Migrant Voice

Yasin's story. 'We will kill you if you don't come to lunch.'

Photo: Copyright Isabelle Merminod

“I am 17 years old. I left Somalia in May 2011. I am now in Lutsk Detention Centre in Ukraine. I have been given 12 months in detention for no reason. I was captured on 23rd December 2011.”

Yasin Abdi Ahmed is a young man seeking political asylum in Ukraine.

His family is over 3,500 miles away. Yasin has been on hunger strike with 83 other Somalis in 2 detention centres, Lutsk and Chernigiv in Ukraine since 6th January. He tells his story to Isabelle Merminod and Tim Baster.

“I passed through Russia. I came to Vinnitsya because there are lots of Somalis in Vinnitsya. I stayed with 7 Somalis in two rooms. 3 girls and 4 boys.

And then I tried to claim asylum in Ukraine. Every day for six days I go to the Immigration and they say that it is closed or they are waiting for an interpreter. I went to the UNHCR twice and they said to me that if I want help from the UNHCR then I must get rejection from the Immigration. At the Immigration, they asked me to pay $150 to make an asylum claim. I said to them 'I don't have $150.' So I could not register.

I came back to my house and, because I had no documents, I hid from the police so I would not be arrested. After one and half months at 5:00am 4 policemen knocked down the two doors and then entered the home. They said that we must give them money or they would arrest us. They body- searched everyone including the girls. We had $350 to live on. They did the search to take the money. It is a common practice. Then they took us to prison in Vinnitsya.

I then faced the Ukrainian justice system along with 38 others who had also been arrested at that time. 14 had enough money to pay off the police. That left 24 Somalis in prison. We stayed in the prison until 10:00pm that night and we were then transferred to the court. There was no judge to hear the cases. And of course we had no lawyers. Nor could we talk to anyone as our mobiles had been confiscated by the police. After a three hour wait a judge arrived. It was then 1:00am in the morning.

I said 'I want a lawyer.' He said, 'You have no money to pay a lawyer.' I said 'I have.' He said 'You have no right to a lawyer.' The judge asked me to sign something and I refused. He signed it himself. Then they ordered me to stand and he said 'You have 12 months.' We all stood one after another. After that I was taken to a prison in Vinnitsya for three hours and then to Lutsk detention centre. I was in front of the judge for about 3 minutes.

When I was captured they asked my name and my age. And again they asked me when I was in prison. They never asked if I wanted to claim political asylum. I did not ask the judge as I had only a few minutes before him.

At the beginning of February, the riot police came into Lutsk detention centre and threatened all the hunger strikers saying if we did not eat we would be beaten. It was terrifying. Eight of them came to me. I did not know that they were police who had the right to come in. They had masks, big boots, sticks, tear gas and pistols – two of them had guns. I was shocked. I have never seen police – in Somalia we don't have a Government. They said 'Stand up'. They searched me and they kicked me. And they said 'We will kill you if you don't come to lunch.' The other person in the room was Pakistani and he spoke a bit of English and Russian and he translated. They took me to the dining room and they made a film of us. After 10 or 15 minutes they took me to my room and they left.

I have a feeling of being kidnapped by the Ukrainian authorities. I fled to seek refuge, I am hopeless and I am sick. I have a kidney problem which is getting worse, I have an infection. But they asked me for money to send me to hospital. But I have no money. They give me paracetamol.”

The hunger strike of 83 Somalis in Lutsk and Chernigiv detention centres started on 6th January. It carries on.

(The name has been changed to protect this asylum seeker)
Being an Asylum Seeker in Britain – a first hand account

By Howard Ndlovu

This is the story of my life as someone seeking asylum from Zimbabwe in the UK.

When the European powers, including UK, partitioned African kingdoms in the 19th Century, they took little account of tribal regions and drew borders which led to tribal conflicts and violence, because people found themselves living as minorities within these enclosures.

Since independence, Zimbabwe has seen violations of the human rights of minority ethnic groups. Many of my family members have been forced to live on infertile land and most have been pushed into seeking asylum. I have always been subjected to acts of deliberate discrimination. Having run away from the regime in my country I came to seek temporal shelter and protection in the UK, only to find myself struggling with the asylum process.

It is a challenge for many asylum seekers to get quality and affordable legal advice. As a result, I often feel very low; it is terrible to have people constantly question the authenticity of your actions. A document we are expected to produce every time we visit the Home Office in Solihull states that as an asylum seeker ‘you are liable for detention at any given time’. As a result I suffer from anxiety, insomnia, and depression.

As a refused asylum seeker I get £35 pounds per week. This is to cover food, clothing and credit to make appointments with my solicitors and the Home Office. Those of us on Section 4 support receive vouchers redeemable only in supermarkets. These vouchers do not adequately provide for basic living needs. You cannot purchase any form of travel ticket, since the vouchers can’t be transferred to cash. Some of my appointments to do with my asylum application are as far as Liverpool, and I live in Birmingham.

At one point in the asylum process, I ended up sleeping in a graveyard. Immigration letters in brown envelopes laid strewn in between my clothes. Piles of rubbish had been thrown through the railings by passers-by. As a result of the rubbish everywhere I had rat and fox problems at night. During the day I used to spend most of my time pacing from one spot to another, afraid to loiter too long, worried that people may think I was a criminal. I did not beg, despite the fact that living without any money naturally causes logistical problems. I lived on food from the dustbins before I knew that the Red Cross could help me with a weekly £10 voucher. But even with this amount, I would walk through the many aisles of the vast supermarket, searching for discounted sliced bread and four small tins of baked beans. I did not own a tin opener, but a nearby café owner usually agreed to lend me one.

I am not here illegally; I have been through all the correct legal hoops, registering my presence with the Home Office, abiding by the rule not to work, determined not to break the law, even if that means surviving in a gutter on charity handouts. The majority of asylum seekers are law-abiding citizens who have followed the legal channels. The extreme reluctance of the Home Office to allow us to work creates unnecessary dependency and contributes to popular myths of ‘asylum scroungers’. Being an asylum seeker in the UK is a very isolating process.

I am in a state of great hardship, deprived and overwhelmed with urgency and agitation about what is going to happen next. Where should I go now? What should I do next? Will I ever be free? Even assuming that someone said that from now on I was free, it would not be easy to suddenly drop the chains I’ve dragged for the 42 years of my life. To begin with, I would have to learn how to live as a free man.

Howard Ndlovu has spent five years struggling to stay in Britain. Since he wrote this article, he has been granted indefinite leave to remain. Migrant Voice caught up with him to ask him how he is getting on.

It has been a difficult process up until now, but at least I can try to start life again. I was a self-taught musician before, playing keyboards, and DJ'ing and maybe I will do that again one day. But for now I am working and trying to save up a little bit to start up a small business.

Over the last few years, Howard has been getting to know the community in the area where he lives and he tries to get people involved in the local history of the area. He is also working on plans for keeping alive the history of his own ethnic group and the knowledge of them here and in Zimbabwe.
A day in the life of a migrant - Borys' story

Article and photo by: Nishit Morsawala

“I ended up as a migrant quite by accident,” smiles Borys Baran.

“I had come here on holiday four years ago to visit my cousin for a couple of weeks, and just ended up staying after that. I remember calling up my parents and saying ‘yeah I’m not coming home as early as expected….”

Borys is part of the staff at the Portobello Road branch of the acclaimed Gail’s Bakery, where he works with a host of other migrants in the UK – in fact, the only non-migrant is their manager Martin.

“It’s interesting, seeing how we all fill the gaps in so many job sectors here – it says enough that all my colleagues at the café are migrants.”

A typical day for the 25-year-old Pole means coming to work a little before 7am, when he starts his shift, and finally finishing at 2pm. At other days, he works the same eight-hour shift from around one or two o’clock in the afternoon till the café closes.

Although for Borys working as a migrant in the UK is not just about the money. He holds a degree in administration from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland, is fluent in English, and also wants to do a Master’s degree further on. If confronted with either a job that pays more or a one that has a lesser salary but is more connected to what he wants to do, he would rather choose that job that best allows him to follow his passion.

The Polish community in London now numbers 555,000, larger than the Irish (353,000) and the Indian (327,000) communities.

“Five years ago, there was a point where I would hear Polish everywhere, though it’s become a lot more mixed now than it was before.”

“It’s not as if I lead a different life as a migrant –I enjoy rollerblading, reading books, going to the pub and having a fun time with my friends once in a while…honestly I like to things that any other Londoner would.”

However, Borys does not think that most Poles come to London to eventually settle down. He knows many of his countrymen who have bought or built houses in their hometown with their earnings in the UK, or have come here to get a better idea of what it is like to work in an international city.

“I came here to tap into the opportunities available here to work globally…you can’t really do that if you stay confined to your home country.”

Borys also plans on going to his home in Walbrzych in a month, saying he’ll miss London’s “multicultural character”.

He plans on staying in Poland for the next two or three years, though he might return if the economic situation in his country worsens.

“Life in London is easier in some ways…there’s a lot more that you can do with your disposable income, and what you can buy has a better connection to what you actually earn than in Poland where the tax rate on certain items is as high as 45 per cent.”

He does however have advice for migrants who do plan on coming to work in the UK, as he was made aware of some harsh truths while leading his life here.

“It’s not a fairy-tale life that you lead when you come here. There is a lot of work to be done, and you may not always get to do what you want, or even have the time to. Beyond a point, you need to hide your ambitions in your pockets until the next big opportuinity,” winks Borys.
Following my passion

For Riccardo Moretti, a typical day at work might involve many things – from firefighting and motocross racing to selling cheese and salami at a farmer’s market. Add a little bit of studying economics and a rigorous swimming regime, and you begin to understand what drives this 27-year-old Italian migrant.

“I always follow my passion, but right now I need to go forward with my life, and I’ll do as much as I can for that to happen,” says Riccardo.

Riccardo has been coming to London for the past two years to work in the catering sector, though only for six months at a time. While he’s usually in London from January to June, he spends the remaining six months back home in Milan, Italy, where he works as a firefighter.

“My contract only allows me to work for a six month stretch every year, but I plan on applying for national recruitment, where I’ll be able to work all over Italy throughout the year.”

When he’s not firefighting or, at least until a few years ago, motocross racing, the Surbiton resident spends his time in London working at market stalls and cafes. This year, he worked two jobs at Costa Coffee and Paul’s Bakery, and also working at an Italian farmer’s market stall on the weekends.

“I like to keep myself busy. I always need to do something, and on the occasion I’m not working I like to go out with my friends – London is a fun place to be that way.”

Motocross racing, a passion he inherited from his father, was something he had to leave behind in the economic crisis that affected the sport in 2007-2008. When most of his sponsors backed out, he left the sport where he was a minor celebrity in Italy to devote his energies to being a firefighter, which he had already applied for before he quit racing..

“I did try to apply for a firefighting position here in London – I think I was the only migrant who did – but for some reason my form didn’t even pass the initial acceptance stage,” he says ruefully.

For Riccardo, that hardly means he’s going to stop following his dreams. Some of his friends are studying at one of London’s best business schools, and he spends as much time as he can studying finance and economics by himself.

“I buy their books when they’re finished with them and study as much as I can by myself – I can’t apply for a course myself as it’s much too expensive,” says Riccardo, who’s previous academic expertise is that of a surveyor.

Firefighting, racing, vending, studying, the list goes on for a man who still thinks he has a long way to go until he achieves success- and he’s more than ready for the journey.

He does, however have a piece of advice for fellow Italians who want to cross the channel for a better life: “If you like to make an effort, keep yourself busy, and be recognised for your work, then you should definitely come here. London is a city where you can realise your dreams, if you work hard enough”

Photo source: Riccardo Moretti
All in a day's work

Article by Nishit Morsawala

Jobs taken up by migrants in London are no threat to British applicants, as we have found.

Martin Barnett cannot imagine how London would function if it weren’t for migrants filling up short-staffed sectors.

“It would be extremely difficult for me to fill vacant positions where I work if it weren’t for migrant applicants.”

Barnett, 33, is store manager at the Portobello Road branch of Gail’s Bakery, where the staff is made up of nationalities as diverse as Poland to Brazil.

“Honestly, when we put out advertisements for empty positions we hardly get any British applicants, almost everybody who applies is a migrant.”

According to Barnett, the reason for the low levels of British applicants in service sector jobs is that the general perception of them is not very favourable. Most British people would tend to view the jobs as “too low-paying” and “not worth their time” deeming it as a career not worthy of respect.

This reality is in stark contrast to the attitude of the British public and coalition government, who perceive increased immigration as a direct cause to higher unemployment and lowered wages for the local population.

Recent tabloid reports have alleged that migrants have claimed 90 per cent of ‘new jobs’, with only 10 per cent granted to British people.

However, the term ‘new jobs’ has been debunked by critics of the statistic as being “too vague”. Fears are based on the perception that there are only a fixed number of jobs available at any one time, though most economic experts would agree that the number of jobs available is not static, and is subject to a host of economic conditions.

Conversely, according to the Labour Force Survey around 85 per cent of ‘new hires’ last year went to people who were born here, while 15 per cent went to those born abroad.

Barnett’s view that migrants work in sectors that would otherwise be incredibly short-staffed if left to British workers is reflected in statistics. Migrants fill 69 per cent of jobs in London’s cleaning and catering sectors, while 56 per cent of care assistants are migrant workers. Additionally, one in four doctors and two in four nurses were born abroad.

Local population are especially fearful of losing out to migrants who supposedly snap up jobs while willing to work for lower wages, thus affecting the amount British workers could earn.

David Frost, on his final day as director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, however denied that overseas employees got jobs because they were prepared to work for low wages, but because they had a stronger work ethic.

“I work with many migrants and natives. I have a very high regard for migrant workers, as they really seem to understand the value of work,” said Roland Sylvester who works at the Prince Albert, a pub in Battersea.

“You know you can depend on a migrant worker to have a good work ethic - they get the job done, sometimes better than native workers. Culturally, they bring their own distinct ways of life to work - I work with men from Poland, Hungary, Egypt, Australia, Italy, Argentina…I think this enriches the work experience, from my own point of view, as you can learn so much more from peoples that have travelled from far-flung places.”

The government, however, aims to cut immigration to "tens of thousands" by 2015, although economists have predicted that decreasing the UK’s recruitment of skilled workers could reduce UK output by as much as £2 - £4 billion by 2015.

Photo by Louise Sweet

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