The government has been trying to send me back to France under the ‘one in, one out’ policy. The threats to my life there don’t seem to matter
The writer is an asylum seeker in the UK
I did not come to the UK on a small boat because I was reckless, desperate or careless with my life. I came because every legal door was closed to me. And the danger I faced at home left me with no real choice. Now, however, I am staring down the barrel of a British government policy that could put me in harm’s way again.
In my home country, I had a stable job helping manage an oilfield. I was not a failure and was not running towards Europe for a better salary or an easier life. I was running away from power, corruption and injustice. I had to flee because of a powerful, influential individual who targeted me. Where I am from, when someone like that decides to destroy you, there is no protection, no court you can rely on and no future. I tried many times to leave my country legally, but no other country would accept my case. The situation became urgent. Staying meant serious harm or death.
I first went to France – but even there I did not feel safe. I knew the person I was running from could reach me. The power of smugglers, human trafficking networks and organised crime in France is well known to asylum seekers. I received threats and my family received threats as well. I lived in constant fear. That is why I made the most dangerous decision of my life: to cross the Channel on a small boat. After I left France to travel to the UK, my family received a call from a French number threatening to harm me. They said that they hadn’t managed to catch me while I was in France – but that if I returned there, they would get me.
The writer is an asylum seeker in the UK. As told to Diane Taylor
A Home Office spokesperson said, “We cannot be clearer: migrants arriving in the United Kingdom illegally on a small boat can expect to be sent back to France.
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