Refugee support hub tells of pressure on services

Refugee Abdullah Zaeed, from Sudan, lived on the streets after being evicted

Council and charity bosses in Manchester have told how they are struggling to cope with a rising number of refugees sleeping rough or in tents in the city's centre.

A council-funded support hub service said it had helped more than 1,000 people since March 2024, with nearly two thirds having been evicted from asylum hotels elsewhere in the country.

The majority of them have fled wars in Africa, including Abdullah Zaeed, an English teacher who fled civil war in Sudan and went on to spend weeks living on the streets in Manchester.

Manchester City Council deputy leader Joanna Midgley said the problem needs "a national answer".

She said refugees were attracted to Manchester because it is a "friendly, global city" but many end up sleeping rough because they "don't have priority need" for social housing.

"Camping outside the town hall is not the answer to that, we want to try and get people to services where they can get the right help and support," she said.

Many refugees have been staying in tents outside Manchester town hall

Mr Zaeed, 31, spent two weeks sleeping rough after being evicted from his hotel in Fallowfield last year and has since found temporary accommodation.

He said: "Some people say the UK is not like the UK we expected because we came from terrible conditions and we end up in terrible conditions again."

Nearly two thirds of the refugees arriving in Manchester have received their refugee status elsewhere in the UK, according to homelessness charity Mustard Tree.

It supported more than 1,000 refugees between March and December last year, with about 328 from Eritrea and 290 from Sudan.

Many of the refugees have travelled to Manchester from Liverpool, Birmingham and Burnley, with others coming from other towns across the north of England.

Salah Benson from Sudan said many refugees go to Manchester in the belief its cheaper

Salah Benson, 20, who was also forced to leave Sudan due to the war, is due to leave his Manchester hotel soon after being given the right to remain.

He has been volunteering as he tries to get a job and said many refugees travel to the city in the belief it offers a better quality of life than other places.

"Some of them, after they get their refugee status from other cities, they move and come to Manchester because they think they'll have better opportunities and its cheaper," he said.

'National answer'

About 66% of asylum claims were granted for refugees arrived to the UK on small boats and were moved to hotels in the year ending September 2024.

Both Mustard Tree and the council told BBC Radio Manchester many refugees coming to Manchester would not receive social housing as they are young and single, and therefore would not be considered a priority for new homes.

They also said the refugees have arrived in a city where the homelessness support system is already overwhelmed.

"It's a national issue and we need a national answer to it," Ms Midgley said.

"Things like learning English, having access to training and there is a campaign also to let them have the right to work.

"That would all help because when the time comes that they get their decision to stay, they'll be more prepared to integrate and to participate in society."