An eight-year-old Jamaican girl left destitute by Hurricane Melissa has been denied a UK visa to join her parents, sparking outrage from family and child welfare advocates.
Lati-Yana Stephanie Brown’s parents, Kerrian Bigby and Jerome Hardy, had applied for a visa earlier this year so their daughter could reunite with them in the UK. The couple, married in 2025, had saved £4,000 for the application and urged the Home Office to expedite it after Hurricane Melissa destroyed the home where Lati-Yana was living with her grandmother in Cash Hill, Hanover.
According to The Guardian‘s reporting, Bigby, a carer, had moved to the UK in 2023 to be with Hardy, leaving their daughter temporarily in Jamaica. After the hurricane, the grandmother’s ability to provide care was compromised, prompting the parents to highlight the emergency in their visa request.
Despite the urgent circumstances, the Home Office rejected the application, stating:
“While it is acknowledged the effects of the natural disaster have significantly affected you and the wider population of Jamaica, evidence has not been demonstrated that you could not be cared for by relatives in the country you currently reside.”
The decision leaves Lati-Yana separated from her parents amid ongoing challenges in Jamaica, where Unicef estimates 1.6 million children need access to essentials such as clean water, education, and nutrition following the storm.
Her mother described the impact as devastating: “Being separated from my daughter is incredibly painful. I cannot sleep at night knowing she is far away and not receiving the care and support that every child needs. The emotional toll on both of us is significant.”
Family lawyer Naga Kandiah of MTC Solicitors criticized the Home Office’s approach, saying it demonstrated “a troubling lack of compassion and understanding for a vulnerable young girl” and urging a reconsideration to prioritize her welfare.
The appeal process, however, could take up to two years due to a backlog of more than 106,000 cases. The initial visa fee is largely nonrefundable, meaning the family faces significant additional costs even if the appeal is successful.
A Home Office spokesperson defended the decision, stating: “All visa applications are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the immigration rules.”
Advocates say the case highlights broader concerns over how immigration rules are applied in humanitarian emergencies, with critics calling for urgent reforms to prevent vulnerable children from being trapped in crisis situations far from their families.
