Asylum seekers from Sudan and Syria sleeping rough outside West Berkshire Council Offices in Newbury

Asylum seekers are sleeping rough in Newbury after receiving their Right to Remain in the country from the Government.

Two fathers – one from Sudan and one from Syria – had been staying at Regency Park Hotel for just under two years after fleeing their home countries.

Now they’re in tents outside the West Berkshire Council offices.

Abdulkareem, 36, fled Syria – by boat – for safety after being drafted into the army and refusing to fight.

He left behind his wife and two young children with the hope that they’ll join him in England once he gets a home, job and enough money to support them.

But after spending one year and eight months in a hotel – unable to work despite being a chef and construction worker who was midway through a philosophy degree in Syria – he has only just been granted Right to Remain from the Home Office.

He said he had been receiving a £7 weekly allowance while in the hotel and waiting for his Right to Remain paperwork.

During this time asylum seekers are not allowed to work so many spend time volunteering and doing unpaid work with charities and local organisations.

But when the Right to Remain is processed, allowances stop and they are given seven days to find a job and a place of residence.

Abdulkareem told Newburytoday – via an interpreter – that the Job Centre cannot send him job vacancies without him providing a place of residence.

But West Berkshire Council has no homes available for him.

And with no allowance, his meals are coming from Newbury Soup Kitchen.

He said he was due to study English during his time at the hotel – to assist him with working.

Local volunteers then gave him a tent and a blanket to keep him sheltered.

He has been outside the council offices since September 20.

“The hotel was a roof over my head as I come from a war zone,” he said.

“We are victims of a war that we have nothing to do with.

“There was destruction everywhere.

“For a year and eight months I was doing nothing and your mental health gets really bad.”

The father of two added: “The worst part is when my daughter called me and said hi daddy how are you and I couldn’t tell her I was in the street.

“That really got to me.”

His wife – who is a geography graduate – hopes to come and live with him but Abdulkareem worries she and his children may end up in another tent next to his.

And he is not the only one in this situation. Translator Reem Gabriel fears that other asylum seekers – who are beginning to receive their Right to Remain – will meet the same fate in the coming weeks.

Sleeping in the tent next to Abdulkareem is 52-year-old Sudanese man Ali.

Back home in Dafur, Ali was a famer but he says his farm was burnt down by rebel group Tora Bora.

He became the victim of racially driven hate and discrimination and said he had to flee – by boat – to build a safer life for him and his family.

Ali also left behind his two children – a ten-year old and a 15-year-old.

He said: “The problem is even if we borrow money and want to rent somewhere, no one is giving us any rent.

“Rain water has gone into my tent and everything is wet inside.

“There is no place to go.”

Newbury MP Laura Farris said she had not been aware of the situation outside the council offices but said a sensible solution must be reached.

She said: “I did know that they [asylum seekers] were being given seven days’ notice and I have raised this with the Home Office – both in a letter and a written Parliamentary question.

“It does not surprise me that West Berkshire Council has limited accommodation given the work that has gone on accommodating refugees from Ukraine and to a lesser extent, Afghanistan, over the last two years.

“However, this situation is in need of urgent coordination.

“A sensible solution must be reached to enable successful applicants to make the transition into work and accommodation without sleeping rough and I will take this up with the immigration minister this week.”

West Berkshire Council said it is working to support these asylum seekers but said it can take a time with pressures on the local housing supply.

It also said all requests are being processed in the same way as any other requests for help to ensure parity for service for all who require housing support.

In the interim asylum seekers have been directed to charitable organisations as the council said there is “strict legislation” setting out the criteria for emergency accommodation which they do not meet.

However, the Home Office insists that the notice period is 28 days, not seven. It also said the weekly allowance was £9.58.

A spokesperson said: “The pressure on the asylum system has continued to grow, with hotel accommodation costing millions of pounds a day.

“We encourage individuals to make their onward plans as soon as possible after receiving their decision, whether that is leaving the UK following a refusal, or taking steps to integrate in the UK following a grant.

“Individuals will still get at least 28 days to move on from accommodation and where an individual has not had a BRP card issued within the 28 day notice period, they remain on support until it is issued.”