"He went on hunger strike"

I first met my husband Kiarash while he was sleeping in a tent outside the Amnesty International offices in Islington. We couldn’t really talk to each other much at first, partly because he could only say ‘hello’ in English (and I couldn’t even say that much in Farsi). But also because he had his mouth sewn shut with fishing wire.

He had walked over mountains, been imprisoned in Turkey, spent six days on a terrifying boat journey to Italy, was held by police in France, and slept cold and hungry in Calais, trying every night to jump a lorry coming to England. He tells me he didn’t feel fear, just kept pushing forward because he knew he would be killed if he didn’t make it or was sent back to his country.

He was initially refused asylum in the UK. In a courageous move I now know as characteristic of Kiarash, as soon as the refusal letter arrived, he immediately came to London and went on hunger strike in protest of the decision. For 37 days.

He kept pushing forward because he knew he'd be killed if he was sent back to his country

We met on day 15. Strange circumstances indeed but we were immediately mesmerised by each other. Neither of us said anything as it was obviously an unusual situation to meet in, but soon after the hunger strike was over we declared our feelings for each other. And then a year later, after he was granted leave to remain in the UK, he proposed and I said yes. There ensued another long story of trying to bring his parents over for the wedding – flying to Istanbul to visit the British embassy, having the initial application refused and having to appeal. But in spring 2013 his parents arrived, seeing their children again for the first time in five years, and we were married in August.

That was nearly four years ago and we are now expecting a baby boy next spring. He will – by chance of being born in the UK to a British citizen – have a British passport. But I can’t help thinking what if his soulmate is a young girl in Syria who is forced to make the treacherous journey to safety, only to be refused at the door?

Every day I am thankful that Kiarash was able to find his way to safety – and to me. And every day I hope that our son, and his generation around the world, will be able to walk the earth freely and safely, to find love in unusual places wherever in the world it may be waiting for them.