A heavily pregnant refugee is set to be evicted and moved to the other side of the country just two weeks before her due date.

Ayana* is due to give birth in early April. All her prenatal appointments have been in Tower Hamlets in east London and her birth is also booked at the nearby Royal London Hospital. But next week she will be uprooted by the council and sent 250 miles away to Middlesbrough, where she has no friends or family – or medical records.

Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth (HASL), the housing rights group supporting Ayana, believes she could successfully appeal the decision and has – at the last minute – found a lawyer willing to take on her case.

“I’m scared,” said the 30-year-old, who has asked us not to use her real name for fear of abuse. “My situation is not good but I’m trying to be relaxed as much as I can so that this doesn’t affect my baby. I can’t even be as emotional as I want.”

Ayana moved to the UK from Eritrea in 2020 with her now ex-husband. Although she did spend two years working at factories and a care home in Middlesbrough, she no longer has any connections there and moved back to Shadwell almost a year ago.

She became homeless at the start of the year and was housed in a B&B as a form of emergency accommodation. But earlier this month, Tower Hamlets Council rejected her application for housing, saying she had more of a local connection to Middlesbrough and should be housed there instead. She disputes this, saying her relatives live in east London and that all her maternity care is here.

Asked about having her first baby, she said: “I don’t feel excited. Because even if I give birth I’m still thinking about where I’m going after having the baby. The hotel room is very small. So it’s difficult for me and it will be difficult for my baby… I feel hopeless. I feel like no one is beside me.”

In an eviction email seen by openDemocracy, Tower Hamlets Council told Ayana that her “comfort and well-being are of utmost importance” and offered assistance with travel to Middlesbrough – but did not acknowledge her pregnancy or concerns about continuing her care in a new city.

Ayana is also currently waiting for confirmation on whether she has gestational diabetes and says even a midwife has told her the council’s decision is “nonsense” and that she “can’t go because all [her] medical history is here”.

Elizabeth Wyatt from HASL called the move “inexcusable and horrifying”.

“Our group has been running for almost 11 years now and we often have low expectations of local authorities, but we have been extremely shocked by this,” she said. “We’re deeply concerned for her health and her baby’s health – and we can’t understand why Tower Hamlets Council do not seem to have any concern for them at all.”

A spokesperson for Focus E15, a group led by mothers who campaign against rising rents, evictions, and displacement, said: “It is essential for women who are pregnant to be near their medical services and support networks. They must have security in housing for their overall mental health and well being.

“Too many children are born living in precarious housing which disrupts their education and is linked to poor mental health outcomes in young people. Council practices of moving pregnant women away from their vital support networks must be challenged.”

There are currently 175,000 people in so-called temporary accommodation in London, including 85,000 children. In reality, despite recommendations they be used for a maximum of weeks at a time, many languish in these cramped, unsuitable rooms for years.

On its website, Tower Hamlets Council tells those applying to join its 23,000-strong housing waiting list that “most people who join… will never be offered a social housing tenancy”. As of 31 March 2023 it had just nine properties that were vacant and available for letting.

Nationally, 1.2 million people are on waiting lists for social housing. People can wait decades before being offered a home, and openDemocracy revealed that in 2022 2,300 people had died in a single year while on the waiting list.

Cash-strapped local authorities spent £1.74bn between April 2022 and March 2023 to house people in private sector temporary accommodation – which includes hotels, B&Bs, shelters and hostels – because they have nowhere else to place people. That figure is set to rise to £2.1bn for 2023/24.

As of November, 104,000 households – including 139,000 children – were in temporary accommodation across the country, up from 50,400 in 2010.

A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said: “[Ayana] had previously lived in Middlesbrough for two years before coming to London. Following her homelessness application, we made enquiries into her circumstances and then made a referral to Middlesbrough Council for housing, which they have accepted.

“[Ayana’s] hotel accommodation will be ending and we have informed her of this and the date that it will end. We have offered her support with the costs towards her relocation. Middlesbrough Council is expecting her to approach them and will offer support.”

The council did not respond to criticisms of evicting Ayana while heavily pregnant.

*Name has been changed