Work from home: Somalis live on the street, giving up housing for 1,500 pounds

For almost three years, refugees from Somalia, mother and son, have been living on a London street. Local authorities tried to relocate them to social housing nearby, but in vain… The Somali family, despite everything, for some reason prefers to stay on a bench in the open air.

(12 photos in total)

Somali refugees, a woman in her sixties and her son aged 25 to 30, have chosen a bench near the library on London's Tooting High Street, located in the south-east of the capital.

This is where they live: on a pile of their belongings under a blue tarpaulin. The family has been living on the street for almost three years. They were left homeless in December 2014, when they were evicted from their apartment for non-payment. According to rumors, they were on the street because of the illness and death of a family member, which knocked them out of the rut of life.

Usually their typical day starts with waking up around half past ten in the morning. The tarpaulin reclines: "Good morning, London!"

Sometimes passers-by buy food and water for the poor devils. Their usual day starts with breakfast: for the first meal, Africans prefer sandwiches with honey.

Umbrellas in Britain are always useful, they will save you from the drizzling London rain and from the scorching sun.

The son usually urinates right on the street, his mother prefers to use the library toilet.

So they have been living in the open air for almost three years. On cold nights, they wrap themselves in blankets, cover themselves with tarpaulins from rain and wind.

They eat mainly chicken and fried potatoes, drink coffee from neighboring coffee shops. During the day they walk along the street, sleep a lot, sometimes read books and listen to an mp3 player.

The City of London is desperately trying to accommodate these homeless people by offering renovated furnished apartments in south-west London, the rent of which costs about 1,500 pounds a month for ordinary citizens.

This is what such social housing looks like.

Mother and son have already abandoned two options for social housing, while one of the apartments was located on Tooting High Street, the same one where the family has been living since 2014.

Refugees in Britain are provided with housing and free medical care.

However, proud Africans for some reason prefer to live on a bench, despite the appeals of relatives and members of the local Somali community.