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Ahmed grew up on a subsistence farm in Royal India. And now, at 45, he's an expert on the traditional

red London double-decker bus. I remember some of the announcements. First is the bus

terminate here. Please take all your belonging with you. This bus terminates here. Please

take all your belongings with you. Sometimes I have listened. The next bus stop is closed.

The next bus stop is closed. The bus will wait while the drivers are changed. This

bus will wait a short time for a change of drivers to take place. So you could do the announcement?

Ahmed knows the announcements because he sleeps on London's night buses. He's homeless after

having his application for asylum in the UK turned down. But like many others, still fearing the

thing he ran away from, he stayed here. I'm Damien Zane and for this programme on the BBC World

Service, I'm travelling on the buses with Ahmed.

Ahmed's not alone. London, this lovely city, has a shadow population who are hardly seen

and are rarely heard. Let's hear from them now.

This is the park, you know, I've been sleeping. I've been sleeping here for long, long, long,

long time. When they killed my uncle, I saw in my front of my eyes. I was so scared,

just I ran away from that place. People do get granted asylum in the UK, but many get rejected.

In 2013, that rejection figure was more than 60%. Some appeal and wait for another decision,

others like Ahmed simply drop out of the system. Ahmed, which by the way isn't his real name as he

wants to remain anonymous, suggests we meet in Leicester Square in the heart of London's entertainment

district and at 11pm, it's still packed. A not so great busker with a guitar competes with a drummer

bashing out this crazy rhythm. And there's Ahmed, his small body wrapped in a large cream

...