A refugee who left the UK for a holiday in Djibouti in East Africa in 2008 has been stranded on the continent for 16 years after losing the documents that proved his refugee status - and the Home Office had no record of him. Saleh Ahmed Handule Ali arrived in the UK in April 2000 from Somalia when he was just nine. He travelled with his mother and two younger brothers to join his father, who had already been granted refugee status by the UK government. According to The Guardian, the family were all subsequently recognised as refugees by the Home Office. As such, Saleh Ali was issued with a Refugee Convention Travel Document in 2004, which was valid for 10 years. In 2008, the young refugee was diagnosed with tuberculosis and in December that year he decided to go on holiday to Djibouti, hoping the warmer climate would aid his recovery. Shortly after arriving in the country, Saleh lost his documents and was unable to return to his family home in Bristol. With no British embassy in Djibouti, the teenager managed to cross the border into Ethiopia. Saleh Ali made at least two attempts to get help from the British embassy there, but was unsuccessful. It later transpired that the Home Office had no record on its database that he had been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK. His family launched a legal bid to have him returned to the UK, but this was refused and subsequent appeals were also dismissed. "I have been crying for the past 16 years for my son," said his mother, Shamis Dirya. She said the family wanted the Home Office to "bring him back" but that their pleas had fallen on deaf ears. "He hasn't had a phone for the past three months, so it's been difficult to speak to him. Sometimes we don't know if he's alive," she added. Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles