I came here in 2021. I came as a student. I was living with my aunt and she discovered that I was gay, so she threw me out and called my parents, who directly cut me off financially and also banned me from their life.
It was really hard. Mentally I wasn’t good. I had nightmares, I was scared about my life, I didn’t know where to go or what to do. So I asked one of my friends who gave me a place to stay. She was really kind. She told me about the asylum process, for my protection, because I didn’t know what it was about. She let me stay there during my asylum process. Thanks to the internet I found organisations who also helped me to be where I am right now.
I’ve been through therapy, medication, everything. I’ve got my decision now, so now I can breathe!
It took a long time. It wasn’t easy to get the final interview. I was texting my MP, she kept telling me if the Home Office don’t respond, she’s going to speak on my behalf. So finally, she spoke on my behalf, and then I got my interview. Then I got my decision.
"I escaped because of the way they treat homosexual people."
After I got my decision, I was living in my friend’s house, but the landlord asked her to leave because she wanted to sell the building. I didn’t have anywhere to go. It was another stressful process.
I had to live with a friend, but her place was so small, I couldn’t stay longer. I tried private and public accommodation, but they couldn’t help me.
It was a cold time and my health was really bad. I was sleeping on the floor, there was no space. I had a bad time.
People don’t understand how hard it is. If you’re not living through that, you can’t understand. I’m just telling a short version, but if you were in my skin, you’d be crying, under pressure, you’d be really dealing with some high-level mental stress.
My message is – I don’t know why the system is like that! We need to fight for every right – the right to live, or work, housing is not easy, health is not easy. We just want to live our lives. We don’t want to be persecuted by other people.
I have experienced discrimination here. On the bus or where I work, people say ‘go back to your country, you don’t belong here,’ it’s terrible. You need to deal with that, in the end it’s your story, you fight for the right.
It’s really hard for LGBTQ+ people to be believed.
Honestly, I don’t miss my country, I escaped because of the way they treat homosexual people. I just want my family to understand, but they won’t. I hope one day they will understand it.
It’s very difficult because the system makes it very hard to believe us. You have to prove everything. In the beginning of the process I was really scared because they were saying you need to have a partner. I was just like – I don’t know this country! They said I had to have a partner to prove my identity, to prove I was a lesbian. I was really scared. It’s really hard for LGBTQ+ people to be believed.
Kellie [at the Refugee Council] really helped with hardship payments. At that time I couldn’t buy food, I wasn’t eating well, so that money helped me buy some fruit and eat properly. Recently I bought a duvet and a hot water bottle because it was really cold and I was sleeping on the floor. I used that money for necessary things. Kellie helped me get therapy with Refugee Council, she helped me when I was sick, and I wasn’t able to work for a week.
I just hope that in future the system will be easier and will be improved. It would help us to integrate more easily.
I feel a bit better now, I’ve found a space where I can live, because it’s really cold outside. Now I’m focussing. I’m working and I want to study business.
Thank God I got some help. People need to be open minded. This charity really helped me.
*Name changed.
