Stories

They turned our home upside down, searching for something, and took some important papers. They warned me that they were watching us and that if my husband tried to contact me, they would arrest me too.

“My friends and family feared it was only a matter of time before they came for me as well, so I made the agonizing decision to leave everything behind and escape with my young son Hammoudi. We arrived in England in the summer of 2020 and claimed asylum, hopeful that we would finally find safety.

We were placed in a small room at an asylum hotel in West London, and we waited anxiously for our asylum application to be processed. It was a long and uncertain wait, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, but at least we felt secure for the moment.

Then, in April 2021, my world was turned upside down once more. I discovered a hard lump in my breast that seemed to be growing larger every day. The GP couldn’t see me due to pandemic restrictions, so someone at the hotel advised me to go to the Accident and Emergency department. At Charing Cross Hospital, the doctors ran tests and delivered the devastating news: I had a very aggressive form of breast cancer. My tumor was already 9 centimeters in size and still growing rapidly.

The following months passed in a blur. I had the surgery. I had to have chemotherapy. I became so weak at this point and couldn’t look after my son who was sharing my small room with me.”

Alison, our West London Welcome Senior Caseworker who was helping Samira through this difficult time, explains:

“It was heartbreaking to see Samira. She had been coming to West London Welcome for a few months before her diagnosis, but after her treatment started, her situation deteriorated.  Samira’s cancer was incredibly aggressive and her difficulties accessing medical care, due to the pandemic and living in a hotel, caused delays to her treatment. The chemotherapy caused Samira to become incredibly unwell, Doctors kept having to ‘pause’ treatment due to extreme side effects like losing feeling in her arms and legs. She also had to have multiple surgeries after cancer was found in her mastectomy scar tissue. We were so worried about her and about Hammoudi, who was also being bullied at school about his Mum’s cancer.  Samira couldn’t cope living in the asylum hotel, she couldn’t eat the hotel food due to nausea, and had no privacy sharing a room with her teenage son. We worked with a local law firm who challenged the Home Office to provide Samira and Hammoudi with self-contained accommodation, where she could eat chemo-friendly food and rest when she needed to. We also helped Hammoudi move schools, away from the bullying and into an environment where he could receive support.

During the peak of her treatment, Samira was awarded refugee status but instead of this being a relief, it actually made matters worse for her. As soon as refugee status is granted, people are no longer eligible to remain in their asylum accommodation. Despite her poor health, she and her son had to move.  The council first placed them into a local hotel, where she had to choose between a room where she would share a double bed with her son or not having a fridge to safely store her medication. They were then placed into a flat in Enfield; 2.5 hours away from the hospital where Samira was receiving treatment and from the new school Hammoudi had just settled into. Samira was immunosuppressed so taxis had to be provided for her regular chemotherapy appointments.  It was complete madness, we were tearing our hair out trying to find better housing for them.

Then, we had a stroke of luck. We were contacted by solicitors representing an older woman who had recently moved into a care home. She had very kindly stipulated that her flat should be offered at a fair rent to a refugee family. Samira was the perfect candidate. She and her son moved in at housing benefit rates and they are still there today. Samira is now in remission and slowly recovering from intense cancer treatment. Her son is now 17 and at college and we still see her every week at the centre where she comes for her English lessons. It’s really a miraculous outcome for her and Hammoudi.”