As the worrisome news of the fatal Ebola virus continues to spread, with airports screenings passengers from infected countries for the virus, and the NHS sending actors with fake symptoms into hospitals to prepare them for potential Ebola cases, the climate of fear that it has created is not too surprising.
Last week we reported that a 10-year-old school boy who had arrived with his fundraiser mother had been refused a place at his school after worried parents protested against his attending. They feared their children would contract the disease despite the fact that he had already tested negative for the virus.
This week, another student, 35 year-old Sierra Leonean Amara Bangura, told BBC Newsbeat that he was refused accommodation in two Norwich locations after the landlords discovered he was from the Ebola hit nation.
They had initially accepted his request however, after handing over his passport which showed he had arrived from West Africa two weeks ago, they rescinded the offer.
“Under normal circumstance. Your profile would be a great profile to be one of our lodgers,” one of the letters stated.
“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.”
Bangura was eventually able to find accommodation elsewhere and describes his initial treatment as unfair.
“It’s very unreasonable,” he stated. “And if you think everybody coming from Sierra Leone is affected, then that’s just completely unfair.”
