facebook.
com/TeessideGazette
Anais Boubeker,
four. She is
pictured with her
mum Radhia
Mohammed El
Hadj, right. The
problem window is
bottom centre
Katie Lunn
By KEANE DUNCAN
keane.duncan@trinitymirror.com
@keanedunk
Fleeing domestic violence
and forced marriage in Alge-
ria, Radhia Mohammed El
Hadj had hoped for a life of
security in Britain.
But she now cries herself to
sleep on the floor of her cen-
tral Middlesbrough flat, her
‘English dream’ in tatters.
“The quality of life here, it’s
killing me,” she told us, open-
ing the door to the small bed-
room she shares with her
daughter Anais Boubeker,
four. Welcoming The Gazette
to her flat on the third floor of
Erimus House, the asylum
seeker gave us a tour.
Offering the bed to her
growing daughter, the sickle
cell anaemia sufferer sleeps
on a blanket on a floor that
gives her backache.
She claims she had to
“throw out” the room’s other
bed because it was not good
enough quality.
Without enough wardrobe
space, the mother and young
daughter have continued to
partly live out of a suitcase
since they moved here in
August 2017.
Outside, the garden is the
ongoing development site of
Middlehaven. Inside, this is
bedroom, playroom and their
home.
Even at the age of four,
Anais knows exactly where
the cracks are and takes us
straight there. Pulling a blan-
ket from the radiator, the
nursery pupil exposed the
freezing draft blowing in
under the windowsill. “This is
the hole,” she said, pointing.
Radhia added: “It’s broke
and it’s really windy in the
night. The heating goes off
automatically at midnight. I
can’t make myself warm. It’s
really cold.”
Despite living directly
above the HQ of her landlord
Jomast, she said her persis-
tent complaints go unheard,
her plea for repairs and an
extra bed unanswered.
But the developer, who is
sub-contracted by G4S to pro-
vide asylum seeker accom-
modation across the North-
east, said Radhia’s property is
“in good order” and that the
flat is fitted with the “requisite
bedroom furniture”.
This single room, measur-
ing a few metres side to side, is
the extent of Radhia and
Anais’ private space.
Across the hall, another
mother lives with her two
children. Sharing a kitchen
Anais in the shared
living space
FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2018  The Gazette  7
News
Quality of life
here is killing
me says mum
with smoke
marks on the ceiling, living swearing at me. He strangled lion miles away from the par- she said. “To be free. I don’t
area and a single bathroom me. He scratched my arms. I adise she was expecting. need something more. To
with a faulty lock, Radhia says was in trouble. But worse, I “Now, I’m scared, really. I work and to live happy with
she cannot live freely as stran- was by myself.” didn’t know England was like my daughter.”
gers come and go. Desperate to escape, she this. Oh my God. I thought it A spokesman for Jomast
“No garden, no space,” she pleaded with Home Office was a heaven.” said: “The facts stated are
said. “I am locked in my officials who eventually zig- A qualified hairdresser, but incorrect.
room.” zagged her up the country blocked from working in the “The property is in good
Campaigners say this is the with baby Anais in tow. UK, her wait for whether she order and the lady was pro-
reality for many asylum seek- In Middlesbrough, the real- will receive asylum goes on. vided with the requisite bed-
ers forced to live with stran- ity of her epic journey from Battling with childcare and room furniture.”
gers from all over the world. Algeria to Teesside hit home. everyday chores, weekly Eng- On Monday morning, dem-
Facing an arranged mar- “I just hopped in an aero- lish lessons and long walks onstrators gathered outside
riage and death threats from plane and ran,” she said. around town are her only the company’s offices to pro-
her own brother, 39-year-old “My aunty in Hackney said: escape. “I’m scared of the test against room sharing in
Radhia’s story is typical of ‘Be happy. You’re in England. future. To lose my daughter. its properties. In response,
thousands of others. She fled Thank God you’re not suffer- To lose control.” chief executive Stuart Monk
from Algeria five years ago in ing. You will have nice life. Asked about her dreams, said the firm provides “good
a desperate search for safety. You will find nice English she said her only hope is a accommodation” and is “fully
Arriving in London, she husband.’ And it’s never hap- good life for her daughter. compliant” with strict stand-
was shipped from hostel to pened. I was never happy.” “Her own room. Her own ards set out in Home Office
hostel until, finally, she Britain, she says, is a mil- space. This is my happiness,” COMPASS contracts.
thought she had
found love. But
after falling
pregnant, her
Quality
Kitchen
The simple way to a
new kitchen
relationship
broke down
into heartbreak,
Facelifts
violence and
isolation. Est.
“He started
1999
r

+VTU
SFQMBDF
UIF

doors & handles
r

*OTUBMMFE
JO

1-2 days by
professionals
r
Environmentally
friendly - less
waste
www.dreamdoors.co.uk
Call Kevin for an appointment and visit the showroom
01642 918984 t
ts@dreamdoors.co.uk
Dream Doors Teesside, Yarm, Stockton on Tees, 21 High Street, TS15 9BW