The petition, titled ‘Stuck in Ghana- Help us get home,’ was launched in a campaign to enable Holly Seglah and her parents to travel back to the UK from Ghana.

Holly’s parents are both deemed vulnerable due to their underlying health conditions and are subsequently highly susceptible to being badly affected by COVID-19.

Holly had been volunteering in Ghana with an organisation that seeks to combat modern slavery and child trafficking. 

Her family hoped to fly out from Ghana to the UK on March 23rd 2020. The flight was part of a signed agreement between the British High Commission and the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). Her parents then flew out to visit Holly as part of planned celebrations for their 30th wedding anniversary.

On the 21st of March, the Ghanaian government closed its borders from March 23rd to April 5th.

According to the post alongside the petition, the family are currently stranded in Ghana and are unable to travel home, due to increasing travel restrictions in the wake of COVID-19.

The petition is addressed to Dominic Raab, the current Secretary of State and Commonwealth affairs. The aim is that the petition will have the 2000 signatures it needs to be noticed and considered by Raab.

The petition currently has 712 signatures.

Holly, in correspondence with Redbrick said: ‘We have contacted our local British Embassy here in the capital, Accra, and they were incredibly unhelpful. They told the commercial airlines to get us out and that we should follow their social media sites, which at the time had not been updated for five days.’

It has since been revealed that British Embassy staff have flown home, leaving Holly and many other stranded citizens with no means to travel home.

The Ghana Web reported that a commercial 78 British Airways flight was due to depart from Accra airport in Ghana on Monday the 30th of March. It is believed that the flight would have carried 360 British citizens back to the UK, however it was later cancelled.

British Airways have been cancelling scheduled flights back to the UK, with flights due to fly out on the 23rd ,26th ,30th, 1st of April all cancelled. 

Holly said that, as well as citizens facing cancellations, the flights are reportedly twice as much as they would usually be for a single flight to Ghana. 

There are currently no flights departing Ghana available for citizens to buy.

In response to the aim of the petition, Holly said to Redbrick: ‘We just want to get home, we are afraid and vulnerable, and no one is helping us or listening to us. We are reaching out so that all those stuck here in Ghana can have their voices heard.’ 

The Foreign Office has begun to contact Holly and her family. British Airways have booked a flight for them scheduled to leave Accra airport on the 3rd of May 2020. 

In an email sent to Holly and others, the Foreign Office said, ‘we are now gathering information to determine those British visitors who may need assistance returning to the UK.’ 

On Twitter, hundreds of tweets have been emerging from individuals in the same situation. 

The tweets share a mutual frustration and anxiety over the poor communication that British Airways customers feel they are receiving from the airline company.

According to the government website, ‘If you live in the UK and are currently travelling abroad, you are strongly advised to return now. Many airlines are suspending flights and many airports are closing, preventing flights from leaving’.

The US is currently in the process of taking measures to offer US citizens repatriation flights from Ghana.

Around 90, 000 British nationals visit Ghana annually. 

Holly’s petition can be found here.

In recent developments, Holly and her family have been offered repatriation flights by the Foreign Office. They have had to pay £500 each for the flights and hope to return home soon.