Winter Appeal: ‘I was told I could stay in the UK — then kicked out of my asylum accommodation’

The time Habib received his determination missive granting him exile presumption successful the UK was 1 of the happiest of his life. The 29-year-old had fled imminent threats to his beingness successful Afghanistan weeks earlier the Taliban seized powerfulness successful 2021, leaving down his large woman and daughter, and had endured a perilous four-month travel crossed Asia and Europe. He travelled successful trucks and walked crossed Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Austria, Germany and France. He was changeable astatine by borderline guards, arrested, imprisoned, released, suffered starvation and ate leaves successful a wood to survive, but yet helium got to the UK and claimed asylum.

He was housed by the Home Office successful cramped edifice rooms and shared accommodation wherever helium lived successful fearfulness of being deported to Rwanda. So when, aft 2 years, helium got the exile presumption determination missive granting him “permission to stay” successful the UK, it was a immense relief. He thought his worries were implicit and that helium could commencement to rebuild his beingness and nonstop for his woman and children. “It was a precise joyful moment,” helium said.

But a 2nd missive from the Home Office precipitated a caller crisis. Habib did not cognize it, but helium was owed to beryllium evicted, fixed 28 days to “move on” from his Home Office-supported accommodation. He had 2 options: get housed by the section authorization oregon rent privately. But councils, by statute, are lone obliged to effort to assistance wrong 56 days and backstage landlords would request a hefty rental deposit helium could not afford.

Habib said: “I begged the location manager wherever I was surviving to springiness maine much clip to find thing but helium said, ‘Sorry, time I alteration the locks.’ Even though cipher moved into my bedroom, they kicked maine out. I was stateless for six months, sleeping connected the level of a friend’s location successful London and erstwhile helium had guests I had to slumber successful the backmost of his car. I would locomotion down the thoroughfare successful tears. I was trying to get connected my feet but I was progressively distressed and successful a atrocious way.”

Newly recognised refugees similar Habib are among the fastest rising sub-group of stateless people, with section authorities successful England reporting a immense 253 per cent summation implicit 9 months successful exile households requiring homelessness enactment aft being “moved on” from Home Office accommodation. Ninety per cent of section authorities are affected, says the Local Government Association.

The concern successful which refugees are fixed 28 days’ announcement to permission asylum accommodation —officially known arsenic the “move-on period” — is wholly retired of sync with the 56 days wrong which section authorities assistance them find an alternative, truthful the strategy acceptable up to manus implicit refugees from Home Office work to that of section authorities is designed for failure. It results successful favoritism against refugees and intolerable unit connected councils. It has led to exile charities, stateless charities and section authorities calling for the move-on play to beryllium doubled, bringing it successful enactment with the modular 56 days mandated by the Homelessness Reduction Act for each different susceptible members of nine — specified arsenic children leaving attraction oregon radical facing eviction.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

£10 could supply a young idiosyncratic question to conscionable a wellbeing mentor and person a blistery meal

£50 could supply question to enactment oregon schoolhouse for a period for an at-risk youth

£150 could refurbish a motorcycle for an big exile giving them state to question independently

£500 could bid 10 radical with acquisition of homelessness to go stateless wellness advocates

£1,000 could alteration 1 of our partners to afloat enactment a young idiosyncratic passim the year

It is an entreaty that makes economical sense. Despite the further outgo to the Home Office of lodging radical for different 28 days, the wide savings to section authorities from reduced homelessness would effect successful nett yearly benefits to the UK of £4 million to £7 million, according to investigation by the London School of Economics and the British Red Cross.

Our telephone for alteration comes arsenic we denote a £460,000 donation from This Day Foundation and a £70,000 boost from the Standard’s Dispossessed Fund, which builds connected the £500,000 fixed by our entreaty spouse Comic Relief and takes the full magnitude raised by our entreaty successful conscionable 2 weeks to much than £1 million. The Comic Relief funds volition beryllium utilized to enactment charities that assistance refugees and radical experiencing homelessness, with This Day’s backing and the Dispossessed Fund donation directed exclusively to exile groups.

Gary Lubner, laminitis of This Day Foundation, said: “Coming from a household of refugees, with some sets of grandparents fleeing persecution successful eastbound Europe, I person fought against injustice and sought to springiness backmost successful the signifier of campaigning and philanthropy each my life. Growing up successful apartheid South Africa, I person seen first-hand however people’s futures tin beryllium constricted oregon destroyed by prejudice and a deficiency of opportunity. I judge successful fairness and equality and cognize good however damaging prejudicial attitudes to those who are antithetic tin be. I americium arrogant to enactment the Standard’s run to amended opportunities for those successful our nine who request it most.”

In Habib’s case, the request was so high: the assembly said helium was “low precedence arsenic a azygous male” and told him to “find a charity to help”. Like galore different recently recognised refugees facing homelessness, helium turned successful desperation to the Refugee Council, 1 of the organisations being supported by backing from This Day Foundation and by Comic Relief arsenic portion of our campaign. The assembly runs a Refugee Advice Project geared to enactment radical who person received exile presumption and who are transitioning from Home Office asylum enactment to mainstream support.

Gavriella Morris, elder lawsuit idiosyncratic connected the Refugee Advice Project, said: “The concern for recently recognised refugees is highly difficult. To person Home Office enactment during the asylum process, refugees indispensable person exhausted each their savings and astir of them are not allowed to work, truthful by the clip they are recognised arsenic refugees, they are surviving connected astir £8 a week and cannot remotely spend the deposit demanded by backstage landlords.”

She added: “Under existent legislation, councils are lone obliged to effort to relieve homelessness successful 56 days, whereas refugees are made stateless aft 28 days. And what’s more, the 28 days does not springiness them clip to get their Universal Credit claims processed, which typically takes astatine slightest 5 weeks, truthful they go destitute arsenic good arsenic homeless. It’s causing despair for precise susceptible radical aft a agelong ordeal astatine a clip erstwhile they should beryllium capable to observe their caller presumption successful the UK.”

Asked if the move-on play would beryllium reviewed, a authorities spokesperson for the Home Office said: “We person inherited tremendous pressures successful the asylum system, but we are moving to marque definite individuals person the enactment they request pursuing an asylum determination and to assistance section authorities amended program their assistance with homelessness.”

The London Standard besides spoke to masters postgraduate Hamida, 26, who was incapable to safely instrumentality to her autochthonal Afghanistan aft studying overseas and was made stateless soon aft receiving her exile presumption successful the UK. “The infinitesimal I got my status, I was overjoyed,” she said. “I kept speechmaking the determination missive implicit and over, saying, ‘I can’t judge it!’. All the loneliness, each the slump I had been done successful my 18-month hold for asylum, had paid off. I could imagination again.”

Hamida added: “Two weeks aboriginal I got a missive telling maine I had 28 days to permission the shared location wherever I lived and find a caller home. It came arsenic a shock. I was told the assembly would enactment maine up, but the assembly said they could not perchance bash it successful 28 days and erstwhile I tried renting privately, landlords demanded a deposit I could not afford. I had obscurity to go. I called tons of charities and went to a friend’s location successful London and asked to slumber connected the sofa for a fewer nights. I was fortunate to person that — galore refugees person cipher and extremity up connected the thoroughfare oregon spending nights trying to support lukewarm successful McDonald’s.”

Hamida turned to Refugees astatine Home, a foundation that connects refugees to radical with a spare room, which enactment her up for six months earlier she recovered thing much permanent. “Without them, I would person been connected the street,” she said. “I’m a postgraduate who conscionable had an connection to survey further from a apical London university, but adjacent I recovered the strategy incredibly hard to navigate. For galore refugees, being made stateless connected apical of everything other tin beryllium the past straw for their intelligence health.”

Sixty per cent of section authorities successful London accidental the 28-day move-on play for refugees has led to a emergence successful thoroughfare homelessness, according to the Local Government Association. And 84 per cent of councils said extending the move-on play to 56 days would beryllium the astir effectual mode of reducing unit connected stretched budgets and services.

For Habib, his homelessness saga lone ended aft six months erstwhile helium recovered a backstage landlord who would location him and the assembly agreed to wage the deposit and the rent. Now helium has a occupation moving with a solid institution and has bought himself a caller mattress. “For the archetypal clip successful years, I slumber and I consciousness good,” helium said. “I person my ain place. It’s a immense value disconnected my shoulders. A location is indispensable to statesman the rebuilding process.”

Habib’s woman urged him to permission Afghanistan to prevention his life. But helium worries astir her information and is hopeless to bring his household to the UK. He added: “Contact is hard due to the fact that women person nary rights successful Afghanistan and galore radical cannot person internet, truthful being successful interaction is hard. It’s been astir 4 years since I left. I miss them truthful much. My daughters are 4 and 3 and I person ne'er met my youngest one. My youngest girl tells her mother, ‘Everyone other has a begetter — wherever is mine?’.”

The names of Habib and Hamida person been changed