The Directorate of Immigration decided last week to grant residence permits to Kenyan refugee Paul Ramses, his wife Rosemary Atieno and their son Fídel Smári. The permits were granted on the grounds that they might be persecuted in their home country.
Last week’s decision ended the Ramses family’s two year process in the Icelandic administration, Fréttabladid reports.
“I feel as if I have traveled to the moon and back. I’m overcome with joy. This radically changes our future. Now I know that I can provide for my family, raise my children and make plans for the future,” Ramses commented.
In July 2008, Ramses was sent to Italy on the basis of the Dublin Agreement and was made to leave his wife and son behind.
He was later allowed to return after the decision to deport him was protested in Iceland. The family first applied for residence permits in February that year.
During the two years that the application of the Ramses family has been assessed, they have been living outside the system to a certain extent. Fídel Smári could not go to kindergarten and Atieno could not obtain a driver’s license, for example.
However, both Ramses and Atieno were allowed to work. They are now expecting their second child.
Click here to read more about their story.
