UEA student denied TWO flats for coming from Ebola hotspot

A marginalised UEA student has been refused flats by landlords because he comes from Sierra Leone.

Cruel landlords turned down Amara Bungara because he hailed from a country afflicted with the Ebola virus. .

The 35-year-old first arrived in Norwich two weeks ago to begin his studies, and said that he was “devastated to be turned down”.

He revealed that the landlords were ready to allow his tenancy to begin until they saw his passport and realised he was from Sierra Leone.

He told Newsbeat: “It’s very unreasonable. And if you think everybody coming from Sierra Leone is affected, then that’s just completely unfair.”

Despite having no symptoms of the virus, Amara was still told he was unsuitable to proceed with the tenancy.

A letter from one landlord revealed the reasons why: “Under normal circumstance, your profile would be a great profile to be one of our lodgers.

“However, given that the world is about to probably experience an Ebola epidemic, we have decided not to accept anyone that has been anywhere near the ebola outbreak within the last two months, or is likely to visit those areas in the near future.”

Although he’s now found somewhere to live, Amara said it is wrong to presume anyone who comes from the area carries the disease.

UEA has criticised the landlords’ decision in support of Amara’s unfair treatment.

Holly Staynor, the Student Union’s Welfare, Community and Diversity Officer said: “Anyone refusing to accommodate a healthy student from Sierra Leone on the basis that they might be spreading Ebola is either naive or stupid – and we certainly won’t be recommending them in the Union’s housing services.

“Any landlord daft enough to take this kneejerk view would do well to read advice from Public Health England on the subject, go into the corner and think about the impression they are creating of the UK.”

The landlords’ identities are not known, but Amara said that the situation was “completely unfair.”