"I did not want to go to war, I did not want to end as some of my friends whose bodies were thrown away in Sahara", he said while remembering the horror stories he heard from his 'corrupt' homeland. Asylum seeker Ibrahim Ali has opened up about the nightmares that haunt him to his day from outside a Nottingham hotel, where he currently lives - not knowing what the next day will bring for him. Olimpia Zagnat reports.
Mothers held their children's hands and young men were crossing Maid Marian Way in Nottingham to their refuge at Britannia Hotel. They said they get £8 a week as asylum seekers - and that most of the time, "we spend it on shampoo and nothing else".
Ibrahim Ali left his homeland in Somalia when he was only 20. Now at 28 years old, the heartbroken refugee said he has only spoken to his family over the phone.
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"I did not want to be in the military", he added. "In my home country, now there is a political war - it was very difficult. I am not sure what would have happened to me if I had not left."
He said young men like him are at the highest risk. "I did not want to go to army. I did not want to waste my life in the military. We were basically forced to go in the army. I left when I was 20, now I am 28 and my family is still there."
Mr Ali has travelled to France and Germany, and finally came to Nottingham in June. "I still feel like a stranger", he added.
"I want my documents, I want to be able to work. Nottingham is better than Germany, but we still have problems here as well.
"When you are an asylum seeker, you feel like you are a stranger everywhere you go. But I did not end up like some of my friends."
Fazlikam Sayed was on his way back 'home' from Nottingham College as dusk settled on Friday, November 4. The 23-year-old studies computer science and English at the college.
"I still get nightmares from what I have been through", he added with a shy smile on his face. Mr Sayed fled his homeland, in Afghanistan, after Taliban soldiers raided his home and took his dad.
"We call the people like my dad 'unknown' as in - we do not know where they are, we do not know if they are alive or not. I was out when that happened."
Mr Sayed was'"scared for his life' and found himself in the position of having to leave the country to save himself last August. But finding a shelter in Europe was far from easy.
"When you are an asylum seeker, you are basically a stranger. In Bulgaria, when police found me, they took me, spat at me, beat me. I am still getting nightmares from it.
"Even in Nottingham, it is just very difficult to have a normal life. I have been asking for a bus pass for weeks now so I can go to college by bus.
"I went to the hospital and I have prescribed medication to help my depression. It is like living in the unknown, because you do not have a job, or a life really - you just live every day, not knowing what is going to happen to you."
He is one of many asylum seekers who live day in, day out, in the heart of the city - not knowing what their life prospects are, living patiently to receive their documents. A woman who fled from Eritrea in East Africa said she has encountered racism in Nottingham.
Speaking of her heartbreak, she added: "People look at you from head to toe. They judge you because you are a stranger.
"When you are quiet, in the hotel, it is all fine. When you get out into the normal world you are viewed like a stranger."
The young woman, who did not wish to be named, said she finds it 'very difficult' to talk about her family who are still in East Africa. "It is a nightmare, the system is corrupt, I cannot even talk about it, I find it very difficult."
She said she left her homeland illegally, and returning to her family would put her and her loved ones at risk. She added: "Because I left my country illegally, I just cannot go back without documents. So I am still waiting, and I have been waiting for the last two years.
"It is very hard to be a stranger everywhere you go. It is hard to face racism.
"I cannot even explain how hard it is to be abroad while in your country there is war, hunger and corruption. People from the age of 18 are sent to fight.
"I cannot explain how difficult it was to leave my family there. We are all running away for our lives."
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