British aid worker stranded in Syria after citizenship is revoked

Tauqir Sharif, from north-east London, has called on the UK government to review policies for aid workers in conflict zones

Tauqir Sharif and his wife Racquell Hayden-Best live in the Idlib province in Syria. AFP

A British aid worker has criticised the UK government’s decision to revoke his citizenship and claims his family is stuck in Syria.

Tauqir Sharif, 31, from Walthamstow, north-east London, lives and works in Idlib with his wife, Racquell Hayden-Best, The Guardian reported.

Mr Sharif’s British citizenship was revoked in May 2017 by then Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

Mr Sharif has called on the UK government to review its citizenship policies for humanitarian aid workers in conflict zones.

He said that the government made no distinction between aid workers or doctors in war-torn countries and militants.

Mr Sharif founded Live Updates from Syria in 2012, an organisation that provides support for families in the country and raises awareness about the conflict.

"Our job is to help those in need," Mr Sharif told The Guardian. "I have friends here who are doctors, British expats.

"Whoever comes into a hospital, whether ISIS or a supporter of Bashar [Al Assad, President of Syria], they will treat them because they are trying to save lives.

"We are different. We are trying to help the people who are displaced, ordinary Syrians – women, children, orphans.”