An unprecedented family reunion rescue flight is due to leave Athens, bringing 52 vulnerable migrants, including several minors, to join family in the UK. The flight on Monday is the result of intense efforts by refugee families in the UK with the support of campaign group Safe Passage and the peer Alf Dubs. It was organised with collaboration from the UK and Greek governments after direct flights between Greece and the UK were suspended in March. Family reunification is suspended across much of Europe, as borders have closed to stop the spread of Covid-19, but unusual efforts between the Home Office and the Greek government have allowed this flight to go ahead. Many of the individuals on the flight have been living for months in overcrowded and unsanitary refugee camps on the Greek islands. Ahmed, originally from Syria and now living in the north of England and studying at university, has worked nights for months while studying to get the money to support his younger brother Wahid. After months of waiting while their application was processed, Wahid was due to leave Samos in late March when his flight was cancelled. Ahmed told the Guardian: “He was packing as he found out, he was so disappointed. I phoned everybody I could think of to try to get him on a flight, I offered to pay myself. I had been renting him a room but he needed to leave it and I was so worried he would end up back in the terrible camp. “Apart from a few days when I flew to see him in Samos I haven’t properly been with him for five years, so we will just sit and talk. He wants to study and he wants to be able to start sports again once the lockdown ends. I just want my brother to be safe with me.” Those on the flight include people from Syria, Somalia and Afghanistan. Safe Passage told the Guardian that many have experienced severe ill-health and all have been in Greece for several months and in some cases years. One 18-year-old from Somalia who is joining his uncle in the UK has spent months living the the Moria camp on Lesbos, while a stateless boy originally from Kuwait is joining his brother after his lawyer overturned Home Office refusals of their family reunion claim. The families are travelling on the return leg of a repatriation flight that is bringing Greeks stranded in the UK home. Peers from both sides of the Lords in the UK worked together to persuade the Home Office to allow the flight to go ahead. Eirini Agapidaki, Greek special secretary for the protection of unaccompanied minors, told the Guardian Greece’s prime minister and minister for migration had worked with the UK Home Office as well as long-time campaigner for child refugees Lord Dubs to ensure the flight could go ahead. “It is with great pleasure that we announce the reunification of families to the UK during this pandemic,” she said. “Among these people are children that will finally be with their siblings, men and women to finally be reunited with their spouses,” she said. “It’s the collaborative teamwork that allows us to be effective in times of corona restrictions,” she said, “a legacy that we need to sustain not just at national but also at the EU level.” Dubs told the Guardian the transfer of these vulnerable people to the UK was a victory, but that Britain could do more to help children stranded in Greece. “We were very anxious that people should get here as soon as possible,” he said, “[so as] these 50 people, including quite a few children, join their families, that is a great thing and it’s a cause for celebration. “I hope it is only a start,” he added, “because there are other children who want to join their family in Britain under the Dublin III family reunion and there are other children who are in the Greek camps who may not have family here but also need to be helped to find safety.” The UK Home Office was criticised last month for refusing to take unaccompanied minors from the overcrowded camps. In April, Germany and Luxembourg took 49 and 12 unaccompanied child refugees respectively. Beth Gardiner-Smith, the CEO of Safe Passage, said: “The UK and Greek governments have shown real leadership in reuniting these families despite the travel difficulties and we now urge the UK and other countries across Europe to continue these efforts to ensure no one is left behind.”