Desperately Seeking Help for my Brother

[beppe]

Did you try to contact your Member of Parliament and through him the Department of Foreign Affairs and see if it is possible to bring your brother home on humanitarian grounds. I would suggest to get a letter from your doctor stating that your brother would be better taken care at home.

Al countries have emergency funds for repatriation of their nationals abroad in need. Embassy staff have limited power and not always go the extra mile.

Rules are rules, but they can be bent if need arises.

[Rosie1958]

Thank you so much for the advice Somebody and Beppe.

I do have a separate ground floor dining room in the house and was considering turning that temporarily into a bedroom for my brother if he needs it when he is discharged since there is also a downstairs cloakroom. That way it will give me a bit of breathing space to find the family a suitably adapted home should the need arise.

My brother’s partner is Filipina and she is very fluent in the English language, both written and verbally so that is a big help. She also has excellent secretarial skills which will help the family when it is time to seek employment.

I have also considered involving my local Member of Parliament who actually lives in the same village as me and is just around the corner but I thought that I would try the quicker route first and write direct to the Embassy and the Dutch company my brother was working for to request assistance. I wasn’t aware that there is an emergency fund, however, I will pursue this avenue if all else fails. I have to say that the consular office in both Malaysia and Philippines have been trying to help and have been very supportive but everything now rests on the department dealing with visas and acceptance of my brother at the UK hospital.

I have done as much as I can for now, completed all the forms, sent begging letters and messages and I am waiting for others to now act and do their bit. The hospital consultants from each country need to speak with each other and one is abroad until a week on Monday but hopefully after that, there will be some rapid action.
This has been a huge learning curve for me and although it has been a very distressing experience, I know that some good will come out of it. I have come across some truly helpful and lovely people on my quest, which includes those in this forum and I am very grateful for all your help and support.