This week we’ve been highlighting the life-changing contribution made by our network of philanthropic landlords, who allow us to rent out homes to newly-recognised refugees. Here, one of our former residents, Oliver, explains just how important having a safe space to live and a dedicated Action Foundation support worker was to him.
“I had been hiding myself, like an actor, when you play a role. I had been like that all my life. In Iran, being LGBTQ+ is illegal. You cannot be gay, you cannot be trans, you cannot be lesbian, you cannot be any of those things.”
Oliver was forced to flee Iran after the Government discovered he was gay. Iranian law, which is based on Sharia, considers being LGBTQ+ a crime and it carries a maximum penalty of death.
In his late teens and early twenties Oliver was kicked out of university twice for being involved in LGBTQ+ social media groups. But it was after a supposedly confidential conversation with a psychologist that his sexual orientation was reported to the authorities and a letter was sent to his parents summoning him to court. At that stage in his life he had not even come out to his family.
Oliver recalls: “Someone called me and said, ‘Your parents got a letter about you, the letter says we found out you are a gay person and you should come to the court.’
I knew if I went there, I would not be here now. I didn’t tell my parents (about my sexuality) because my parents are Muslims. It’s not just about religion, it’s about religion and culture so I couldn’t tell them.”
Escape, but at a cost
A friend found him somewhere to hide until he could escape the country, but he had to leave without saying a proper farewell to his family.
“I didn’t even say goodbye – I missed my mum, I missed my little brothers.”
Oliver made a dangerous journey to the UK and after claiming asylum, was sent to the North East by the Home Office. With support from Rainbow Home and MESMAC, he was granted refugee status last year and was referred to Action Foundation by his local council.
We were able to find him a room in one of our Action Letting flats, rented to us by a philanthropic landlord.
He was also assigned an Action Foundation support worker who helped Oliver navigate his new life on Tyneside.
“Before that I was staying with different friends, like a week with someone, two weeks with someone else. I wasn’t in a good mental situation. Action Foundation gave me a nice and clean flat and it was a new season in my life. Because I’d had nowhere to stay for about three months and that was very hard.”
One of his flatmates was also Iranian and they could speak Kurdish together and share the cooking. His support worker helped him change his Iranian, given name, to Oliver.
“I wanted to change everything,” Oliver says. “I said to myself, ‘I have new life. No more living with fear and lots of horrible things in Iran, they are finished, now I am here.’ I chose name Oliver because it comes from olive tree which is a symbol of peace.
“My support worker did everything for me. She got an appointment for biometric test to change my BRP card, she found a solicitor for me, she even came with me for my biometric appointment. That’s why I say she’s the best. When I was applying for provisional driving licence she done it for me.”
With Action Foundation’s support, Oliver successfully found a private, rented flat and now has a job, working in an Italian restaurant as a kitchen assistant, alongside attending Newcastle College for English lessons.
He hopes one day to return to university to resume his Law degree so that he can help people campaigning for LGBTQ+ rights in other parts of the world.
Explaining what it meant to find accommodation with us, he says:
“You need an address, you need a key in your pocket.”
Oliver added: “These are the six main steps in my life – one: when I arrived in the UK; two: when Rainbow Home wrote a report about me and my past life for Home Office to help my case; three: when I got refugee status; four: when I got keys from Action Foundation; five: when I found a job and six: when I finally got my own place. These steps are the most important steps in my life.”
“Now I can be with people who understand. That’s very important. I can be with people who they don’t care where I am from and I can see kindness. But the most important thing is I am safe.”
“In the future, if I find someone – or someone finds me – who knows? – if I go out with my boyfriend, I’ll be safe. That’s enough for me because all I want is freedom and not to be scared for what I say.”
