From war to riots: An asylum seeker's story in the UK

Asylum seekers in Britain have been left shocked and scared by a wave of anti-immigrant violence, which has seen rioters attack mosques and hotels housing migrants.

Mobs have clashed with police in numerous towns in the worst unrest in 13 years.

In two attacks, rioters smashed windows and started fires at hotels accommodating asylum seekers. One charity told Context that migrants had hidden under their beds in terror.

Thousands of asylum seekers – mostly from Africa and the Middle East - are housed in hotels across Britain while officials plough through a massive backlog of claims.

We spoke to one woman, who has been living in a hotel for more than a year, about the riots. For safety reasons she asked not to disclose her name or nationality.

Here's her story as told to Emma Batha.

I was forced to flee my home because of war. Our city was bombed and I had to leave – it was a very hard decision. I'm a doctor and came here as a single woman. I didn't want to leave my country and claim asylum, but I had to.

The riots and attacks on hotels are really unsettling and distressing. I never thought I would see such a thing here. Many of us fled violence and now we're encountering it again. It's deeply saddening.

Everyone is anxious. The company that manages asylum accommodation has sent us messages telling us to be cautious and not to talk to anyone we don't know.

There hasn't been violence where I live, but it could happen anywhere. The people in the towns where there's been rioting didn't expect it to happen to them.

A lot of us are scared. We try not to stay out after 7pm now. We try to go around in groups and keep checking on each other and just go to places near the hotel. It's very restrictive.

Some British people have been incredibly welcoming and supportive since I arrived, but others have been discriminatory. Some people in the hotel have been verbally abused in the street - strangers told them, 'You're not welcome here, you should go back to your country'.

People think staying in a hotel is so fancy when it's not. Honestly, we have to fight for our basic rights in these hotels.

There's 200 people in my hotel, conditions are very cramped and there's a lack of privacy - staff can knock on your door and just enter without permission.

With so much overcrowding and so many people from different backgrounds, there's always tension and trouble.

We get £8.86 ($11.27) a week to live on and three meals a day, but the food is not hygienic or nutritious. I've had food poisoning twice. You see feathers and blood in the food.

They are pre-packed meals, like airplane food. A lot of people are getting pre-diabetic, and even diabetic, because there's too many carbs and not enough protein and fresh stuff.

Almost 60 meals go in the bin every day. People go to foodbanks so they can cook their own food.

I arrived in Britain in 2023 and immediately applied for asylum. I was sent to a hotel near a highway in a very isolated place and then moved to another hotel in a city. We have no choice where we are sent.

I made my application over a year ago, but I haven't heard anything or been called for an interview. I know people who've been here for four years without an interview. There's a lack of transparency. It's hard to understand what's happening with your case. The whole process is really challenging.

I think asylum seekers should have the right to work while they wait for a decision. At the moment, we are left in limbo.

I know an ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialist who has been stuck in a village for over a year, doing nothing, just staying in their room. I know skilled engineers, pharmacists and nurses.

Allowing people to work would help them integrate into society, and they would enrich the community with the skills they bring with them.

It would save the government money and reduce the mental challenges people face. I see a lot of depression, anxiety and hopelessness among people in my hotel.

The riots seem to be driven by misinformation and fear, exacerbated by politicians and certain media. Negative stereotypes about asylum seekers lead to this unjustified hostility.

The previous government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda likely exacerbated negative attitudes because it portrayed asylum seekers as a problem rather than as individuals who deserve protection.

Asylum seekers' voices need to be heard. I think it would change people's minds if they met us. Many people don't know what asylum seekers have gone through or who we are. They just think we live in luxury in hotels.

I volunteer with a few charities, like Doctors of the World. Even the Ukrainians who have come here don't know how other people seeking asylum live. They are amazed that we have to survive on £8. Yet we fled war, just like they did.

If I could talk to the people rioting, I'd say we are not here to take anything from the country, or from you. We can all live together. 

($1 = 0.7860 pounds)