Fleeing from the war in Somalia, Sofia sought refuge in Britain. She has been raped, left destitute on the streets of Glasgow, is HIV-positive, and cannot find her two daughters, whom she believes may yet be stranded in Somalia. Six years after her arrival Sofia is still waiting for a decision by the British government as to whether she will be granted refugee status. Meanwhile, she lives out a precarious existence in a run-down block of flats and volunteers to work with the stream of refugees that continues to flow into Glasgow. Here, she tells her story
I was raped twice in Somalia and I fled from the war. The government don’t recognise the tribe I am from as part of the country. I was forced to leave my two daughters behind and an agent brought me to Britain in 2002. He brought me to Glasgow. I didn’t speak any English at that time and he told me not to speak to anyone.
He took me to a hotel and raped me. I didn’t know what time of the day it was when he told me we had to leave the hotel; he told me he needed to check if the place where we were supposed to be going to was open. He bought me a cup of tea and told me to wait on some steps in the street. I waited for over an hour, but I knew he wasn’t going to come back.
Then I saw a woman who I thought might speak my language. Luckily she understood me. She took me to the Refugee Council where I received help. They found me a place to live and helped me with my claim for refugee status.
It was when I went to see a doctor that I discovered I was HIV-positive. I felt so sick; it was like I was dying. I just wanted to be with my daughters. Now I am on drugs to keep me healthy, but they make me bloated.
I had been in my accommodation for six months when I was called to an interview at the Home Office: my claim for asylum was rejected. The National Asylum Support Service cut all my support and I was left with nowhere to live and no money. It was too dangerous for me to return to Somalia – it still is.
From this moment I was destitute. I didn’t know where to go. I couldn’t stay with the friends I had made because they were refugees on support and were prohibited from having anyone to stay in their accommodation. With nowhere to go I spent my days drifting around the city. Some friends risked their own security and let me spend the night with them, but I could only go to them late in the evening and I had to leave early the next day to make sure no one knew I was staying there. Thanks to my friends I was able to eat.
After two months of living like this, I was told about a charity called Positive Action in Housing, who help refugees who have been made destitute. I went to them and they found somewhere for me to stay for a few days. They put me in contact with a lawyer who helped me apply for a type of support called Section 4. It’s the only help left for an asylum-seeker whose application is refused under the case for human rights. They also gave me some money to buy food.
While my case for Section 4 support was in progress I was still destitute. Positive Action in Housing arranged for a volunteer to accommodate me; I stayed with her for almost two months. I’m so grateful to her as I would have had nothing while I was waiting for my claim to come through. During this time I began to volunteer for the Citizens Advice Bureau and also in the office of Positive Action in Housing.
Eventually I was granted Section 4 support. It gives me accommodation and £35 in vouchers each week to spend in ASDA supermarket only. I’m a Muslim and I can’t buy Halal food in this supermarket. Sometimes I can’t find the right size clothes in ASDA either: I need a winter coat and I can’t find one to fit.
I had been in my accommodation in the YMCA for a year when they said they had to remove all the single people from the building to make room for families. They moved me to a different area of Glasgow where I was the only refugee in a whole block of flats. My flat was firebombed twice and I experienced terrible racial harassment. I lived in fear for my life. I reported the incidents, but it took one year for the authorities to find me somewhere else to live.
Although I had this horrifying experience, I have seen relations between locals and refugees improving in the past few years in Glasgow. Many local people in Scotland are very supportive of refugees.
I don’t know when I will be granted my status as a refugee. I have a family – my daughters, who are now 18 and 21 – and I also have brothers. I don’t know where they are. Sometimes, when I think of my girls, I feel like I’m going crazy; I can’t sleep at night. If I could work I would have more access to organisations that could help me find them. At the moment I can’t travel out of Glasgow (to London, for example) to begin my search.
While I am waiting for my case to be resolved, I spend my time doing volunteer work: I volunteer for the British Red Cross and provide orientation for new refugees arriving in Glasgow. I also volunteer at the day surgery in the YMCA – again helping new refugees and giving them advice. Some people arrive with no clothes, so I take them to a charity shop to help them find things to wear. I also volunteer as an interpreter for refugees arriving from Somalia.
It has been six years now since I arrived in the UK. I come from a country where there is war and I can’t go back. I am still waiting to be recognised as a refugee; only then I will be able to work and create a life – and find my children.
• Sofia, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was interviewed by Ann Scholl.
