'British Airways stranded me and my 3-year-old in UK with no passport or visa'
A mum from Tanzania says she was left 'stranded' with her three-year-old daughter on the streets of London after her connecting flight home was cancelled.
Benadetha Rwehumbiza was flying from Alicante in Spain to Dar es Salaam via Gatwick and Doha, Qatar, with daughter Ivy Charlotte O'Gorman when her journey halted.
She claims when she arrived at the UK airport on May 8 she was told by British Airways-owned Iberia that she'd missed the first connection, but her name could be transferred to a different flight taking off from Heathrow and she was given new boarding passes.
Charlotte was born in the UK and has a British passport but her mum doesn't and says she didn't have any of the correct paperwork to be in Britain.
Benadetha claims when she arrived at Heathrow she was told by Border Force she had to be out of the country within a day or face arrest.
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The 29-year-old mum told the Mirror: "We had to get a taxi to Heathrow for £100. It was very stressful, the little one was crying and tired. I didn't want to stay there [in the UK], I was just supposed to be transferring planes. They asked for a visa, I didn't have a visa. Border Force said you have 24 hours to get to Heathrow or you will be arrested."
Ivy and her mum were allegedly told to make their own way to Heathrow despite not having the correct paperwork to be in the UK (Martin O’Gorman)Her ex-pat husband Martin O'Gorman, 67, originally from Birmingham, said: "My wife and three-year-old daughter were sent out onto the streets of a country and city they had never been to before, without a British Passport or visa.
"She is well aware of the UK Government's hostility to illegal immigrants so was worried and stressed that she could be arrested at any time - and maybe deported to Rwanda - which wouldn't have been a bad result, ultimately she would be a lot closer to her desired destination.
"For all they knew she could have just absconded onto the streets of the UK, opened a brothel or anything. I just didn’t realise it was so easy to get into the UK without a small boat."
Benadetha's return journey was also rife with difficulties. Martin said she was refused permission to board her flight from Tanzania and allegedly told her connection at Gatwick didn't exist and she needed to contact BA. The flights had all been booked via Expedia.
Martin paid £1,000 for a new flight to Madrid via Doha with Qatar Airways and then drove five hours to collect the pair and drive them back to Alicante. Martin and Benadetha moved to Spain in June 2021 in response to Brexit and the political climate in Britain. Benadetha had been living on a temporary two-year visa in the UK when she left.
The Mirror has contacted British Airways and the Home Office for comment.
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