“It’s heartbreaking for me, I don’t understand people putting up the flag,” said Mohammad, who crossed the Channel almost four years ago, desperate to escape persecution. Back then it was rare to see St George’s cross flags as frequently as he does driving around now. The flags are seen as divisive and dangerous in a climate of anti-migrant protests where political discourse is fixated on deportations, small boats and threats to withdraw the UK from human rights frameworks. It has left individuals who have sought refuge in the UK feeling anxious, upset and fearing repercussions.
“Immigrants, they just want to have a better life. If our country was safe, was all right, we would never leave,” said Mohammad, who asked to use only his first name fearing reprisals. After facing persecution as a practising Christian in Shia-majority Iran, Mohammad left his life behind at 28 suddenly and without a plan.
“These people who are judging us, I wish they used to live in a different country, not their own country, to understand how heavy it is, how difficult it is,” he added.
For years, successive UK governments have struggled to accommodate thousands seeking refuge, despite refugees and asylum seekers comprising a small percentage – about 16% in 2024 – of those who migrate to the UK.
Now with Reform on the Labour party’s tail and gaining political momentum on anti-migration rhetoric decried by critics as “ugly” and “destructive”, Labour has introduced tougher asylum policies, decisively reshuffled its cabinet, promoting Shabana Mahmood to home secretary, and is planning housing alternatives for asylum seekers as it faces criticism from senior figures and campaigners to be more inclusive and pluralistic.
But for Kolbassia Haoussou, 50, who sought refuge in the UK under Tony Blair’s government having fled persecution and torture in central Africa, the hostile environment is familiar. Now as the director of survivor leadership at Freedom from Torture, he worries that if the current political discourse continues, the language will incite people further and damage Britain’s international reputation.
“Sometimes, I wish I was not alive to witness all those things that are happening,” said Haoussou, who crossed the Channel years ago. “I had so [many] high standards of this country, living through this is very difficult for me.”
Haoussou, who received an MBE in 2020 for his service to torture and sexual violence survivors, said his growing anxiety had stopped him from watching the news.
Recent demonstrations outside hotels where asylum seekers are held have changed his habits, as he fears being caught in the middle of a protest or at the end of a racist altercation.
It is a double standard rooted in racism, he added: “With Ukraine, we opened our doors, we’re so compassionate. Now these people are living in hotels and they don’t look like white British and they want to tear down the hotels.”
Clare Jones hosts refugees and asylum seekers at her flat in south London. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian
As the government struggles to accommodate thousands of people who have applied for asylum, individual households have helped bridge the gap to those in need. Since 2016, the charity Refugees at Home has placed more than 7,000 refugees and asylum seekers from more than 100 countries with 1,700 hosts across the UK.
One such household is that of Jonathan Wittenberg and Nicola Solomon, who have opened their home to assist refugees and asylum seekers, including Mohammad.
Wittenberg said the decision to share their house in London felt right as they are empty nesters. As a son of refugees who fled Nazi Germany, they feel strongly compelled to help others. The experience has been humbling and moving, he added.
“There’s limited housing and health facilities in this country, it’s heavily populated and it can’t be a home to absolutely everybody, but as Safe Passage have said, there needs to be a clear safe way of accessing this country to make one’s appeal for asylum and a clear way of getting that sorted,” said Wittenberg, a rabbi in London.
Hosts the Guardian spoke to said the experience had been enriching and they described their guests as eager to integrate and contribute. Some families said they picked up individuals from hotels after they were kicked out on short notice after receiving decisions on their cases. Others have since checked in on those in government accommodation amid recent anti-immigrant protests.
Clare Jones first offered her spare room as emergency accommodation in 2022, but wishes she had done it sooner. While she first began hosting to help, the experience of hosting individuals from Yemen, Afghanistan and sub-Saharan Africa has been enriching in an unbelievable way, she said.
“It’s just really sad to hear the way that people talk about people, human beings,” said Jones of the current discourse.
“Everybody is so generous and open-hearted, they’re so grateful and appreciative to be here and be part of this society. It’s very upsetting to imagine that they might be on the receiving end of abuse.”