AFTER Ali Mohammad escaped Syria and survived the Mediterranean to reach the UK, the Home Office told him his wife and two sons could join him – but his three daughters had to stay behind.

Aged over 18, they were considered too old to require the safety and companionship of their family.

Under family reunification rules, a person granted asylum can only bring their spouse and younger children.

Following a court battle, the family of seven has now been reunited in Scotland in what is thought to be the first case of its kind.

Ali said: “It was a happy surprise. I thought they would all get refused – all the others guys in my situation were refused. Now they are asking me ‘how did you do it?’”

The family, from Daraa in southwestern Syria, is terrified that speaking to the media could have consequences for relatives who remain in the country.

The National has agreed not to use their real names or show their faces.

However, they have chosen to share their story in the hope that it might help others facing similar struggles.

Faced with a dilemma, Ali’s wife Mala had to leave her daughters, now aged 20, 23 and 24, in Syria while she fled the war with her sons, now 14 and 19.

Until they were reunited, she feared every phone call would bring the news that her girls were dead.

Ali said: “We hope our story can help other people free their kids as well.”

A source close to the family claims their case is the first of its kind in Glasgow, where most of Scotland’s asylum seekers and refugees are settled. Solicitor Usman Aslam, of immigration lawyers McGlashan MacKay, is calling for the age rules to be redrawn.

He said: “The rules, on the face of it, allow a spouse and children under 18 to join their family member in the UK.

“But what happens in a situation like this one when the child has reached the age of 18? Do they suddenly become mature overnight?

“Can a bullet or a bomb tell if someone is under or over 18?”

He went on: “The rules have to be adapted to take into account the harrowing situations of families that have been split up across thousands of miles.

“I would ask people to think, the next time they are at a family dinner or gathering, how they would feel if a sibling was in a warzone while they are enjoying a barbecue in the UK with some family members?”

The story follows a number of reports about ongoing battles between Syrian troops and opposition groups in Daraa province, where at least 10 civilians were reported to have been killed in air strikes just days ago.

The Free Syrian Army, which opposes President Bashar al-Assad, the al-Nusra Front, which has been linked to al-Qaeda, and government forces all have a presence in the region.

The UK Government has committed to sheltering 20,000 Syrians under its vulnerable person resettlement programme (VPR) by 2020.

Participants receive five years of humanitarian protection and are selected from camps in neighbouring countries such as Jordan, a policy aimed at discouraging people from making the journey themselves.

Ali, 51, left Syria in 2014 after he refused to choose between backing the Assad regime and the armed opposition.

The journey took him to Lebanon, Algeria and Libya, where he boarded a dinghy bound for Italy, from where he made his way to France and across the English Channel.

He chose the UK because he can speak some English and saw the country as a safe place with a strong legal system and robust human rights.

However, he says he knew bringing his family to join him was not assured, and, after the first applic-ation failed, he considered returning to the warzone to spare them the journey he had made.

Earlier this week, the UN refugee agency revealed that more than 1300 people have drowned or disappeared between North Africa and Italy so far this year, with 245 people missing in two shipwrecks last weekend.

Ali told The National it was a “death journey”, adding: “Four days before my boat left Libya, 228 people were drowned in the sea, and I knew all of them. I had no other choice. I had to save myself and my family.

The moment of truth came to me when I was in the middle of the sea. I was saying to myself, ‘my God, what have I done?’ “When the agents in charge of the journey saw someone being sick, someone starting to get anxious or shouting or complaining, they threw him in the sea.

“They just killed him. It was terrifying. I could not allow my children to do this.”

Now the sisters plan on restarting their studies in biomedicine and finance, while the boys have started school and college.

Essra, 20, said winning the right to join her parents and brothers was “the biggest surprise in my life”, adding: “I couldn’t believe it was really happening. My tears started streaming. I could see my life in different colours.”

Asked about Syria, Mala said: “I have good and bad memories, but since I’m here with my children and my husband and it’s safe, it makes us all feel happy again. The people here are kind and helpful. This makes us feel like we are in our second home.”

The Home Office did not respond to our request for a comment.

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‘There is no freedom’: Siblings’ father speaks out about life as a journalist in Syria

AS a former desk editor at a major newspaper, Ali Mohammad knows the Syrian authorities.

That’s why he is so protective of his family’s identities.

The father-of-five left his career and country as pressure grew to pick a side in the devastating conflict which has driven the once-stable country to ruin, killing hundreds of thousands and displacing millions.

He said: “There are two choices – either you are going to be a supporter of al-Assad or you are going to be one of the opposition. You are going to face difficulties whether you be killed or carry weapons. I fled from Syria to be myself.”

But even now, halfway around the world, he fears the regime, worrying that appearing in foreign press could lead the authorities target relatives still living in Syria.

Ali said this comes from experience of working in the media, which was “closely monitored” even before the conflict broke out in 2011.

He said members of the intelligence service would vet material before it was printed and had agents within the industry, stating: “There is no press freedom in Syria. If anyone had an opinion against the regime, they could not publish it and maybe they would be sent for investigation.”

While some criticism does surface in the Syrian press, Ali claims this is planted there by the state to create the illusion that rival voices are allowed to be heard.

He said: “The journalists who write this are the closest to the authorities. They are used especially when there are demonstrations or other difficulties for the authorities.

“In the media, everyone knows that everything these people write is a lie.”

Now working to improve his English and embark on a masters course in philosophy, Ali says many of his fellow reporters have fled to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states.

However, he says censorship there is as bad as in Syria, with conditions for workers and human rights among a list of forbidden subjects.

Ali said: “There is no freedom for journalists anywhere in the Arabic world. There are a lot of newspapers and channels, but they flatter the government, or the prince, or the royal family. They cannot say anything against them.

“If a foreign journalist is found to do this, they will cancel his visa and send him back or take him for investigation.”

Ali says this leaves writers struggling with the gap between their work and the truth, stating: “They feel guilty to the people.”