The asylum seeker mum of a toddler with sickle cell disease has been refused access to a microwave at her hotel, where staff instead give her jars of baby food that the 16-month-old refuses to eat.

As a result, Mariam* believes her daughter’s development is slowed. Zarah has only just begun to crawl, and suffers from digestive problems.

Mariam and Zarah have been living in a room in a hotel run by Millennium Hotels since January while awaiting the outcome of their asylum claim.

Mariam has begged hotel staff to let her use their cooking facilities, because Zarah needs more than the baby food she is given by the hotel. But staff have refused, meaning she often has to rely on breastfeeding – something she struggles to do because of her own lack of nutritious food.

The charity Migrant Help also asked for Mariam to be allowed a microwave in her room, without success. A hotel manager told openDemocracy this was not possible because the unit would need to be tested for electrical safety, but he did not say why this could not be done, and the Home Office did not address it when asked.

“I don’t want anything bad to happen to her,” said Mariam, 30. “She’s the only one I have. I just have to be strong for her.”

Mariam told openDemocracy she had been trafficked into the UK from Nigeria in February 2022, while pregnant, and then held in a locked room in an unknown location by her exploiter.

“He wanted to exploit me more and take my baby away from me,” she said. “He wanted to take me to another person to exploit me to have babies. I was so scared when I heard what he wanted to do.”

Fearing if she stayed she would either die or be forced into prostitution, Mariam said she knew she had to escape, and when she finally saw the chance, she ran, not knowing where she was headed.

“I saw a church entrance and so I ran into the church,” she said. “Someone was in the church.”

Mariam rushed to explain to the woman in the church what had happened, begging to sleep in the church overnight. The woman agreed, but in the morning, Mariam was told she would need to leave.

“I went outside to beg for money so I could eat,” she said.

While begging, a woman approached Mariam and offered her a place to stay. The woman took Mariam to her home in Forest Hill, where Zarah was born. After a few months, Mariam was introduced to the All African Women’s Group, who helped her apply for asylum in January 2023, and she was moved to the hotel in Crawley.

Unable to cook or heat food for herself and her daughter, Mariam depends on the hotel to provide meals.

The Hipp baby food and Cerelac cereal she is given for Zarah are intended for babies from six months old. The NHS says toddlers over a year old should eat a diet consisting of a wide variety of vegetables, fruit, starchy foods, proteins and dairy – which Zarah, who refuses all but one of the flavours of baby food on offer, is not getting.

In addition, some sickle cell specialists, according to the Sickle Cell Society, recommend that children with the condition need increased calories and protein compared to other kids because their bodies use more energy making new red blood cells.

The Home Office told openDemocracy the food provided in asylum hotels “meets NHS Eatwell standards” and that, “where concerns are raised about any aspect of the service delivered in a hotel”, it works with the provider to ensure they are addressed.

With £18 a week from the Home Office and an additional £26 a week from the charity Migrant Help, Mariam attempts to top up food for Zarah, but without being able to cook or heat food her choices are limited.

“I get some noodles for her and mix it with sardines, and give her some snacks,” she said. “But she needs proper food.”

Mariam believes the lack of variety and calories is contributing to Zarah’s bouts of constipation.

“I force her to take water,” she said. “She is crying when the poo wants to come out. She is in pain, and sometimes blood will come out.”

When Zarah feels hungry, which is often, Mariam attempts to breastfeed – but isn’t producing enough milk to satisfy her.

‘Systemic’

Mariam and Zarah are not alone, according to charities working with families housed in hotels while awaiting their asylum decisions. Last month, UK home secretary Suella Braverman was found to have acted unlawfully in failing to provide basic support to asylum seekers, including to children and pregnant women.

Toufique Hossain, public law director at Duncan Lewis, told openDemocracy problems like Mariam’s “appear to be systemic across a number of hotels”. “The Home Office can’t simply say it is a specific contractor responsible for a specific hotel. It’s not just one provider. We’ve seen it [poor nutrition and a lack of food] across the board.”

Hotels meant to be used for short-term accommodation might be providing appropriate food for emergency accommodation, but with the asylum decision backlog, they are being used to house people for months on end.

“You’re seeing people – children – living in hotels on a long-term basis,” Hossain said. “They were never designed for that.”

Updated 8 August 2023: This article has been amended to remove Mariam's surname, at her request, and the name of the hotel where Mariam was staying at the request of a group supporting asylum seekers and trafficking survivors.