An asylum seeker at The Bell Hotel in Epping has spoke out over the “pain and fear” being felt by migrants following a wave of protests.
Khadar Mohamed, who fled his home in Somalia in 2022 after terrorists seized control, travelled through Turkey, Greece, and Austria before arriving in the UK three months ago.
He spoke out after a judge this week granted Epping Forest District Council an interim injunction to stop asylum seekers from being placed at the hotel.
Now granted asylum, Mr Mohamed hopes to make Britain his permanent home although he has faced hostility from some local residents.
“I speak very good English but I’d never heard the word ‘scumbag’ until these people came along,” he told The Mirror.
“It is very painful to be called these names and when people pass you in their cars and you walk along the streets they make noises at you and bad faces.”
Mr Mohamed said those living inside The Bell Hotel were “living in pain and fear” each time demonstrations take place outside, adding many are now uncertain about their futures.
When he leaves the hotel, Mr Mohamed said women “hold their purses tighter,” even though he says he is not a thief or a threat to anyone.
Thousands of people have protested outside the three-star hotel in recent weeks, after an Ethiopian asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity.
Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 41, who arrived in Britain via small boat on June 29, denies any wrongdoing and remains in custody.
The Bell Hotel struck a deal with the Home Office to take in asylum seekers in May 2020 after ceasing to operate as a regular hotel.
Demonstrations have been attended by people who are against using the hotel to house asylum seekers and those in support of migrant rights.
Public areas around the hotel have been the setting for violent clashes, leading to 28 arrests and a series of charges for criminal offences.
Mr Mohamed, 24, insisted: "I want everybody to know that there are no paedophiles and rapists living inside this hotel.
“We don't sympathise with that behaviour and if we had had the chance we would have stopped it.”
Sharing his story, Mr Mohamed said his sister Farxiya was killed by members of Al-Shabaab after being forced to marry one of its fighters and refusing to adopt their extremist ideology.
He said he was coerced into joining the group and made to teach the Quran to schoolchildren, despite disagreeing with their violent agenda.
When he resisted, he was attacked with a knife, leaving a scar on his right arm. He also claims they cut off one of his fingernails as a means of asserting control over him.
Mr Mohamed eventually fled his village of Elbur after refusing to be “weaponised” by the group and take part in attacks against the Somali authorities. He was later imprisoned for two years, before someone with government connections paid for his release and helped him obtain a visa to travel to Turkey.
Mr Mohamed said residents at the hotel now have 50 to 60 days to leave the hotel, with many feeling uncertain about what is going to happen next.
Epping Forest District Council made a High Court application for an injunction against the hotel, arguing it is breaching planning laws with its current operation.
On Tuesday, Mr Justice Eyre ruled in the council’s favour, in a judgment which could open the floodgates for similar applications around the country to clear asylum seekers out of hotels.
The judge agreed to an interim injunction, ordering that the hotel is cleared of asylum seekers within 28 days. The hotel owners could still mount an appeal, but the evictions and rehousing of the current occupants are expected to go ahead.
While making the application, the barrister told the court that the government will now have to find new housing for the occupants of the Bell Hotel, but currently they “don’t know where they will go”.
He added that there is a fear that other councils will now seek to obtain injunctions against asylum seeker hotels, using “the potential for protests” as justification.
