Norbert Mbu Mbutu, Cardiff

Norbert is a journalist from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who has been in the UK for over four years without support. He lived on the streets in London for some 18 months, experiences which he is recording in book form. His claim for asylum has been repeatedly turned down, but he continues to campaign, while relying on the charity of friends for accommodation and food.

Norbert has a huge amount of dignity for someone who, in his own words, has "been reduced to his simplest form". Despite his disappointments, he understands the predicament facing the authorities; "Procedures are procedures. It is procedures that have made these developed countries what they are. The UK is an island; it looks like a boat, even if it is very big. It is normal for people who are living inside to feel unsafe as there are many others from abroad, who climb onto it."

He describes being an asylum seeker as being "like being a dead person between heaven and hell – in purgatory. African solidarity and friendship stops when one crosses the Mediterranean Sea. Everyone here is looking for money. No-one has time for anyone."

"How can you rest when your head and your spirit are not quiet?"