An asylum seeker has revealed he now checks Google Maps before going out in public just to ensure he avoids walking past schools. Khaled, who fled Syria and arrived in the UK via a small boat across the English Channel, said that he uses Google Maps to ensure he doesn’t pass any schools fearing that someone will film him and accuse him of something. Last week, rumours spread rapidly online after a man was seen near schools in Loughton and Waltham Abbey, in Essex.
Social media accounts claimed he was an asylum seeker and linked him to the nearby Bell Hotel in Epping, which currently houses asylum seekers and stated that he had tried to access local schools, but Essex Police have denied these claims stating that a rough sleeper had been seen looking for food in bins on school playing fields and had not made any threats or attempts to enter school buildings.
Khaled told the Socialist Worker: “People in the area started saying that we were criminals. Because we walk around together, they said that we were in a gang. But we are just kids in a new country, we are afraid. We don’t know what to do or where to go, we are just sticking together. We are not doing anything wrong.
“Now, when I walk around I try not to go near schools. I look up the streets on Google Maps to make sure I don’t pass any. I am scared someone will film me and say I am doing something bad.
“People say ‘why didn’t you come by the legal routes, are you a criminal?’ I say, there are no legal routes. They say ‘how can you leave your family, your mother and sister?’ I say that I wouldn’t put my mother in a boat. It took me months to get here. Many people die trying to get here.
“They say that we have the homeless in this country, but the government could house all of us if they wanted to. It’s not us or them.”
Essex Police said in a statement released on September 18: “We are aware of concerns circulating on social media suggesting a man acting suspiciously on the grounds of schools in Waltham Abbey. Some commentary is also suggesting a man had attempted to gain access to schools in the area. The above claims are untrue.
“No individuals have improperly accessed or attempted to access schools in Waltham Abbey on Thursday 18 September. Residents will have noticed an increased policing presence in the area. This is because we have received reports of a man sleeping rough and interfering with parked vehicles in Waltham Abbey, and officers have been deployed to find this person.
“No offences, threats or issues relating to school property, staff or pupils have been reported. Officers have been in consistent contact with schools throughout Thursday 18 September to offer reassurance. It is important to repeat that no threat or suggestion of harm, either physical or otherwise, has been reported against any members of the public, or members of any school communities in Waltham Abbey in relation to this suspect.
“We do understand that communities have fears and concerns but we ask them to contact us and we can allay those. Turning to an incident involving the same suspect – who is a rough sleeper – accessing school grounds in Loughton on Wednesday 17 September.
“This has been subject to widespread and inaccurate comment, and further clarity is needed. This individual accessed an area of school playing field, where he was reported to be seen looking in the bins for food. That is the extent of his reported behaviour. Again, no threats and no suggestion of threats were reported, and the man immediately left when he was instructed to do so.”
