

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Ms Abdalla, who was born in Scotland and lived abroad until returning to the UK in 2001, applied for a visa for her mother in November 2014.

Mrs Salih had entered the UK with no problems previously.

But the application was refused a month later after Home Office officials said they could not match Mrs Salih’s date of birth with a previous visa application.

Ms Abdalla’s mother entered the UK in 2004 with a Sudanese passport. It was issued with the wrong date of birth after her uncle filled in an application form incorrectly.

However, Ms Salih was able to enter the country twice, despite the passport not matching her birth certificate.

Ms Abdalla’s mother Nimat Salih, 63, entered the UK in 2004 with a Sudanese passport- but was issued with the wrong date of birth after her uncle filled in an application form incorrectly. Now, the Home Office has denied her entry due to inconsistencies in the dates on her documents

Ms Abdalla appealed the decision at the First Tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber, which ruled in the family’s favour in February. However, the Home Office has appealed the decision with the Upper Tier Immigration and Asylum Chamber – and the family are now waiting on the result

She then lost that passport, and now has one with her correct birth date, which she used to apply for her latest trip.

But Home Office officials turned the visa application down because of the inconsistencies.

Ms Abdalla appealed the decision at the First Tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber, which ruled in the family’s favour in February.

However, the Home Office has appealed the decision with the Upper Tier Immigration and Asylum Chamber – and the family are now waiting on the result.

Ms Abdalla is surviving purely because of dialysis.

She said: ‘This is the last chance I have for a decent life. Every day my mother isn’t allowed into the UK, my life expectancy gets shorter.

‘I don’t have all the time in the world. This is all because of an issue with my mother’s passport – it’s crazy.

‘This is the only chance I have of a transplant. My chances of a long life are getting slimmer and slimmer. These people are heartless.’

A Home Office Spokesperson said: ‘All cases are carefully considered on their individual merits and the onus is on the individual to provide the necessary supporting evidence to meet the UK immigration rules.

‘An individual who is visiting as a donor must have a covering letter from the lead nurse or coordinator of the UK’s NHS Trust’s Living Donor Kidney Transplant team or UK registered medical practitioner who holds an NHS consultant post or who appears in the Specialist Register of the General Medical Council, within three months of an intended visit.’