LONDON: Imad’s Syrian Kitchen, a refugee-owned Syrian restaurant in London, offered on Wednesday a free dinner for “activist lawyers” who worked to stop the flight carrying asylum seekers from taking off to Rwanda.
“To every ‘activist lawyer’ who worked tirelessly to stop yesterday’s flight from taking off to Rwanda, you and a plus one are invited to a free dinner at our restaurant,” the restaurant tweeted. “Thank you.”On Tuesday night, the first flight due to take asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda was canceled minutes before take-off after legal rulings.
Up to seven people were expected to be removed from Britain, but the flight was stopped after a late intervention from the European Court of Human Rights led to fresh challenges in the British courts.
Talking to Arab News about the initiative, Imad Alarnab, the Syrian owner and founder of Imad’s Syrian Kitchen, said how distraught he was with the UK’s decision to deport asylum seekers.
“I’m a Syrian refugee in the UK, and what these people are going through, I sympathize with personally, morally and ethically,” Alarnab said. “They are going through the exact same thing I went through five years ago when I first arrived in the country. I’m very upset”
Alarnab expressed his frustration with the “shocking” decisions made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government, stressing that asylum seekers are fleeing gruesome conditions to come to safety, but are instead facing uncertain futures.
Restaurateur Imad Alarnab hoped to integrate his country’s cuisine into his new life in the UK. (Twitter: @ImadsKitchen)
“I believe that Boris Johnson and Priti Patel are using refugees and asylum seekers to turn the public’s eye away from the recent failures of the government,” he said, adding that people like Johnosn and Patel do not represent the British public.
Alarnab arrived in Britain as a refugee in 2015 after fleeing war and persecution in Syria.
A successful restaurateur in Damascus, Alarnab hoped to integrate his country’s cuisine into his new life in the UK. He began hosting a series of charity events and supper clubs in partnership with organizations such as UNICEF and British refugee charity Choose Love.
Alarnab opened his restaurant in May 2021 in London’s buzzing Soho neighborhood and vowed to donate £1 ($1.2) from each bill to Choose Love.
