Stories of Sanctuary: Hana and Tareq’s journey

In our Stories of Sanctuary, we share stories from those seeking asylum in our Borough of Sanctuary  and the community supporting them.  

In this edition, we spoke to Hana and Tareq, a mother and son, about their story of arriving in Waltham Forest.   

Their family were helped resettled by local charity and mosque Faizan-e-Islam. They ran a fundraising campaign with schools and the local community. 

(Please note names have been changed to protect the identity of those we interviewed).

Hana

A charity helped us come here. We came here as part of the UNHCR resettlement scheme, but they weren’t able to find a suitable house for us. Faizan-e-Islam helped the council to find and prepare a house for us, and they worked so hard to get us here. They prepared everything, from the house to the furniture. They came to the airport to pick us up and they had prepared everything, from the food, the beds, the juice, the water, everything. They supported us and helped us with everything, from enrolling in school, learning of English, Council Tax. 

We came here with a very big dream because we were waiting for such a long time in Turkey. We were waiting about 10 years just to come here. It was very hard for us to be in Turkey, and we experienced discrimination. We couldn’t do anything in Turkey except work.  

My youngest child has a disability, and he wasn’t accepted into school. He was just sitting on the sofa for 10 years. You can imagine how hard it was for us. I was putting all our hopes in the UK. His older siblings also can’t do anything because of the need to support and care. His older siblings need to help me. They need to wait for him and their lives stopped for 10 years to support us. 

When we came here, we couldn’t believe it. My youngest child was crying in the airplane, he said “I can't believe we’re going”. I hope in the UK we will find a better life and a new beginning. I hope my older children can find their way here, because their life had to stop in Turkey. 

Tareq

I want to start my life and attend school here. My dream is to open a recording studio. I’m into Arabic music and I love writing songs. 

I attend college and take ESOL classes here, it’s quite a beautiful experience. My teacher is good, and I’ve improved my English a lot in two months. Before I couldn’t speak much at all, and now we’re having this full conversation.  

We currently live in Leyton and like it here. I was afraid before coming to the UK, because my mum wears a hijab. But it’s so diverse here, we’ve seen other people wear hijabs. We’ve noticed everyone in the UK smiles.