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  • The Big Issue

    'When you are a refugee, you are not seen as a human any more'

    Aug 23, 2021 4 minutes
    As told to Claire Henderson

    I came to the UK from Zimbabwe when I was 14. I’m 36 now and last month I was granted British citizenship, finally, after 22 years. It’s been a very long journey.

    Being an asylum seeker, it makes you feel ashamed. The minute people hear the words "asylum seeker" or "refugee" they think "benefits scrounger". They think you’ve come here just to take their jobs, claim benefits and overwhelm their HHS.

    When you are an asylum seeker or a refugee you are not seen as a human any more, you are a problem that needs to be solved – you’re a cancer that

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