The parents of eight-year-old Lati-Yana Brown are urgently appealing to the Home Office to expedite her visa application after Hurricane Melissa destroyed their family home in Jamaica, leaving the girl homeless and without access to food or water.
Lati-Yana is currently staying with her grandmother in Cash Hill, Hanover, a region severely affected by the category 5 hurricane that struck on 28 October. Her mother, Kerrian Bigby, moved to the UK in April 2023 to join her British father, Jerome Hardy, and the couple married earlier this year. They applied for a settlement visa for Lati-Yana in June, paying over £4,000 in fees, but are still awaiting a decision.
Hardy, a telecommunications worker, described the dire situation: 'The family home has been completely destroyed, and Lati-Yana is living in one room with 15 other people. They are struggling to access food and water. There is no school and phone connectivity is difficult.' Bigby, a care worker, added: 'I am so distressed, I can’t eat or sleep. I am appealing to the Home Office to grant our daughter’s visa as a matter of urgency.'
The couple's lawyer, Naga Kandiah of MTC Solicitors, and local MP Dawn Butler have urged the Home Office to act swiftly. Kandiah said: 'An eight-year-old girl has been separated from her parents not by choice but because her family needed time to save the exceptionally high fees. When Hurricane Melissa hit, her home was destroyed. She is facing this devastation alone.'
A Home Office spokesperson stated: 'All visa applications are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the Immigration Rules.' At least 28 deaths have been confirmed from the hurricane, with over 70% of the island still without electricity and about 6,000 people in emergency shelters.
