(C) OpenDemocracy This story was originally published by OpenDemocracy and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Protest held after Home Office evicts asylum seekers from Walthamstow hotel [1] [] Date: 2024-02 Hundreds of asylum seekers are being evicted from the hotel they’ve lived in for two years with just a week’s notice – and many haven’t been told where they are going. A letter from Home Office subcontractor Clearsprings Ready Homes arrived on 18 January telling everyone in the east London hotel that it would “no longer be available” from 26 January. The notice promised a “smooth” transfer to “suitable alternative” accommodation but openDemocracy has learnt that at the time of writing, some still haven’t been told where they’ll be moved to. A rally took place outside the hotel this morning over the eviction, and local MP Stella Creasy said the “callous way” people had been treated by the Home Office was “shocking but sadly not surprising”. What do you think? Win a £10 book voucher for sharing your views about openDemocracy. Tell us The eviction forms part of the Home Office’s drive to end the housing of asylum seekers in hotels, a policy that has led to a huge surge in homelessness. One woman from Iran told us she has been “full of stress and anxiety” since finding out about the eviction. Ava* arrived at the hotel in January 2023 with her one-year-old daughter and husband. Ava and her family fled Iran after her husband converted to Christianity. She told openDemocracy being evicted with no information about where she was being taken had made her relive the ordeal of leaving her home. “It's really hard because we experienced these things one time and now everything is happening again. When we came here, we had no idea which country we were going to, they just told us we're going somewhere safe, to a safe country. And then a year later it happened again,” she said. Ava was eventually told she was being taken to a city almost two hours away by public transport. Now, she fears her GCSE studies are at risk and has been told it will be difficult to enrol at another centre half-way through the academic year. Ava, who said she has lost sleep since the eviction notice, said she called a government-funded helpline but was told her only options were to move to the new city she’s been allocated to, or to “end up on the street”. “They kept saying that I have no choice because this is emergency accommodation, and that I must accept it,” she said. She added: “I’m so scared because I don't know anybody there. I just kept thinking to myself, what will happen with college, what will happen with my daughter's nursery – I wanted to register her, and I found the place, what will happen with the work that I’m doing as a volunteer.” Ava said in the year her family has been living in Waltham Forest, she had started to build a community and support network through her local church and by taking on three volunteering roles, including at council drop-ins and at a baby bank. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/asylum-seekers-hotel-walthamstow-london-home-office-clearsprings/ Published and (C) by OpenDemocracy Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/opendemocracy/