Refugees like me are sick of being told we’re not welcome

I will never understand why Shabana Mahmood appears to want to create even more suffering and uncertainty for refugees (Picture: James Manning/PA Wire)

When I first arrived in the UK from Syria at the age of 21 in 2022, I was forced to stay for over 18 months in a ‘hotel room’ that was regularly attacked by far-right protestors who, on one notable occasion during the 2024 riots, tried to set it on fire.

The condition of the ‘hotel’ was disastrous. At best, it felt like a very good prison.