JAKARTA: The people of East Timor excitedly welcomed Pope Francis on the streets of Dili on Monday, as he arrived for the first papal visit since the young country’s independence in 2002.

East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, is Francis’ penultimate stop on his four-nation tour of Asia. With around 97 percent of the population identifying as Catholic, the country of 1.3 million people has the second-largest Catholic population in the world, after the Vatican.

The 87-year-old pontiff was met at the airport by President Jose Manuel Ramos-Horta and a group of schoolchildren dressed in traditional outfits upon his livestreamed arrival. On his motorcade route into town, crowds waved Vatican and Timorese flags and toted yellow and white umbrellas — the colors of the Holy See — as they greeted the pope.

“We use this opportunity to show the world that even though we are one of the poorest countries (and) we still struggle … (the) Pope’s visit is one of our priorities,” Ross Merry da Gloria, a youth activist based in Dili, told Arab News.

She said she felt “very lucky and privileged,” to witness this papal visit, adding that many other Timorese traveled from other parts of the country to the capital for the occasion.

“With this visit, it’s like a faith booster for us,” Da Gloria said. “His visit gives us some hope for a better future.”

Francis’ visit came on the heels of the 25th anniversary of the UN-backed referendum that paved the way for East Timor’s independence from Indonesia.

He is the first pope to visit the country since then, following St. John Paul II’s trip in 1989.

The tiny Southeast Asian country has struggled with rebuilding its infrastructure and economy since independence. Some 42 percent of Timorese are living in poverty and around 47 percent of children under 5 years old are stunted because of malnutrition, according to UN and official data.

Afonso Corte Real, former advisor and chief of staff to former Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak, said Francis’ visit would have a positive impact on citizens as the country struggles with unemployment, malnutrition and education opportunities.

“It is really a positive moment for us, especially to boost the morale,” Real told Arab News.

Hundreds of thousands of Timorese are expected to attend an open-air Mass with the pope on Tuesday in Taci Tolu before he leaves for Singapore the next day.

“The celebration of the Solemn Mass in Taci Tolu will be a special moment of faith and unity for all Timorese,” the government said in a statement.

Krishna Chandra Aditya, a university student from Dili, is among those who will participate in the Mass with his family members.

“The family (and I are) very happy because this is the pope’s visit, once in our lives,” Aditya told Arab News.

“I hope the pope’s visit can go smoothly and peacefully.”

LONDON: The visa of an Afghan family hoping to be reunited with their 13-year-old son in the UK has been rejected by the Home Office.

In 2021, Ahmad, then aged 10, was brought to the UK during the evacuation from Afghanistan as the Taliban retook the country, The Guardian reported.

About 15,000 British nationals and eligible Afghans were transported from the country.

But Ahmad’s family remain in Afghanistan, and the 13-year-old’s father says his life is at risk over his past work for a company linked to the Western presence in the country.

Last year, they applied for a UK family reunion visa, which the Home Office rejected in June this year.

A letter sent to Ahmad’s father, seen by The Guardian, claims that the rejection would not breach the right to a family life.

“You have failed to show any exceptional dependency between you and your sponsor (Ahmad) … As such I am satisfied that this refusal has not breached your right to a family life,” the Home Office letter said.

It also claimed that the family were not at “exceptional” risk in Afghanistan, based on Ahmad’s father being able to obtain identity documents from Taliban government ministries.

Ahmad has been living with extended family since arriving in Britain and has started school.

His father told The Guardian: “My life is in danger because I worked with foreign forces … The decision from the Home Office made us very upset. We felt that we had the right this country would allow us to reunite with our child.

“It’s been for the past three years that we are missing one member of our family and his place is empty in our life, and that is our son.”

Now the family are being represented in a legal appeal by a pro bono initiative for Afghans.

The scheme is run by the refugee charities Safe Passage International and Refugee Legal Support.

Helena Cullen, Ahmad’s lawyer, said that the 13-year-old is one of about 80 children who were split from their family during Britain’s Afghanistan evacuation.

“This family was tragically separated during the chaos of Operation Pitting and have been fighting to reunite for the last three years, battling many hurdles just to get their family reunion application submitted,” she said.

A separated families visa route announced by the UK government in July may offer fresh hope for Ahmad’s family and others, she added.

Ahmad is reportedly depressed and suffering from deteriorating mental health, said Dr. Wanda Wyporska, CEO of Safe Passage International, citing the charity’s legal and safeguarding experts.

The boy’s aunt, whom he lives with in the UK, said that she was shocked by the Home Office’s decision.

“We all know that children need their parents, especially when they are this age.”

The Home Office said in a statement on the case: “All applications are carefully considered on their individual merits and in line with the immigration rules.”