{"id":95768,"date":"2026-08-02T14:34:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T14:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/95768\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T14:34:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T14:34:40","slug":"spat-at-in-the-street-while-living-on-7-a-day-the-uk-life-of-an-asylum-seeker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/95768\/","title":{"rendered":"Spat at in the street while living on \u00a37 a day: The UK life of an asylum seeker"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Burnham<\/a> is facing calls to fix Britain\u2019s \u201cbroken\u201d asylum system<\/a>, as the new Prime Minister works out his own immigration policy over the summer.<\/p>\n

Charities have warned that the harassment and violence faced by asylum seekers has \u201cramped up\u201d across Britain amid increasing hostility to new arrivals.<\/p>\n

Labour is pushing on with plans to close hotels<\/a> by upping use of former military barracks, ex-student blocks and house in multiple occupation (HMO) flats.<\/p>\n

However, Burnham has been warned that moving more asylum seekers into residential areas could be a \u201cdisaster\u201d if it becomes a \u201cflashpoint\u201d for local anti-immigration frustration.<\/p>\n

Asylum seekers in Aberdeen \u2013 moved out of city centre hotels<\/a> and into former student flats in residential areas \u2013 told The i Paper about their daily struggles.<\/p>\n

They said living on \u00a349 a week given by the Home Office was tough, with some turning to food banks to survive.<\/p>\n

They also revealed the scale of \u201cfrightening\u201d abuse and intimidation: including being spat on in the street, having rocks thrown through windows and being told to \u201cf*** off \u2013 go back to your own country\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018Someone threw a rock through the window\u2019<\/p>\n

Ahmad* \u2013 an asylum seeker in his 20s from South Asia \u2013 came to the UK in 2025. He spent less than a week in a hotel in London before being moved to Scotland.<\/p>\n

He has been living with 150 other asylum seekers in a \u201cquite crowded\u201d former student block in Aberdeen\u2019s Don Street since November last year.<\/p>\n

While each person has their own small room, six people share a kitchen area and bathroom. There is no TV or wi-fi available.<\/p>\n

It is \u201cdifficult to survive\u201d on \u00a349 a week, said Ahmad. \u201cIt is only very basic food I can afford. I cook with a few other people I know. We make a kind of bean stew.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"InsideA former student accommodation block in Aberdeen which asylum seekers are now using <\/p>\n

Ahmad had hoped the Don Street student block would feel safer than in hotels, which have been the target of anti-asylum protests across the UK.<\/p>\n

But he has been met by local people shouting at him to \u201cgo back home\u201d outside the student block. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t feel safe. It feels like some people are angry wherever asylum seekers have accommodation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a time when someone threw a rock through the window of the kitchen,\u201d Ahmad added. \u201cWe have been afraid after that. It is frightening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people in Aberdeen seem very kind. I think most people in Britain understand things aren\u2019t easier for us. But there are not very nice people who don\u2019t understand. Maybe they think we are taking money away from them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Food banks, no TV and abuse: \u2018One person spat on me\u2019<\/p>\n

Arash* is a Kurdish-Iranian asylum seeker in his 20s who came to the UK in September 2025.<\/p>\n

He said seven people share a kitchen in each unit at the Farmers Hall student flats in Aberdeen \u2013 home to another 150 asylum seekers. There is no TV or wi-fi, and there are only three working washing machines for everyone, he said.<\/p>\n

Arash said the flats were better than a hotel because \u201cat least I can make my own food and have some freedom\u201d. He added: \u201cBut I have to go to food banks for some things, because \u00a349 a week is not enough for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Former student blocks at Farmers Hall (left) and Don Street (right) in Aberdeen (Photos: The i Paper\/Google Maps)<\/p>\n

Arash said most people in Aberdeen have been \u201cwelcoming\u201d, but some had targeted asylum seekers for abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I came to Farmers Hall [student block], I had one person spit on me. I had one person say, \u2018I\u2019ll remember your face\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think some people are racist. I think some people just don\u2019t understand how difficult things are for us. We didn\u2019t leave our families for fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018People follow you and shout f**k off \u2013 go home\u2019<\/p>\n

Moussa* from West Africa is an asylum seeker who came to the UK in 2024. He said living on \u00a349 a week meant \u201cyou can only afford the most basic food \u2013 it\u2019s not enough even to buy any new clothes or shoes\u201d.<\/p>\n

Although he recently moved elsewhere, Moussa was at the Don Street student blocks for around nine months. He said he was regularly followed outside the building by young men shouting abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are people who follow you and harass you, and shout horrible things like, \u2018Why did you come here? And things like, \u2018F*** off \u2013 go back to your own country\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"AntiAnti-asylum protests have taken place in cities across Scotland (Peter Jolly\/Northpix)<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I have had to run away,\u201d added Moussa. \u201cIt is mostly younger men. I think they don\u2019t understand the problems we face. They think we get things easily, which isn\u2019t true.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think some of it is racist, because they seemed to start following me just because of my skin colour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unite the Clans AAIM (Aberdeen Against Illegal Migration) has held protests outside asylum hotels and ex-student blocks in the city over the past year.<\/p>\n

But sources working with asylum seekers in Aberdeen said the harassment they faced was more regular and widespread than the organised protests.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Refugee Action said asylum seekers had been the target of \u201cviolent, racist abuse\u201d for decades. But this has \u201cramped up in the past five years\u201d, they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur political leaders must bin their demonising rhetoric against people seeking asylum, which is fuelling the violence against minoritised communities on our streets,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

Student digs were better than hotels, but were not a long-term solution, Refugee Action added, arguing that Burnham should consider expanding social housing to include asylum seekers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Could Labour regret push to shut hotels?<\/p>\n

Maxwell Marlow, public affairs director of the right-wing Adam Smith Institute think-tank, said Labour may come to regret pushing to shut asylum hotels.<\/p>\n

He called hotels \u201cthe least-worst option\u201d because they are usually contained in town centres, away from residential areas.<\/p>\n

Anything in residential areas, whether HMOs or student blocks, has a \u201cpotential to be a disaster\u201d because it becomes a \u201cpotential flashpoint for tensions\u201d.<\/p>\n

Marlow added: \u201cYou don\u2019t want to see intimidation or abuse at all \u2013 it\u2019s not healthy. But local people will be frustrated at the cost of providing accommodation, the cost of services and the failure to tackle what they see as illegal migration, regardless of where they are housed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, soon after arriving at Westminster, Burnham voted in favour of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood\u2019s controversial migration legislation<\/a>. Her bill seeks to streamline the asylum appeals, and tighten the application of human rights law in deportation cases.<\/p>\n

More than 200 charities have written to Burnham since he became Prime Minister, urging him to \u201cfix the broken asylum system\u201d and end the \u201cperformative cruelty\u201d. They want him to stop using ex-military sites, and ditch changes making it more difficult for refugees to settle permanently.<\/p>\n

A Home Office spokesperson said abuse of asylum seekers was \u201ccompletely unacceptable\u201d. They also said concerns of communities were \u201ccentral\u201d to its plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich is why we are working with local authorities and others to make the system fairer by housing asylum seekers in basic accommodation, including ex-military sites.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police Scotland\u2019s Superintendent Simon Reid said there had been \u201ca number of arrests\u201d in Aberdeen related to \u201cdisorder during protest activity and hate crimes\u201d. He called on those targeted by hate crimes to report it to the force.<\/p>\n

*Names have been changed to protect identities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Burnham is facing calls to fix Britain\u2019s \u201cbroken\u201d asylum system, as the new Prime Minister works out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[7786,6151,284,1143,5,6],"class_list":["post-95768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uk","tag-andy-burnham","tag-asylum-seekers","tag-immigration","tag-scotland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117026414065046588","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}