Afghan hero pilot among thousands of refugees facing homelessness after Home Office speeds up evictions

Exclusive: Veteran who fought with UK forces given sanctuary here after relentless pressure by this paper now faces imminent eviction from hotel – as 13,000 new refugees seek help from councils to stop them becoming homeless

A heroic Afghan pilot who helped Britain in its war against the Taliban is one of thousands of new refugees facing homelessness after the Home Office changed its rules on evictions, The Independent can reveal.

The air force lieutenant, who fought alongside coalition troops and was described as a “true patriot”, is facing imminent eviction from his Home Office hotel. He is also fighting to be reunited with his wife and child who are still in hiding from the Taliban in Afghanistan.

His plight comes as new data shared with The Independent shows that more than 13,000 refugees with recently granted asylum status have gone to councils for emergency help in 2023 so far.

It is the latest blow in treatment for those given asylum in the UK, with refugees given 28 days by the Home Office to find somewhere new to live before they are kicked out of their government-funded hotel.

However, due to summer changes when the clock starts running down, and as the Home Office pushes to clear the asylum application backlog, refugees can have as little as a week to find a new place to live.

Many turn to under-strain councils, who in turn do not have enough temporary accommodation to house everyone, and as a result are forced to sleep rough.

Charities have blamed shrinking government support and higher asylum approval rates for fuelling the increase.

The former pilot, who has been championed by The Independent, is one of those at risk.

Afghan refugee Mujtaba has been forced to sleep in a park after he was granted asylum

(Supplied)

He said: “I am worried about homelessness. It has been about three months that I have been looking for a room, searching on websites but I have had no luck.

“Others in my hotel have already been kicked out and some of them slept on the streets for about two weeks. I have been many times to the council but they just share room search websites with me.

“It is a very tricky problem and a challenge for us. If I don’t have any place to sleep, how can I find a job? If I find a job, where will I sleep?”

The pilot has not yet received an official eviction order from the Home Office but has been warned by government-contracted charity Migrant Help to expect a seven-day notice at any moment.

The man, who was threatened with deportation to Rwanda, said he had applied to around 50 properties but was rejected because of his lack of accommodation and employment.

Julian Lewis, the Conservative MP and former chair of the Commons defence select committee, said: “Whilst it is true that the UK cannot give sanctuary to every former member of the Afghan armed forces, those who have been granted asylum here should be treated with maximum consideration.”

Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock accused the government of “utterly failing” on the issue.

He said: “Increasing refugee homelessness on our streets is the latest example of the Conservatives failing to get a grip of the chaos engulfing the asylum system.

“Refugees should not be left destitute, but too often the government is passing the buck to local councils who are already dealing with a housing crisis.”

He added: “This Tory Home Office is so chaotic and incompetent that it is utterly failing to fulfil this most basic function of government, and as a result we are seeing a significant upsurge in homelessness this winter.”

Top military brass have previously condemned the short time Afghans have to find support. Sir Richard Barrons, a former commander of the UK Joint Forces Command, said: “Central government cannot just pass the buck to local authorities. We can’t abandon people and leave them to end up on the streets.”

Meanwhile, charities have resorted to giving out tents to those who have nowhere to live. In response, the Home Office has agreed to halt hotel evictions between 23 December and 2 January.

The new home for four refugees who have been kicked out of Home Office hotels in Reading

(Supplied)

Growing problem

Council data reveals that a total of 13,055 “new refugees” have presented as homeless in the first 10 months of 2023, compared to 8,566 in the whole of 2022.

The figures are likely an underestimate as 80 per cent of some 350 councils in the UK responded to a Freedom of Information request from Care4Calais.

The surge is reflected in recent government data, which shows that in September 222 people were sleeping rough after leaving asylum support services – up from 44 people in July.

Steve Smith, CEO of Care4Calais, said the surge was symbolic of the UK’s broken asylum system. He added: “No one wants to see people who come here for sanctuary, left destitute on our streets, but this is what is happening under this government.”

Another new refugee, who is living in a park in Reading after being kicked out of his hotel accommodation, told The Independent that the local council could not help him because he was not a priority as a young single man.

Mujtaba Qaderi said he now struggles to sleep at night and is unable to stop the rain from coming through his tent at night.

The 25-year-old said that most job applications he sent when he was living in the hotel had been ignored and, although he was shortlisted for a job at Tesco, he didn’t make the final round. He is now struggling to apply for work without an address.

He added: “I was told by the council that they don’t have any accommodation. I’m not well in my mental health and I can’t say where I am sleeping is safe. Even when my tent is closed bugs come in and water comes inside when it’s raining. I am able to get free or discounted meals around the city but food is not my priority.

“Most of the time I can’t sleep through the night and during the day I have a headache. I’m fighting with myself with the things going on in my head. I’m not going for food, so I just eat when I am really hungry. My priority is finding somewhere to live.”

Reading Borough Council said it had seen an increase in referrals for, and verifications of, people who have received positive asylum outcomes.

The council said that “the Home Office commitment to clear the asylum backlog by the end of 2023, coupled with its directive to give only seven days’ notice to quit accommodation, has created a significant increase in demand on council services locally” and had “effectively shifted the pressures onto local councils”. The council said a case worker had been assigned to Mujtaba to support him “explore accommodation options”.

Afghans made up the largest proportion of asylum applications in the UK in the year up to September 2023, with 14 per cent of the total. This was followed by Iranians, and then Albanians. Afghans, Eritreans, Syrians and Iranians all have an asylum grant rate of over 85 per cent.

Ewan Roberts, centre manager at Asylum Link Merseyside, said the Home Office were “pumping refugees through the system and onto the streets”.

Helen Hodgson, from Hope at Home, said modern slavery survivors were “falling through the gap”.

Bridget Young, director of NACCOM, a network of charities supporting homeless refugees, warned that the situation was becoming increasingly desperate at the coldest time of the year.

A government spokesperson said that refugees now get 28 days to move on from asylum accommodation after they receive their biometric residence permit. They added: “Support is also available through Migrant Help and their partners, which includes advice on how to access Universal Credit, the labour market and where to get assistance with housing.

“We are working with local authorities to manage the impact of asylum decisions as the legacy backlog reduces.”