Refugees like me are sick of being told we’re not welcome

When I first arrived in the UK from Syria at the age of 21 in 2022, I was forced to stay for over 18 months in a ‘hotel room’ that was regularly attacked by far-right protestors who, on one notable occasion during the 2024 riots, tried to set it on fire.

The condition of the ‘hotel’ was disastrous. At best, it felt like a very good prison. It was isolated – an hour and half away from the nearest city – and we were only given £8 a week to navigate life.

There was an eight-hour wait on the phone, which was the only way we could get any support, as well as regular issues with staff who seemed unsuitable for the job.

Whenever you went out for a breather, there was tension in the air. I heard stories from other hotel residents about people outside shouting slurs at them. 

When I was finally granted refugee status, I was given only 28 days by Home Office officials to sort out my housing and basic needs, which involved navigating complex bureaucracy, underfunded local authorities, and the charity sector. 

I moved here because I wanted to build a better and safer life and to support my family, away from a region destabilised by seemingly relentless war and violence. Now my taxes are funding this same cycle as the UK government actively participates in American and Israeli aggression in the region, risking more forced displacement. 

The conditions in the UK asylum system are physically and mentally retraumatising, targeting victims of oppression where it hurts the most. There are even people in my social circle who have taken their own lives while trying to navigate the hostile barriers that the government put in place.  

Everyone, not least myself and my colleagues at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) agree that the whole process of dealing with refugees has to change.  

But yesterday, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood went in the wrong direction – announcing plans to plough forward with an agenda that will further undermine our human rights.

Under new rules, the status of every refugee is deemed temporary, and an individual’s status is subject to checks every 30 months, down from the current five-year timeline.

Should a claimant’s home country be deemed safe, they will be required to return.  

The move is disappointing – and for those affected, life-changing – but it’s hardly surprising.  

Because, despite being outflanked from the left politically by the Greens, Labour seem determined to double down on right-wing messaging when it comes to immigration.  

People seeking asylum and other immigrants we work with only hear one message from this government – you are not welcome.

In enforcing temporary refugee status for all asylum seekers, the Home Office is not only making this process as difficult as possible to deter people coming to the UK,  but intentionally excluding and alienating them – tearing at the fabric of our communities.  

Imagine coming to the UK as a child, fleeing war, the destruction of your home, witnessing the deaths of your friends, and family, to arrive in a new country where you barely speak the language and may not know anyone.  

Imagine rebuilding your life, going to school, making friends, getting to know your neighbours and regaining some sort of certainty, only to be constantly worried that your parents – and by extension you – could risk being deported if you don’t return to your country of origin in two and a half years’ time.

This is the cruelty and the inhumanity of the system that Shabana Mahmood is implementing – without a parliamentary vote. 

After a gruelling and complicated process, I finally gained refugee status. Were I to arrive in the UK today, I’d be subject to the government’s destabilising new rules.  

Now, many of our friends and clients at JCWI and elsewhere in our community will live in continuous fear of deportation and displacement, with no opportunity to make life plans or career and personal choices.

For refugees fleeing war, persecution, and climate breakdown, the situation is heartbreakingly inhumane. It can already take people months or even more than a year to get their refugee status and start their life again.  

While they are denied access to work and forced to live on scraps, the government is planning to make their situation even more precarious.   

People seeking safety will have to relive the traumatic application cycle every two and a half years, all the while risking attack from far-right extremists.

The government seeks to make life difficult for the most vulnerable people in our communities, forcing them into an indefinite cycle of precarity, poverty and distress for potentially decades awaiting permanent status.  

To us, it seems like the government doesn’t think refugees have an equal right to stability and autonomy.  

And the Home Secretary is more than happy to gamble with their futures in an apparent bid to appeal to voters currently backing Reform.

We agree the UK’s asylum system is not fit for purpose, but we can’t accept that the solution is to make things even harder for refugees.  

The Gorton and Denton by-election, comfortably won by the Green Party, shows that the public can be persuaded to support a positive message of hope and compassion towards migrants, coupled with a serious policy programme to address unemployment, the cost-of-living crisis, health and housing inequalities. 

And now, rather than demonise refugees, we need to grant lawful status to undocumented migrants, allow people seeking safety to use the same routes as everyone else to cross the Channel, and we need to give all of those claiming asylum a permanent home here in the UK. 

Many countries, including the UK, around the world have welcomed people fleeing war, turmoil, persecution, climate violence and environmental disasters, making the necessary changes to their legal and protection frameworks. 

Refugees are not less deserving of permanent settlement, a safe home, and the stability to build our lives, relationships and communities – it is a basic human right that we must protect and extend for everyone.  

For my part, I will never understand why Shabana Mahmood appears to want to create even more suffering and uncertainty for refugees. 

However, I try to remain hopeful by advocating for people at the sharp end of the UK’s hostile immigration regime and researching ways to build a system that is fit for our changing world – one that gives dignity and justice to everyone.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

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