Hull: The city where hundreds of failed asylum seekers go 'under the radar'
It's estimated in Hull there are between 300 and 400 asylum seekers, whose claims have been refused. Among them is Sakhile, a mother-of-two who hasn't seen her children for almost two decades.
Wednesday 10 April 2024 08:23, UK
In a bedsit in Hull, Sakhile unpacks the food parcel she's been given by a charity. On a small table are photographs of her two sons, who she hasn't seen since she boarded a plane bound for Britain in 2006.
Sakhile, 47, says she feared persecution in her home country of Zimbabwe because of her political views.
She left her sons, then aged 10 and seven, with her parents. Her plan was to claim asylum when she arrived in the UK and then they would join her.
"My idea was to be safe and then apply for my kids in a lawful way," she says.
But that isn't how it turned out.
She claimed asylum on arrival in Britain but was refused. Over the years, she's filed four further unsuccessful claims. Her most recent rejection came in January.
It means she has missed seeing her sons grow up. They're now adults and have little contact with her, although she thinks about them constantly.
"Mentally, it's disturbed me a lot," she says. As well as trouble sleeping, she struggles with the uncertainty of not knowing what tomorrow might bring. "I've got very bad moments where I want to say 'why am I living? Why don't I just end my life?'"
Her decision to stay in the UK may be difficult to understand but, she says, she remains here because she has never lost hope that one day she could be granted asylum.
Sakhile has been able to keep submitting fresh claims because at no point has she ever been threatened with removal.
"They just send letters and ask you if you want to go voluntarily," she says, adding she finds it "surprising".
Sakhile is not alone. In the decade from 2011 to 2020, almost two-thirds (55,273) of people who were refused asylum were not recorded as having left the UK.
That's 61% of the total number of people whose asylum claims were rejected, according to analysis of Home Office data by the Migration Observatory.
The true figure could be significantly higher as it only counts so-called "main applicants" and does not include any partners or children.
With no legal right to work or access to benefits, Sakhile volunteers for the charity that pays for her accommodation. The Open Doors Project in Hull runs a weekly drop-in service at a church where asylum seekers can get warm meals and bags of donated food and toiletries.
On a wet weekday morning, a queue of mostly young men forms outside the church, hoods up to protect themselves from the torrential rain.
Inside, another volunteer, Pat Thompson, is helping people choose a total of eight items from piles of tea, coffee, toothpaste and tinned food.
"Today we've only had 52 [people] because it's pouring with rain but very often it's 70 or 80 a week just for the food," she says.
Legal advice is also offered to those in need. Jayne Mercer is an immigration adviser who volunteers with the charity, and helps asylum seekers who are unsure of their options.
According to Jayne, there are between 300 to 400 asylum seekers, whose claims have been refused, living "under the radar" in Hull. Forced into exploitative working conditions, she says, there are quite a lot of cases where people are "kept in situations similar to slavery".
"You could be going to a nail bar, and the person doing your nails might be a refused asylum seeker who is being exploited. You could be going to a barber... They're hidden all over the place, hidden in plain sight."
Jayne blames the government for not sending people home once they are initially refused.
"It costs a lot of money to deport people. So they're left in a situation of limbo… quite often after a few attempts they do get status," she says. But in the meantime, those like Sakhile are left to live in, what she calls, "destitution".
"You're talking levels of poverty that you see in third world countries," she adds.
Most people who are refused by the Home Office are able to submit an appeal within 14 days of the rejection. Appeals are decided by judges in courts around the country, and lawyers argue on behalf of the asylum seeker against the Home Office.
Since 2021, 51% of appeals have been successful, according to the Migration Observatory.
Even if someone has been refused by the Home Office and dismissed at appeal, they can submit a fresh claim if they provide a new reason.
Mustafa, 56, from Iraq, is homeless and sleeps on a park bench near the church where the Open Doors Project is based. He came to the UK on the back of a lorry from Calais in 2016. His asylum application was rejected a year later but, like Sakhile, he has never been threatened with deportation.
Eight years on, he has submitted a new claim on the grounds that his mental and physical health have declined. His hope is to be provided with a room in taxpayer-funded accommodation as he goes through the system once again.
Conversion to Christianity is another reason asylum seekers can give to argue their case, saying they would be persecuted for their faith if they returned home.
Earlier this year, church leaders were called to a meeting with the home secretary to address concerns over Clapham chemical attacker, Abdul Ezedi, who was granted asylum on appeal after converting to Christianity despite being a convicted sex offender.
At the church in Hull, baptisms of asylum seekers are carried out a few times a year in groups.
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"Everyone has their reasons why they want to be converted," says Cecil Jones, who works for the Open Doors Project.
"It could be genuine, it could be for other reasons. But we as a church, open and welcome, we do it and then wait for the repercussions or what happens after."
A Home Office spokesperson told Sky News it "stands firm" on its "longstanding policy that those without a right to stay in the UK will be removed".
In accordance with the Illegal Migration Act 2023, it added: "People who enter the UK illegally will have their asylum claims and human rights claims declared inadmissible, and they will not be able to make a life here.
"Each asylum application is individually assessed, including decisions on removal of individuals. Where people have previously been refused asylum in the UK, a fresh asylum claim can be made through legal representation."
Neither Mustafa nor Sakhile are at risk of being put on planes to Rwanda, even if the government succeeds with its proposals, because, like thousands of others, they've been in the country too long to be eligible under the current plan.
"I never dreamt of this life," Sakhile says, but despite the stress of her situation, she has no regrets about coming to the UK.
"I am hoping one day, I will get everything sorted."
Mustafa too will keep going through the system, because "without hope, we can't live".
Additional reporting by Nick Stylianou, Communities producer
You can watch Becky Johnson's full report, Faultlines: Asylum Crisis, on Sky News today at 10:30, 12:30, 14;30, 18:30 and 20:00.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email [email protected] in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
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