'He's grown so fast' Man stranded in Turkey by Home Office finally reunited with family

On a scrap of grass behind a red-brick housing estate in Chester, Siyabonga Twala stops to get his breath back as his son Mason dribbles a football past him.

- Emily Dugan

"You're too fast now," he laughs, his chest heaving.

This would be an unremarkable scene - but even a week ago Twala would not let himself hope for such a moment. "I was scared that I'd never be in his life again," he admits, looking at his son as he flicks the ball into the net.

For the past 18 months, Twala, 35, has been living in limbo in Ankara after he was prevented from boarding a flight back to Manchester following a holiday with Mason and the rest of his family in December 2022.

Last week the Home Office withdrew an exclusion order that prevented him from returning to his British son and life in the UK, conceding that it should never have barred him. In the early hours of yesterday morning, Twala finally made it home again.

Mason was eight when they last lived in the same country and will be 10 next month. Twala is acutely aware of the lost time. "I didn't know you'd got that good," he says of Mason's football skills. These moments of happiness are tinged with loss. "I've missed out. He's grown so fast."

The case is a reminder of the way the Home Office's "hostile environment" policies continue to inform ministers' thinking.