Asylum seekers left in 'limbo'

Maria cannot be sent back to the Democratic Republic of Congo

A group of women from the Democratic Republic of Congo are among 81 failed asylum seekers who campaign groups say have been left in limbo in Cardiff.

The women are unable to work or claim benefits due to the rejection of their asylum applications.

But the Home Office is unable to send them home as war in DR Congo means that the country has been deemed too dangerous to return people to.

The five-year conflict in the central African country has claimed an estimated three million lives.

We've left them in the middle - in no-man's land - with nothing Vanessa Bucolli, Oxfam

Asylum seekers Anita, Fanny and Maria have been given notice to leave their house in the Adamsdown area of Cardiff

But Maria claims that she was attacked by government forces in DR Congo and her family sold land and assets to raise the $10,000US needed to smuggle her into the UK.

She told BBC Wales Today: "What am I going to do? I don't have any place to go.

"The government should feel pity for me."

Linda Biboussi, another asylum seeker from DR Congo, but whose asylum application is yet to be determined, is helping the three women by acting as an interpreter.

'Persecuted'

She says she is in a similar situation to the three women.

She added: "I fled here because I was persecuted.

"My husband was taken from me in 1998, I don't have any news of him, I don't know where he is.

"I left my daughter of three years old in Congo with nuns.

"I don't know where she is now.

"It's a very difficult situation.

"I'm managing with the four children I have here with me, they are doing well in school."

Campaign group Amnesty International says at least 81 failed asylum seekers in Cardiff alone are in a situation where their applications have been rejected but they cannot return to their country of origin.

'No-man's land'

Vanessa Bucolli, of Oxfam, said the women had been left in a hopeless situation.

She said: "Some are not sent back because they don't have any passports or travel documents and the countries where they are coming from won't accept them back.

"But these particular women are not going back because they are from the Democratic Republic of Congo and that's on a government list of non-returnable countries.

"We know that although we are not returning these people, we've refused their asylum applications.

"We've left them in the middle - in no-man's land - with nothing."

Cardiff Central MP Jon Owen Jones, in whose constituency the women are staying, added: "There needs to be some system to deal with these people so they are not destitute and they are kept in one place.

"I've been particularly concerned about a number of Iraqis who find themselves in limbo and can't go back."