An asylum seeker has begged to be returned to Somalia because it is “not safe” in the UK amid tense protests. Yusuf lives in Nuneaton in Warwickshire, which has become an epicentre for anti-migration protests after two men were charged in connection with the rape of a 12-year-old girl in the town.
Reform leader of Warwickshire County Council, George Finch, alleged the two men were asylum seekers and accused Warwickshire Police and the Home Office of covering up their immigration status. Police said they were following national guidance, which “does not include sharing ethnicity or immigration status.” This sparked a wave of protests and tension in the town, and recent disturbing footage showed a local businessman being hurled racist abuse while being interviewed live on TV.
The 32-year-old had only just started to speak when he was interrupted by two women, one with a pint glass in hand, who shouted insults as they walked along the street with a group of children.
Now, an asylum seeker named Yusuf, 50, who cames to the UK from Somalia two decades ago, claimed he has been begging the Home Office to deport him for five months, as he does not feel safe there.
“This country is not safe, but my country (Somalia) is now safe – I want to go back,” he told Sky News.
Somalia remains in the midst of a vicious civil war forcing more than three million Somalis to become displaced, according to the International Displacement Monitoring Centre. However, Yusuf was sure he would be safer there instead of Nuneaton.
A few years ago, the number of asylum seekers in the Warwickshire market town was in single digits, and by June this had risen to 247.
Home Office figures show Nuneaton has 19 asylum seekers per 10,000 residents, which is 87th in the country in terms of the number per capita.
Nuneaton does not house asylum seekers in hotels but in HMOs (houses of multiple occupancy). However, this has prompted frustration from some locals due to housing.
Alan, 77, said: “It’s the ones that are trying to get here illegally I don’t like. I’m not too happy about that, because we’ve got young, 20-year-olds getting married… that are struggling to get on the property ladder,” reports The Daily Mail.
