These cruel new plans to ‘stop the boats’ show the government completely misunderstands refugees like me | Anonymous

Harsher settlement rules wouldn’t have stopped me fleeing hell in Syria to reach the UK. Now I’m here, they will just pile trauma on top of trauma

I am a refugee and I am in shock at the home secretary’s announcement that people like me will now have to wait up to 30 years before they can apply for settlement in the UK – a sixfold increase on the current time period.

It feels like a pile-on at a time when asylum seekers and refugees are already facing a barrage of hostility in this country. Even before the announcement, refugees felt under siege.