A British family stranded in the Middle East after being wrongly refused entry to an evacuation flight from Oman say they have received an apology from the Foreign Office, but no actual help to get home.
Nusaybah Sattar, 26, from London, was in Dubai with her family to celebrate her brother-in-law’s 40th birthday when the city was hit by Iranian drones and missiles last Saturday. The family drove eight hours to Oman, registered with the UK government, and paid more than £1,700 for tickets on a Foreign Office-chartered flight to London. However, when they tried to board, ground workers said most of them had not been approved.
Only Sattar’s 19-month-old toddler and her 84-year-old grandmother-in-law, who uses a wheelchair, were cleared. “Those two are the most vulnerable of our group and they need carers. They can’t just go on a flight by themselves,” Sattar said. The family later learned that the Home Office claimed they lacked correct visas, despite all being British nationals with UK passports.
Sattar was also told there was an issue with her name in the system due to a surname change after marriage. “If we had English names, I don’t think there would have been an issue,” she said. The flight departed without them. The Foreign Office later claimed the family had been cleared but had not arrived at the airport, which Sattar denies.
Several Foreign Office staff have apologised but offered no further help. The family has spent nearly £4,000 on tickets, hotels, and transport, and Sattar’s disabled grandmother has run out of essential medication. The Foreign Office told her it was “not willing to do anything to help us get back”.
