The family members of Grenfell Tower victim Khadija Khalloufi have accused the Home Office of blocking them from attending a public inquiry into the disaster by preventing them from entering the UK.
According to Moroccan national Karim, brother of Khadijha, his mother and other sister have been waiting for the government department to respond to their UK visa application since December, and are yet to have their passports returned.
In total, the pair have paid £400 to have their UK visa applications processed in Rabat, but they state that they have had no communication from the Home Office since their appointment eight weeks ago.
The Khalloufi family is one of many families who have been given core participant status at an upcoming inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, with the next hearing expected to take place at the end of February. However, Mr Khalloufi has expressed concern that his family members will be blocked from providing testimony if they’re unable to enter Britain.
Commenting on the situation, he added that these added complications are making the grieving process “even worse”.
“If the inquiry needs my mum to come, if I want to come and see my lawyer to see what is going on, are they going to keep my passport now?, “ he said. “We are suffering from something we never anticipated. We are a bereaved family but they are not helping us, they are just making it worse.”