‘Not a single minute of peace’: The increasing numbers of pregnant migrant women being made homeless

‘I am scared because he said we would become very famous because he would make a video of him killing me and the baby,’ one woman tells Maya Oppenheim

Thousands are currently homeless and either sleeping rough, estimates suggest (Nick Ansell/PA)

“I was cooking dinner,” Ana* tells The Independent. “He said to me: ‘You are not going to get out of this house alive because I’m going to kill you’. He was videoing me saying: ‘I’m going to do a live video recording of me killing you’. He put a knife by my neck.”

Ana, who came to the UK from Latin America, reported her partner to the police after a sustained campaign of abuse and, fearing the repercussions if she stayed in their flat, was left with nowhere to live – despite being four months pregnant.

Sadly Ana is not alone. Frontline service providers tell The Independent there is a growing problem of pregnant migrant women being forced onto the streets or sofa surfing during the pandemic.