My story...
This is for those who need encouragement and hope in times of sorrow and despair. People whose lives will never be the same, as they have fled their countries, homes and families in search of a right to life. Those who cry themselves to sleep every night and wonder if the sun will ever rise in their dark worlds. Men and women who have nightmare infested dreams as they re-live the horrors they have been put through. Expectant mothers who are alone and without help or medical attention, women forced to give birth in horrible conditions alone in a country so developed. People who have tried to move on and have started re-building their lives and those who have won the battle of the mind.
Back in 1998, a new week was born into a calendar and every year since, organisations, charities and individuals take part in this week. This is Refugee Week – where others dedicate their time and resources to remember those who have lost everything and sought refuge in Great Britain. A week to share solidarity with those whose lives will never be the same and to raise awareness for those who are quick to judge negatively, to shed light into the true meaning of a refugee or asylum seeker, to share the stories that turned strong respectable people in their societies into beggars and a life in limbo.
A refugee, according to the 1951 Geneva Convention is a person who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country…" (Article 1, The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees) Having defined a refugee it becomes clear that no one chooses to be a refugee or chooses to leave all they have ever known and venture into the unknown. Its hard enough to leave home and live on our own in the same city as our parents yet these people have had to leave their countries, homes and families and move thousands of miles away to save their very lives. My life is similar in many ways and many will relate to what I too have gone through.
Being a refugee myself, I started where everybody else started – as an asylum seeker. The name hated by most people and has been associated with crime, disease and sponging the system of benefits. For those who do not know, asylum seekers are not permitted to undertake any paid employment until their cases have been decided in their favour. I understand, as many people go with what they hear and think and care less to get the truth. All of us can never be perfect and I cannot speak for everyone but I do know, that the majority of people here did not choose to be refugees or asylum seekers, they fled persecution for many reasons and many are scarred for life including myself. My only wish is that we be looked upon as human beings and not creatures and be treated as such and allowed to heal.
It took nearly two years for me to get an initial hearing, which was a screening interview. This is where you got asked how you came into the country. I was specifically asked what number my flight was. Then I had been in the country over a year and was expected to know my flight number and luckily I did but how many other people even take note of their flight numbers? After the screening interview came the substantial interview, which resulted in my claim being refused through a standard letter that seemed to get sent to everyone. There was no indication in the letter that my case had been dealt with on its own merit, as there was no mention of my individual case. I am one of the lucky few that comes from English speaking countries and I was able to fight back in my own words. I sought refuge here after I dared to stand up to a diabolic government, a government that killed its own people and practised no democracy. You see, once in my past life, I was a mother to a beautiful little girl whose life was ruthlessly and brutally taken from her and I was forced to watch this horrendous deed. This was intended to hurt me but this went beyond hurting, it ripped my heart out. I dared to fight for justice only to end up fleeing all I had known and loved and come here where a friend had sponsored my flight.
During my time as an asylum seeker, the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) did not house me instead I found people that opened their hearts and homes to me. I received £28.00 a week for my clothing, food and general support. Having come from a warm country, I was not accustomed to the cold weather and did not have suitable clothing. Like many in my situation, we turned to charity shops and there we clothed ourselves and in some cases had to forgo food and live on bread, rice and baked beans in order to save up for a warmer clothing.
However, somewhere along the line the support stopped for two and a half months and that time I was reduced to begging for handouts and was sometimes too ashamed to ask and suffered in silence. The nights dragged and I wondered if I had made the right decision to flee as I felt at that moment in time, that death was more comfortable than life. Many people who knew of my plight offered help without me asking and others supported me in many other ways. I have never known such despair; despair so deep that in comparison to death, death was a better alternative. I come from a Christian family and have been brought up to believe and have faith in God. My faith and belief wavered and finally failed as the days turned into weeks and eventually years. I cried myself to sleep over things I had no control over and grieved for my baby, grief that had been bottled for too long in the hope of staying strong. I cried for family that would have understood and comforted me, my mother who had laboured during my birth and now wondered how I was.
The media had frenzy in those days; there was no other news except how asylum seekers had destroyed the country and how they got Victorian houses with brand new TVs, mobile phones and all brand new furniture. No one sought evidence and once again we faced the very persecution we had fled from – only this time it was caused by sheer ignorance. No one was willing to shed any light into the real plight of these so called asylum seekers. No one wanted to know how we went to bed without food and how we used plain water with no soap to bath. It sold papers and raised profits to fuel and ignite resentment against people who spoke English with an accent and were not Caucasian as they were automatically labelled asylum seekers. The media played havoc in our lives and took part in segregating and destabilising the communities in which we lived using these reported and mostly unfounded assumptions about us. Some political parties and politicians used asylum seekers and refugees negatively to increase their political mileage and also incited hatred and prejudice in local communities. People entrusted with our livelihoods, abused their powers in detention centres and racially and physically abused those who were in detention.
The government has since decided that the only way to get rid of failed asylum seekers is to deny them support. They sleep rough in the streets and beg for food, some expectant mothers give birth alone with no pre or post medical care. Their young children are suffering from malnutrition in a country where bins are full to the brim with unwanted food. Some have been admitted into psychiatric hospitals due to the psychological effects of their situations while others have attempted suicide. Some are afraid of approaching any groups or individuals for help for fear of being handed over for deportation or detention while don’t because they feel humiliated by their situations. They live in a vicious circle of fear that does not let up.
I am not blaming anybody for our predicament as asylum seekers and refugees; I am only asking that people see things from a different angle and not just from the media or politician’s view point. These groups both have something to gain; the media has sales and profits to make while the politician is hoping for a big break in politics. The asylum seeker needs to gain more than profits and a lucrative career; they want to gain a life free from fear of persecution. The refugee suffers from lack of confidence and seeks understanding and encouragement.
This is refugee week, let us put our differences aside and learn from each other. It is a week to learn and open our hearts to the changes taking place around us. This week let us reflect on what it means for those thousands of human beings who have their lives in limbo indefinitely, unable to plan how they will spend their lives and worrying about what will happen to them. This week let us remember the victims of all types of torture and persecution and their helpers and how we can be of help to either. For those newspapers that once had a field day on asylum seekers, maybe its time to give back by reporting positively and realistically and checking the essence of your reports with those concerned or the dedicated groups and organisations that know deeper than the surface.
My gratitude goes to those individuals and newspapers that have embraced these foreign people and have helped them rebuild their confidence and their lives. Organisations such as the Refugee Council, Refugee Legal Centre, Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), church organisations and numerous other charities and individuals who fight for refugees and asylum seekers, I thank you on behalf of many whom you have seen through and many whom you have taken under your charitable wings.
For those willing to learn more about refugees and asylum seekers and help in any way, please visit the following sites amongst others.
www.unhcr.org.uk
www.refugeecouncil.org.uk
www.icrc.org
http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/freedom-from-fear
www.icar.org.uk
www.refugee-action.org.uk
www.jcwi.org.uk
Sehlile Mpofu came to Leeds after fleeing persecution in Zimbabwe. She is a travel adviser, a writer, a wife and a mother.
Comments
1) In search of sanctuary
Distances describe their determination
Beyond boundaries they seek safety
Their pathways darkened with doom
At the foot of frozen glacier they breathe fire
Some swallowed by sea currents
Others starve whilst their longing for life fade
Their lives anchored at the verge of loss
Like flipped coin assurance is unlikely
Refugee remained a prolonged journey of conflict
2) That's very moving. Well done for posting your story. I hope lots of people read it, especially those whose view of asylum seekers is based on the lies and misrepresentations of so much of the media.
3)Your story is very inspiring. Also many congratulations on the amount of campaigning you Zimbabweans carry out for yourselves in the UK.
Thankyou also for the link to the Zimbabwean Journalists' website. Reading through the pages gives us an impression of the systemic injustice and suffering in Zimbabwe - in every "corner" of the lives of the citizens.
Don't be afraid to remind us of the horror from which you have escaped. While the UK government tries to return asylum seekers to unsafe countries, we British citizens need to hear the truth about the dangerous situation in your country.
4) “A Refugee’s Plea”
By Ava Kelly
Westminster, 19 June 2007
In the dark I hovered and hid
Praying I won’t be seen.
Soldiers giving orders.
Mothers & children screaming
Our Fathers fell one after another.
Hit by guns and razing bullets.
We travelled from miles on end.
Constantly in fear like our lives in a bend.
As the border comes close
Our hearts fill with hope.
That people would be accepting
And our fear & suffering will be no more.
We seek Sanctuary
A friendly Refuge
A place of Safety
A small nook we could call…
Our new home.
