Still Human Still Here exhibition

34-year-old Alain sits with his bags packed outside the house in North London where he was staying for a while. He does not know where he will sleep tonight. After fleeing DR Congo and claiming asylum in the UK in 2002 he spent months destitute Photograph: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos

Geraldine 34, from Zimbabwe is hospitalised in London due to malnutrition. She has lost 15 kilos in weight in the last 6 months. A successful artist and business woman in Zimbabwe, belonging to the MDC brought danger for her. She knew that her life was in danger if she remained so she fled to England. Her asylum claim was refused and since then she has been destitute, surviving only thanks to her cousin who is here on a student visa which permits her to work for 20 hours a week. The two women share a single bed in a rented room in east London little bigger than a walk in cupboard Photograph: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos

Hamid, 28 from Iran sits at a bus stop in Highgate, North London. He spent 3 years living on buses, in parks, in car parks, and on the streets of London, using heroin to self-medicate the after-effects of being tortured in prison for over a year in his homeland. He made 3 suicide attempts, one by attempting to jump off this bridge, before the police were called and he was admitted to hospital. Hamid's father ran a large and successful building and car business in Iran, the family was wealthy and after leaving school he worked for his father. He became involved in a political movement that opposed the government and as a result was detained and tortured. Hamid managed to escape to the UK and after his asylum claim was refused he slept in abandoned cars, in the park, on buses and in phone boxes. He found food by going through the rubbish bins in restaurants Photograph: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos

Tamba, 20, from Liberia holds packets of custard cream biscuits which he manages to survive on by eating half a packet a day, which costs him under 20p. His parents were killed uring the civil war in Liberia and after walking to a refugee camp in Sierra Leone, and sleeping at the airport a man helped him escape. "February 2005 was the last time I slept in a bed. I sleep on the night bus if I have a bus pass, or in the park, in a phone box and behind a car wash. Sometimes I am allowed to sleep on the floor of a barber's shop in exchange for cleaning the shop for the owner" Photograph: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos

20-year-old Thania, from DR Congo, at London's Euston Station where she spent a year sleeping rough. She arrived in the UK in September 2004 claiming asylum after her family were murdered by Congolese soldiers. She was forced to watch her brother burned to death after a tyre was set alight around his neck. She was raped but managed to escape. After her claim was refused she walked the streets begging people for food and money Photograph: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos

62-year-old Anie from Angola sits on a bench in London's Leicester Square. Anie spent her childhood in DR Congo where due to her father's political connections to the Angolan political party UNITA, she was imprisoned, tortured and raped. She has difficulty walking because her legs are so badly scarred from her torture injuries and they still cause her a great deal of pain. She has been destitute since April 2008 and sometimes sleeps outside and sometimes on friends' floors Photograph: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos