• Submitted by: lena campos
• Society
• 12 / 11 / 2012

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The family of British man trapped in Cuba after travelling to the country to help his mother in the wake of Hurricane Sandy has issued a heartfelt appealed for his release.
Yoandry Depass and Leah Hall.

Yoandry Depass, who was born in Cuba but moved to the UK as a child, was stopped from leaving Havana a week ago when the Cuban authorities told him he did not have the right documents.

Leah Hall, his partner and mother of his child, said that on his way in Mr Depass was told by an immigration officials that “he would be all right” for this trip but should get a Cuban passport for any future travel to the country.

He was then stopped by officials attempting to leave on Dec 4 and return to his family in Mansfield.

Cuba does not recognise dual nationality and Mr Depass was required to have a Cuban passport to travel in and out of the country. He was unaware of those requirements when he arrived in on Nov 24 to visit his mother Oadalis, whose roof was blown off by the storm.

She said Mr Depass, who is universally known as Yogi, was staying in his mother's one-room shack living off basic rations with no shower or bath facilities” in Santiago de Cuba, a 12-hour bus ride from the capital Havana.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk