‘We Need Help, We Are Dying Little by Little Here’: Asylum Seekers Cry Out After Home Office Did Something Unexpected

A mother seeking asylum in the UK has spoken about the difficult conditions her family is facing after the Home Office moved them from one hotel to another.

Huda, 41, came to Britain from Tunisia with her two children, aged 10 and 12. She said she fled Tunisia after receiving death threats from members of her extended family and is now waiting for the Home Office to decide her asylum claim.

For around six months, Huda and her children were living in two rooms at the Staycity hotel in London. But they were suddenly told they would have to leave within just a few days.

The move came as the government continued its plan to close asylum hotels across the country and move people into other types of accommodation, including military barracks and shared housing. The Home Office announced in June that 20 more asylum hotels would close after 11 had already been shut earlier in the year.

However, Huda’s situation was particularly difficult because her 12-year-old daughter has serious health problems. She uses a wheelchair and has epilepsy and a heart condition. Huda said she also has a large amount of medical equipment and supplies that are needed to care for her daughter.

On the day they were moved, Huda said the family waited in the hotel reception from around 10am until 7pm before transport arrived to take them to their new accommodation.

But when they reached the new hotel, Huda said the conditions were worse than before.

She said the room was extremely small and her daughter was frightened to sleep on the bunk bed, so she ended up sleeping on the floor. Huda also said there was nowhere for her to cook food for her children.

She described the family’s situation as extremely difficult, saying they felt as though they were “dying little by little” because of the conditions they were living in.

Huda also said caring for her daughter had become much harder. According to her, the room was so small that she sometimes had to change her daughter’s nappies in the corridor.

Another serious concern was her daughter’s medication. Huda said some of the medicine needed to be kept inside a fridge, but there was no fridge available in their new accommodation. She said this left her deeply worried about whether she could continue caring for her daughter safely.

Lawyers have now launched legal challenges over the way some asylum seekers were moved when hotels were closed.

A court order said it was arguable that the Home Secretary had failed to properly consider whether the new accommodation provided to some asylum seekers was suitable for their individual needs.

Solicitor Ralitsa Peykova criticised the way the moves were handled, saying some people were being transferred from one hotel to another without their personal circumstances being properly assessed first.

Huda was not the only person who complained about being moved with very little warning.

Another asylum seeker, Farhad, said he was given a Post-it note telling him he would be moved the following day, without being given a reason.

He also claimed that another person staying at the hotel was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer but was moved far away from the hospital where they were receiving treatment.

Farhad said he had experienced trafficking, torture and labour exploitation and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. He said being moved also took him away from the place where he had been receiving support for his mental health.

Another mother has also launched a legal challenge after she and her sons were told they would be moved hundreds of miles away to Aberdeen just two days before one of her sons was due to sit an important A-level exam. The family said the move caused serious distress and disrupted the boy’s education.

The Home Office defended its policy and said the government remained committed to closing every asylum hotel.

A spokesperson said work was already under way to move asylum seekers into more suitable accommodation. The Home Office also said the welfare of asylum seekers remained a priority and that officials would work with accommodation providers to consider additional needs and reduce disruption wherever possible.