When 21-year-old Azade became pregnant, she and her husband Rebin, were being kept apart by the complex asylum system. With the help of our Refugee Support Service, the pair now live happily together and are building a new life for themselves and their baby daughter.
Azade came to Scotland after fleeing Iraq to escape forced marriage to a much older man. She said:
“I had to leave Iraq because my life was not safe there. When my mum passed away, my stepmother and brothers were treating me really badly. They wanted to force me to marry a man who was 60 years old. I had to run away for my own safety.
“My father was a good person and he loved me so much. He wanted to defend me but there was fighting and things became violent. He was hurt. Me and my dad, we left together. He took me to Turkey but we didn’t have enough money for us both to travel further, so he sent me on without him. I haven’t heard from him since.
“I lost my mum, and now I have lost touch with my dad. I don’t know where he is. It’s very hard for me.”
Soon after arriving in the UK, Azade met Rebin, a fellow Iraqi who is also seeking safety in Scotland. The pair have a lot in common and quickly bonded. They got married and Azade became pregnant. But the couple have separate asylum claims and the authorities refused to let them live together.
When Azade contacted our Refugee Support Service for help, she was staying in a hotel room, miles from the temporary flat Rebin shared with other asylum seekers. There are strict rules around having visitors in asylum accommodation, so they weren’t able to spend much time together. Both Azade and Rebin found the forced separation extremely hard.
“I was scared as any normal pregnant women would be, feeling stressed and anxious. I couldn’t eat the food in the hotel so I had to go to my husband’s place for meals. He was preparing food for me. It was a very hard time when we had to live separately.”
Advocating for Azade and Rebin to live together
When Azade was moved from the hotel into a one bed flat, we helped her apply for Rebin to be allowed to join her and worked closely with lawyers to gather evidence supporting the couple’s case.
Our Refugee Support Service also helped Azade apply for the extra asylum support pregnant women are entitled to. And we put her in touch with charities that provided her with a pram, baby clothes and other essentials.
Finally, after months of delays, Rebin was able to move in with his heavily pregnant wife. Two months later, the couple’s daughter Naza was born.
“It was a great feeling when we heard we could live together. My husband is my friend. Now we can laugh and cook together.
“When I had my baby, Rebin was with me in the hospital. It’s so hard to have a baby on your own. I would not have been able to cope or go through it without my husband by my side.”
All three are happy, healthy and settling into family life together. Azade and Rebin are both still waiting for decisions on their asylum claims but they are optimistic about the future.
She said: “Everything is going great. We have our wee girl and we are living very happily together. Naza is so cute and we love her so much! I’m getting used to being a mum now. I feel like I am supported and have everything I need.
“I don’t know how to describe [my Scottish Refugee Council case worker] Katya. I can’t give her enough credit. Whenever I needed something – to speak to a doctor or to get something for my child – I could always rely on her. With her help, Rebin was able to move into my flat. She is always there for me and has given me so much support and advice.”
Hope for a better future
Both Azade and Rebin are keen to enrol for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Language) classes and Azade hopes to go to university one day.
She said: “I really wanted to study in Iraq but I wasn’t allowed to. I feel free in Scotland. Hopefully I can go on to study here and can be something in the future. I would like to be a teacher.
“Honestly, it is not easy to live in a different country with a different language. That’s something I still struggle with. But I don’t miss the torture I went through in my home country. And people in Glasgow are so kind.”
Azede hopes her daughter Naza has a long and happy life to look forward to in Scotland.
“I want my daughter to be happy and free. I don’t want her to face the things I went through in Iraq – I wish her the best. It is my dream that she can go on to be a doctor one day.”
Find out more about our Refugee Support Service and how it helps families on their asylum journey
* These are Azede’s words, but names and photos have been changed
