Kenyan asylum seeker Paul Ramses has finally received a residence permit on the grounds that he cannot return to his home country for fear of his life.
The wait for the permit has taken two years, but that’s hardly when Ramses’ troubles began. After arriving in Iceland, he was deported to Italy in July of 2008. Ramses has a wife in Iceland, and his then-infant son was born in this country. The matter sparked national protests, and he was eventually brought back to Iceland.
Ramses told Vísir that the wait had been troublesome for him, but now he can rest easy. “We want to stay here for the rest of our lives,” added his wife, Rosemary Atieno Odhiambo. “We see Iceland as our home country.”
Both Ramses and Odhiambo work full time, and are expecting another child in five months.
Iceland’s refugee practices still need a great deal of improvement. Everyone here at the Reykjavík Grapevine wishes Ramses and his family a warm congratulations. May the country honour them as well as they honour this country.
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