As we navigate a system
That is created not to care for people
A system built on racism and greed
We are told: you need to behave
Do not speak up it will affect your case
As we wait for decisions for years
A decade of anxious anticipation
Without stability and certainty of the indefinite leave to remain
We are stuck in sexual abuses and rape
Waiting to be exploited for a £ in sweatshops
As we are denied the right to work
Our skills are wasted
Our education made obsolete
We lose income, pension and savings
Food banks have become our way of survival
As we are forced into destitution by the state
Heavily affecting our mental health
Depression: breaks us down
Breaks our hearts
Breaks our lives
In the pandemic
Like sardines
We are packed: in graveyards
And in run down barracks and hotels
For shelter
As silence does not make us safer
We are creating space now for ourselves
Where we look after each other
A Safe space: where we have a voice, we are understood
Where we express ourselves unapologetically
As decisions are being made for us
We are learning how to make decisions together
Connecting with ourselves
Because: we know what works
We know what doesn’t work and why
Though detained, dehumanised and destroyed
Ostracised, caricatured and marginalised
Just as those of all kinds whose rights are denied
We emphatically say to you state racism
We will not be silenced.