A Perth woman has issued an emotional plea after her family were separated while fleeing Lebanon.
Debbie Mitchell, 62, is desperate to get her sister-in-law out of Beirut after she was blocked from boarding a flight with her two children.
Nadia Ayoub McCulloch, 51, alongside children Thomas, 19, and Rebecca, 16, attempted to fly out from Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport to Birmingham due to the ongoing conflict with Israel, which has seen the city bombed.
Nadia – who is from Lebanon – paid for three seats on the flight. However, she was turned away for not possessing a valid visa.
Only her children were allowed to leave and they now live in Lanarkshire with family.
Nadia’s husband William, 62, intends to travel back to Lebanon from Iraq – where he is working with a humanitarian group – so he can reunite with his wife.
The couple have been married for more than 20 years.
Perth woman’s plea to get sister-in-law out of Lebanon
William’s sister Debbie told The Courier the situation is “worrying”.
She said: “Nadia was denied a visa back in 2022.
“We’re just a bit anxious. My niece and nephew were flown to Birmingham and my other niece and nephew, Kirsten and David, had to travel down to Birmingham to bring them up.
“They were out for a meal last night and my niece Rebecca broke down because she’s missing her mum.
“She’s very close to her and it’s just a worrying situation.
“Nadia’s never been worried because she’s grown up with war in Beirut so she’s used to it.
“But this time I could tell she was worried and that’s what worried me.
“She was telling my brother she thinks it’s going to escalate.
“My brother is in Iraq. I spoke to him this morning (Sunday) and he’s applied for compassionate leave to go home to Beirut to be with Nadia.
“He’s a bit worried now because he thinks they might be stopping flights coming out of Basrah.
“I’m so worried about them both. Nadia is the nicest person I’ve ever met in my life.”
William and Nadia have lived in Lebanon together since 2002.
The couple were evacuated with son Thomas in 2006 during the Lebanon war and did not run into any problems with a visa.
The UK Government chartered a flight to leave Beirut on Sunday, with no more scheduled.
It has advised the situation is being kept under “constant review”.
The general advice is that spouses of British nationals who are not UK citizens must have a valid visa to stay in the UK for more than six months to travel on a specially chartered flight.
“I just can’t believe for humanitarian reasons we can’t get out my sister-in-law who’s been married to a British citizen for over 20 years,” Debbie continued.
“I liaised with the Foreign Office in 2006 to get my brother, his wife and just my nephew, at the time, out of Beirut.
“They were evacuated and taken to Cyprus before being flown over here.
“They came to stay in Perth the last time.
“William is trying to get home to Nadia and then get across here to meet up with the kids again.”
Nadia has been advised to apply for a visa again so she can get to the UK.
“It’s just awful,” Debbie added.
“Nadia is a very special human being. We need to get her out of there.”
Conversation