This Inspiring Women piece follows World Refugee Day and
Refugee Week when we celebrate the achievements, contributions and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. We hear from one of our wonderful volunteers, Basma, who is a 28-year-old refugee from Egypt and a survivor of female genital mutilation (FGM) and who sought asylum in the UK just before the start of the pandemic. The theme of this year’s Refugee Week is ‘We Cannot Walk Alone’. In our conversation with Basma, we hear about the importance of those who are refugees or seeking asylum sharing their experiences and how this can make others in similar situations feel less alone.
Interviewer and writer: Lauren Porter
Editor: Anna Kirby
“Your hair is beautiful”
Basma first came to the UK in 2019 through the
European Voluntary Service scheme, where she volunteered for a non-profit organisation in Liverpool for 10 months. Basma enjoyed how there were people of different nationalities working at the organisation, who were all learning about living in the UK at the same time as each other.
In Egypt and under pressure from her family, Basma had worn a hijab, but upon arrival in the UK she made the decision to remove it to signify her independence. She overcame her apprehension about this decision when people in the street complimented her. This boosted her confidence and made her feel more positive about her choice.
“I was wearing the scarf in Egypt…I always wanted to take it off but I was not allowed to - from my family and from my society…and people would bully me about my hair… I said look, my experience in the UK is a whole new experience for me: for independence and making decisions for myself so I will take it off. I took it off the first day I entered the UK. I was a bit scared that people might bully me…but the first comments I got-even from strangers on the street- was “Your hair is beautiful!”. This was positive and gave me confidence, which I couldn’t have in my home country.”
Basma says that she felt welcome in the UK and could connect with people who had visited Egypt. She recognised that hostility often comes from a small number of people, whereas her experience was welcoming, and people spoke highly of her country.
“I know that not all people are nice everywhere in the world, but for me I met a lot of nice people and when I say I’m from Egypt, at least 90% of people say “We’ve been to Egypt before!” and they start to speak about my country and they love my country and I feel welcome.”
Seeking trauma support and seeking asylum
Basma is a survivor of FGM and found little support in Egypt for people who have undergone this. One of the first things she did when she arrived in the UK was try and find support from a GP. However, the GP she spoke to cautioned her that it would not be easy to overcome this trauma in the short amount of time she was originally planning on staying in the UK.
Basma was worried about returning to Egypt, particularly after she felt that she had begun to find independence in the UK. Her return to Egypt was very challenging as her family did not agree with her decision not to wear the hijab, and she also became very concerned that she would be subjected to undergo further FGM.
“I started to discover myself: living away from my family and having the freedom and control of my life myself…But when I came back to Egypt, the situation was not easy because I took off my hijab and my family was not fine with my decisions…I realised that I can’t live safely in Egypt at all and I need to come back and seek asylum.”
After a few days of being back in Egypt, Basma quickly made the decision to return to the UK to seek asylum. Without any support or anyone to stay with, this was a difficult and distressing time for Basma. The Home Office added to these difficulties, questioning why she had not filled out her asylum claim on
arrival at the airport, to which Basma explained was not made clear on the government’s website as something she was able to do. They also asked why she could not go back to the accommodation she was previously living in while volunteering. Eventually, Basma was moved around various hotels by the Home Office before being moved to Cardiff right before the start of the pandemic.
“My life had stopped”
Living in Cardiff and waiting for her asylum claim to be processed was mentally taxing. Basma was concerned that with the pandemic slowing government responses down, she could be in this position for years, which affected her mental health significantly.
“I wasn’t sure how long this process was going to take but I knew it should be like a few months, and I was giving myself hope to cope with these few months until they gave me a decision. But with the pandemic, I thought it might take years because everything was closed and I became very depressed because my life had stopped. I couldn’t work, I couldn’t study… These months felt very, very long staying at home, not allowed to go outside. It was awful.”
She applied to Cardiff University through a
scholarship scheme for asylum seekers, but she was refused without a reason. Seeking asylum in a pandemic felt long and gruelling, causing her to feel as though she had been in the UK for years without much progress.
Finding positives in a difficult time
Fortunately, Basma was able to receive therapy remotely during this time, which meant she had someone to talk to and feel more supported. While being able to volunteer face to face was challenging during the pandemic, Basma managed to volunteer at an organisation called
Oasis who support refugees and asylum seekers in Wales. Basma worked in the kitchen as a way to interact with people during this time and not feel so alone.
“Things like volunteering and having the medical support and mental health support - even online - was something that made me want to continue the fight with the Home Office to get my status and continue living.”
It was through Oasis that she heard about Give Your Best. As Basma arrived in the UK at the start of the year, she only had winter clothes. With the charity shops closed in the lockdown, she started to shop with Give Your Best. She then saw that Give Your Best were looking for volunteers so she reached out, sharing her experience of working for non-profits and offering to help where she could. Basma has since very much become part of the Give Your Best volunteer family! She now promotes the work of Give Your Best among other women in similar situations, so that they are given the opportunity to shop for clothes they would like.
“I know that some people struggle to find clothes they like, because some charities give you clothes but you don’t choose them, you just give them your size and they give you anything they have in this size. But with GYB the experience was totally different because you choose whatever you like…this is an amazing idea!”
Looking ahead
Basma received her refugee status in 7 months and in the same month found a job as a project coordinator working for a non-profit organisation supporting minority ethnic communities in Wales. She is now working as a carer, which can be sometimes challenging, but she feels the role is providing her with good work experience for the future.
In March this year, Basma was also accepted onto a Master’s programme in supporting women and children who have been victims of abuse. She feels very happy and proud to have been accepted onto this course, as she now has the opportunity to study something she feels passionate about.
“I am very excited as...I would like to work in this field after graduation…working to support women. […] Because I am a survivor…having the lived experience of gender-based violence and then having the qualification to help other women from the same background was a big passion and motivation to apply for this course.”
Basma is currently applying for a student loan and looking for accommodation in London. If the restrictions allow, Basma is also planning on going on holiday to somewhere near the sea before her Master’s starts and she is excited to plan the clothes she will wear while on holiday!
Sharing stories on the refugee experience
Basma is proud to be a refugee and as one of Give Your Best’s
Refugee Week events, she gave a talk on her experiences of obtaining refugee status in the UK.
“It’s not something embarrassing to say I’m a refugee…I’m not embarrassed to share that with people…I would like people to really proudly share that they are a refugee.”
Basma says she is especially happy to share her experiences with people who may not know much about the asylum-seeking process in the UK and the difference between asylum seekers and refugees.
“I try to explain that seeking asylum is not always because your country has a war, but you might want to change your religion or, like me, have [experienced] violence. […] When we have a conversation and I say I’m from Egypt and I’m a refugee here, [people] are curious to know what that means and how I live…I think that I have the opportunity to share the refugee community’s stories with local people.”
Basma thinks that sharing information on refugees’ experiences is important to dispel myths and misinformation that people may have about seeking asylum in the UK.
“Some people really don’t understand…they think some people just want to come here and take our money from the tax we pay, but I hope we can change this picture in the future.”
“You’re not alone in this world”
Basma very much appreciates hearing about the experiences and challenges that women from different parts of the world have faced in their journeys to come to the UK. She has reflected on her own experiences after hearing just how difficult some people’s journeys have been. Basma finds strength in hearing how others overcame challenges. These shared experiences make her feel less alone and reminds her of her own resilience.
“I was lucky to come with a visa and with a flight, I never imagined crossing the sea or being trafficked…when I heard people’s stories here, I felt how privileged I was to come back, because I’ve heard people have had awful [experiences] to enter the country and being treated badly from the Home Office and this really broke my heart…These stories make you strong: when you hear other people’s stories, you feel how you are strong yourself, that you’ve passed very difficult moments and you’re not alone in this world.”
Following your brain and following your heart
Finally, Basma tells us the most important advice she has learnt and would like to share with the rest of the Give Your Best community, and to women more widely!
“The most important advice I would say, from my experience and from my life, is that my life totally changed when I started following my heart…After not obeying and being under control of the society, my life completely changed. This is the most important advice I would say to every woman, because we live in a patriarchal society and every woman should be following her heart and her brain to do whatever she wants.”
Click here to listen to a podcast interview with Basma and Sol (our founder).
Sign up to our Give Your Best newsletter and stay updated on what is happening in the community, events, news, etc.
Don’t worry, if you change your mind you can unsubscribe at any time.
Here is a link to the privacy policy and Cookie Policy if you want to check how your data is saved.