Refugees left sleeping around train stations to meet Sunak’s backlog pledge

The Home Office turfed a refugee out onto the street with two hours’ notice, leaving him to sleep in Paddington station for a week while surviving on coffee and biscuits.

Another man who had been granted asylum had to sleep rough outside another train station having fled Iraq because of the risk of homophobic violence.

Saeed and Samir were among refugees abandoned on Britain’s streets as the government tried desperately to fulfil Rishi Sunak’s pledge to clear the asylum backlog, openDemocracy has learnt.

The Home Office has been abruptly forcing people out of temporary accommodation without enough time to find somewhere to live. Charities said the number of homeless refugees coming to them had jumped after the Home Office cut the time it gave successful asylum applicants to secure a home.

Saeed, a 25-year-old from Yemen who asked us not to use his surname, told openDemocracy he was threatened by police and evicted from the hotel where he was staying with a knock at the door.

After waiting over two years for a decision from the Home Office, Saeed was granted refugee status at the end of October. But he wasn’t notified of the decision until mid-November when his biometric residence permit arrived.

A day later, despite having barely processed the news of his status, he got a knock on his door from a member of reception staff and a security worker telling him he needed to leave the hotel or else they’d call the police.  

“I’m a peaceful person,” he told openDemocracy. “I don’t know all the rules here. I just got my status and I didn’t want a problem with the police because my experience in the Middle East with the police wasn’t very good. I was scared.”

After convincing the hotel to give him two hours to pack his belongings, he left and made his way to the west London train station where he lived for a week.

“I was terrified, I was cold, and I was hungry. Cheap black filter coffee and some biscuits was my meal every day. I tried to eat at night before sleeping because I didn’t want to sleep hungry,” he said.

Sara Nathan, a co-founder of Refugees at Home – a charity that connects refugees and asylum seekers with hosts – said: “It’s outrageous… He had no notice at all.”

Nathan, who is currently hosting Saeed, told openDemocracy: “He was worried that, if the police came, his ‘leave to remain’ refugee status would be revoked. Of course, that’s not true. But how would he know that’s not true? He wouldn’t know. If you think you’ve struggled for two and a half years for refugee status, and that if the police come you’re going to lose it, you would leave.”

Until recently, it was Home Office policy that anyone granted refugee status in the UK would be given 28 days to quit the temporary accommodation provided to them. 

The notice period would typically begin from the moment that refugees received their biometric residence permit, an identity document without which they cannot demonstrate their right to work, rent a home, or even open a bank account. The Red Cross have previously said that isn’t enough time for refugees to move onto mainstream benefits or find somewhere new to live.

But in July the Home Office changed its guidance so that refugees are instead given 28 days’ notice from the moment their asylum claim is granted, effectively shortening the time they are given.

A 28-year-old refugee told openDemocracy that he had to sleep rough outside a train station in Colchester because of the Home Office’s policy change.

Samir, who did not want to give his real name, said he fled Iraq in 2014 because he feared he would be killed by ISIS if they discovered he was gay. He said he could not return to the country because his family does not accept his sexuality. LGBTQ people in Iraq have been executed by ISIS and routinely face violence from police and armed groups, according to a 2022 report by Human Rights Watch.

Samir told Colchester Borough Council he was at risk of homelessness in late September. He described the council as “merciless” because it refused to offer him emergency housing even when he provided a letter from a GP describing his mental health condition. 

Councils have a legal duty to provide emergency housing to those who can show they are particularly vulnerable for reasons including health conditions. Colm McDonald, who works at a local charity, Refugee, Asylum Seeker & Migrant Action (RAMA), said decisions were “arbitrary” and likely dependent on capacity.

“I had someone who was blind in one eye and still didn’t get priority from the council,” he said.

“Just yesterday, I booked a council appointment for someone and there was a question on the form asking if they are going to be made homeless in the next 56 days. I ticked ‘yes’ but the council still gave me an appointment in 76 days’ time,” said McDonald.

A spokesperson for Colchester Borough Homes said, "Like all local authorities, our assessments are made following the government's homelessness code of guidance. Each application is considered based on the information available, and enquiries made to ascertain eligibility. Regardless of priority need consideration, our staff will provide advice and assistance to prevent or relieve homelessness, including claiming benefits and accessing local accommodation."

The council told Samir he would have to find a place to rent himself. “I tried to follow the advice from the council but I struggled to find anyone who would rent to me because I’m looking for a job,” he said.

Samir wrote to his MP Will Quince, a former Conservative minister, out of desperation. A case worker contacted the council on behalf of the MP and later forwarded a response, seen by openDemocracy, to Samir. The council said they did not consider Samir’s mental health condition a priority need and suggested he look for places to rent outside Colchester.

Samir said he received his biometric residence permit on 5 October, but only received a letter explaining he would be evicted on 20 October – giving less than two weeks’ notice. Despite applying for Universal Credit as soon as he could, Samir only received the first payment the day before he was forced to leave his accommodation.

RAMA was able to find Samir a place at a night shelter in Colchester where he has been sleeping since November. McDonald said since July, the charity has helped 200 people find somewhere to live and that they are being approached by two homeless refugees a day on average.

Homelessness among asylum seekers recently granted refugee status tripled between August and October compared to the same period the previous year, according to statistics obtained by the Big Issue.

Sunak claimed yesterday that he delivered on one of his pledges to clear the “legacy backlog” of asylum cases by the end of last year. But the government’s own figures show there are still more than 4,500 cases in that backlog.

Nathan said, although she was pleased the Home Office was clearing its backlog quicker, “if you then turf them out so quickly, you’re just making a homelessness problem”.

“A lot of [charities] have just completely closed their doors because they’re completely overwhelmed,” she added.

In late December, the Home Office quietly reversed its eviction policy, though McDonald said it had not yet led to a decrease in homelessness numbers.

The Home Office did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for Colchester Borough Homes said: "We are concerned about the Home Office policy that leads to refugees being evicted, often at short notice, and the unprecedented strain this poses to our local community.

“Across the country, high numbers of refugees are being evicted after being granted the right to live in the UK. We understand that more than 400 households have or will be in this position in Colchester.

“Our Housing Solutions and homelessness services are already under immense pressure, with around 3,000 people on the local Gateway to Homechoice housing register and more than 320 households living in temporary accommodation, where families typically stay for around four years."