For reasons of privacy, the names have been changed to A, B, C, D and E. – Webmaster
Monday 20th November 2006
AN AFGHAN family who face eviction from their Swindon home say it will leave them with no place to go.
A and B and their children C and D have applied for refugee status three times in three years, but now they say the authorities have washed their hands of them by refusing them benefits.
And their new failed asylum seeker status could lead to them being told to leave their County Road home today.
“We came here with nothing, we have nothing, and nothing to go back to,” said 19-year-old D.
“We gave up everything. We had to get out of Afghanistan and we cannot go back, so if we get evicted, we are facing a life in the cold. My parents are ill – they could not survive on the streets.
“We have not come here to live off benefits – we want to work. I’d be happy to pay back the taxpayers who have allowed us to live here for years but we have not been allowed to. However, getting refugee status would have let us do that.”
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The E are a Sikh family who ran a textile business in Kabul, the Afghan capital. But during the 1990s as the Taliban took over and introduced Sharia law, life for the E and other Sikh families became increasingly uncomfortable. Many were persecuted and family members were kidnapped and never seen again.
In July 2003, the family handed over all their belongings and their house to an agent who agreed to get them out Afghanistan and to a safe country. And, after a three-month journey, they arrived in Dover in the back of a lorry and it was there they sought asylum.
“There is no way we can go home. Even now Sikhs are still being persecuted there today,” said D.
“Once there were thousands of Sikhs there, and now just 0.01 per cent of the Afghan population is Sikh.
“We have not come here to live off benefits – we want to work”
“None of us want to go back because we know what we face. Even Muslims don’t want to go back because it is not safe, but the UK Government think it is now safe out there.”
D’s mother suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome from her time in Kabul.
C, 18, who is currently studying fashion design, has had to tell her university tutors that she may not be back because of the problems.
She said: “Our greatest problem is that the courts have not been interested in our evidence.
“We have explained to them how dangerous it would be to have go back, but they are relying on evidence that is several years old. It is little things like that that can have the biggest effects on people’s lives.”
The family say that in one court hearing they told the court about a building called a “posta” out of which gangs of Mudjahadeen and Taliban would terrorise communities, it was translated to the hearing as a dance hall.
D said: “It seems ridiculous evidence could be mis-translated. Kabul is not a city of nightclubs, it is a warzone. You only need to watch the news to see this.
“If we were sent back, we would be sent to a refugee camp in Kabul, there would be no support, and no security, you couldn’t even guarantee getting home at night. It is just too dangerous.”
South Swindon MP Anne Snelgrove has taken up the plight of the family, and is working to ensure they aren’t left on the streets. She said: “I am concerned about the situation the family is in and, as with any other constituents who contact me, I have worked on their behalf in an effort to get the best outcome possible.”