Thomson Reuters Foundation | Témoignage d’une réfugiée irakienne en Grande-Bretagne

« Ils me traitent comme une criminelle »: le récit d’une réfugiée irakienne en Grande-Bretagne

Article de Katie Nguyen, publié sur le site de la Thomas Reuters Foundation, le 6 septembre 2013.
Cliquez ici pour lire l’article original (en anglais).

I sought asylum in the UK on my second day in the country. I didn’t ask for asylum when I landed at the airport because I was scared they would send me back. I was also very tired and not in the right mental state. Going to my first screening interview was one of the worst experiences of my life. The people who interviewed me first – I could see, I could feel they didn’t know anything about my country, where I came from, who I am. They ask you questions. They take a photo and give you a card which identifies you as an asylum seeker. They put on it that you’re not permitted to work and the date of your arrival. They ask if you need money, where you’re staying, if you need a place in a hostel for asylum seekers. I think after this experience I was even more sick. Coming from Iraq, being persecuted there and coming here to the UK, I was expecting it to be a more friendly place. But the Home Office people were very, very cold. I thought, ‘What am I doing here?’ I left my family, I risked my life, I risked everything to come here to be treated like that – but I didn’t have a choice.