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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Mark Townsend Home Affairs Editor

‘An amazing feeling’: asylum seeker stuck in hotel thanks Observer readers for sending books

Ali, who is from Iran, crossed the Channel in a small boat in June 2021. He told the Observer last week that he longed for something to read.
Ali, who is from Iran, crossed the Channel in a small boat in June 2021. He told the Observer last week that he longed for something to read. Photograph: Andy Aitchison

An asylum seeker who has spent almost 500 days stranded in a Berkshire hotel has thanked Observer readers for their generosity after he was inundated with books.

Last week Ali featured in an article articulating life in limbo for the 37,000 asylum seekers living in hotels, with the Kurdish Iranian lamenting that the one thing he craved to relieve the tedium was a book to read.

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