LONDON, England (CNN) -- High up in a tower block in a grim suburb of Birmingham, central England, Shoorai feels cold and vulnerable in the storage cupboard where she sleeps and worries how she will survive the approaching winter.
The cupboard is located outside the lifts on a public corridor, which reeks of cannabis smoke. Intimidating youths lurk in its doorways. Shoorai is scared here, but she says her lonely existence here is still preferable to being sent home.
The 38-year-old sleeps here because her claim for asylum in Britain has been rejected, meaning she gets no benefits or shelter. She says she cannot -- or will not -- return to Zimbabwe, from where she fled in 2006, because "the situation was even worse back home. People were beaten ... people were killed and they were tortured".
"I don't want to be returned to Zimbabwe. They will kill me," Shoorai, originally from Bulawayo southern Zimbabwe, adds.
Wasn't life in England supposed to be better than this? Close to tears, she says: "Yes I thought so, but it's no longer better because I am suffering ... I don't have a shelter. When it's cold I come inside and sleep here, take my blankets".
And Shoorai is far from unique. According to one leading charity, more than 200,000 failed asylum seekers in Britain share her plight: destitute, hungry and vulnerable.
The quietly spoken mother of three says she ran away from Zimbabwe in 2006 after she heard that as an active member of the MDC opposition party, there were people searching for her. She went first to South Africa, and then, using a short-term visa, she travelled to Britain where she claimed asylum from persecution under United Nations guidelines.
CNN
