Insha'Allah

I was continuing my freelance work in a refugee organisation today and M (whom some of you may remember) came in to say goodbye to the people he knows there. He has just received a letter telling him to have a maximum of two bags packed by 9am tomorrow since he is to be 'dispersed'. Refugees, once they have the right to stay in the UK, may live wherever they can afford but asylum seekers, waiting for a decision on their claim as M is, are provided shelter in places where there is available social housing, usually in the north of England or Glasgow.

He is pleased that a room of his own in a shared house means that he won't have to beg his friends for sofa-space any more - he is worried about being turfed out as the weather gets colder - but was a bit surprised when I told him how far away he is going from Oxford, where he has lived for two years and where he has got to know people. The move will make no difference to his state benefit entitlement of £36.62 a week (to pay for food and toiletries) though the admin needed to change where he is paid from may well cause a disruption in payment for a week or so.

He'd been up to the allotment this morning to do some weeding so as to leave it tidy for those who share it and had harvested what he could eat before he left. He asked me to have the potatoes, beans and pumpkins he has to leave behind.

We shook hands and I wished him well. 'Insha'Allah,' he replied.

If only. I hope that someone in a mosque at his destination will look after him as he learns his way around another new place.

When the review I am working on is published I will link to the picture I took of him on the allotment.