Odi's Story - Life After Detention

This is the fourth instalment of Odi's courageous story of his political imprisonment in Iran, his difficult voyage to London, and his struggle towards asylum and a new life for himself and his family in the UK.  This very personal account is representative of the horrors and challenges faced by so many asylum seekers around the world. 

When I was released from detention, I didn’t know what to do or where I could go and was shy to ask anybody for help.  But I called a friend and he said not to move, that another friend would come to Heathrow to pick me up.  After two hours he came and brought me to my friend’s house, where I still have accommodation.  

I was very lucky because this guy came and helped me.  I know lots of failed asylum seekers are living on the streets and under bridges.  A lot of horrible things come to them because they don’t have a chance like me to have a friend give them accommodation.  I feel for them completely because I was homeless.  I ate beans from a tin.  I got in fights with other guys on the street over my sleeping area and lots of things.  

But even though I had accommodation, I still had a lot of problems because when you are a failed asylum seeker you don’t have the right to do anything here.  Because I didn’t have an address, I couldn’t get a library card to borrow any books or use the Internet.  And I couldn’t register with a GP.  For over five months, I tried to register with a GP.  Finally, when my friend saw the difficulty I was having, he decided to let me use his address.  People are often afraid to do this because they worry they could get into trouble for helping someone with accommodation, but in reality the Home Office is happy to have an address to arrest and deport you any time they want.  After that, the Refugee Council wrote a letter for me with my friend’s address, and with that letter I was finally able to register in my local GP’s office. 

Another problem was not being able to work.  I needed to buy food and clothes for myself to survive, but I didn’t have a work permit from the Home Office.  My church helped me, and I got some food and second-hand clothes from the Red Cross.  But I would like to ask UKBA how failed asylum seekers are supposed to survive.  Do they not think about how to sort out this matter?  Are they always just thinking about deportation and how to reduce the number of migrants to this country?  I’m sorry for their human rights.  Their human rights are not being looked after at all.

European people think we are here to take their jobs.  But we are here because we had to leave our countries.  I am here because my father gave me the chance to come out of prison and run from Iran, and the Agency chose England.   I understand that some people don’t like foreigners and may even hate us, but we are no different.  We are all human.  About 40 years ago, lots of foreign workers came to my country from all over Europe, and England and America as well.  I am here to save my life and my family’s life, and I hope people will understand the situation of people like me.  Please don’t look at us as a miserable people.  We are here because we have to be here, and now we are challenged with lots of problems including mental problems. 

I am still working towards asylum.  While I was in detention, I made a fresh claim.  When your first claim is refused, you can either provide additional evidence to show the Home Office you are in danger if you return, or you can make a fresh claim that relates to something new that has happened since you arrived.  But when I was released from detention, the Home Office refused my fresh claim as well and took away my right to appeal my previous case.  They said that if I wanted to appeal, I should go to Iran and apply from there, which was a joke for me.  After I was refused, my solicitor stopped supporting me because she said we no longer had a chance to win.

For a year, I tried to find another solicitor.  I had been to lots of firms in London and was close to giving up, but one of my friends told me about another firm.  I went there and met a woman who was studying to be a solicitor.  She came and visited me and was very kind and smiled a lot.  She told me to give her all of my immigration documents, and she collected information from my previous solicitors and Ireland and found out I was in the care of a psychiatrist in Balseskin.  After a month, she sent me a letter that said her firm could take my case.  That news was amazing to me.  She was really a positive force for me, and I will never forget her.  She was the first person in this country to believe me.  When I was talking about my tortures to her, she never said, “You’re a liar.”  

She even referred me to Freedom from Torture and the Helen Bamber Foundation, who both work with survivors of human rights violations.  They are very professional and can help with counselling and tell if you were tortured by touching you.  If your case has more than a 50 percent chance, Legal Aid pays for all of these services.  We are waiting for one more report from the Helen Bamber Foundation.  This report would change my life because it would really help my previous case.  

My solicitor is also filing a fresh claim related to my conversion to Christianity since I left Iran.  When I was in the NASS hostel in Birmingham, I met a man who worked in an Iranian Christian church who talked to me about the love and kindness of his God and gave me a Bible written in Farsi.  When I was living in Manchester, I started going to church.  Since then, everywhere I have lived, I have looked for a church nearby with Iranians or services in Farsi.  While I was in detention, I decided to get baptized and learned about Elmfield Church, where I have been a member since January 2011.   I was the first foreigner when I joined, and since then I have brought other Iranians.