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The Refugee Journey
Tahera Khan Senior Race Equality Officer
June 2017
Questions
June 2017
The Refugee Journey Tahera Khan Senior Race Equality Officer June - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
The Refugee Journey Tahera Khan Senior Race Equality Officer June - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
The Refugee Journey Tahera Khan Senior Race Equality Officer June 2017 Questions Definition of Refugees Definition of Asylum Seekers Number of people forced to leave their homes globally by end of 2015 Numbers in 2015 seeking asylum Numbers
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Answers
June 2017
- A refugee is someone whose asylum application has been successful
and who is allowed to stay in another country.
- An asylum seeker is someone who has fled persecution in their country
- f origin, has arrived in another country, made themselves known to the
authorities and exercised their right to apply for asylum.
- By the end of 2015 over 65.3 million people had been forced to leave
their home
- 2.3 million people were seeking asylum
- 21.3 million people were refugees
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), also known
as the UN Refugee Agency
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Resettlement
June 2017
- What is refugee resettlement?
- How many refugees need to be resettled globally?
- Who is resettled?
- How does resettlement in Britain work?
- How long do resettled refugees stay?
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Resettlement
June 2017
- Refugee Resettlement -
Refugees are fleeing persecution, violence and conflict and are often unable to travel far beyond the borders of their home country. They often live in refugee camps or urban settings for years; many children have lived their entire lives in refugee camps. One of the ways in which the UN’s Refugee Agency (UNHCR) helps such refugees is to offer resettlement to another country.
- How many refugees need
to be resettled? According to the UNHCR, of the 14.4 million refugees of concern to the UNHCR around the world, less than one per cent are submitted for resettlement – which means many refugees face a long, uncertain wait to hear if they will ever be able to rebuild their lives in safety
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June 2017
Resettlement continued
Who is resettled? Refugees are resettled if their life is at risk or they have specific additional needs and there is no hope of them ever returning home. Many refugees who are resettled are survivors of torture or other forms of violence. How does resettlement in Britain work? The UN’s Refugee Agency UNHCR identifies refugees in need of resettlement in the region. They then submit these candidates to the British Government who decide which cases to accept How long do resettled refugees stay? Refugees being resettled through Britain’s Gateway programme arrive with indefinite leave to remain. That means they can stay forever, in acknowledgment that the only reason they are coming to the UK is because the UN’s Refugee Agency has decided it’s not safe for them to keep living in a refugee camp or precarious urban situation and there is very little hope of them ever returning home.
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June 2017
Resettlement in Britain
All refugees, including those who are resettled through both the Gateway Protection Programme and the Syrian Vulnerable Person’s Relocation Scheme are able to work and access mainstream services. However, Humanitarian Protection means the Syrians resettled here have slightly different entitlements e.g. to higher education. Fundamentally, there is little difference between resettled refugees and refugees who are granted asylum: they are often fleeing exactly the same conflicts, exactly the same persecution though their journeys to safety are very different. Refugee resettlement and different countries’ asylum systems are separate processes. What rights do resettled refugees have? How is resettlement different to asylum?
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Asylum Seekers
- Under international law,
anyone has the right to claim asylum in Britain. However, as with most
- ther European
countries, a refugee has to have already arrived in Britain before they are able to make a claim for asylum.
- Britain offers no
‘asylum visa’ – this means there are no safe, legal ways for a refugee to reach Britain in order to claim
- asylum. Unlike resettled
refugees, refugees who claim asylum in Britain have often undertaken a perilous journey at the hands of smugglers before arriving here
June 2017
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June 2017
Resettlement in Leicester/shire
G4s figures for Leicester/shire January 2017 Current Residents Current Residents Section 95 Section 4 Total Family 655 116 771 Singles 247 38 285 Total 902 154 Service User Movement In 46 Out 42 Net 4
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Resettlement in Leicester continued
- Work concentrating on integration,
resettlement and support for refugees and new arrivals included: 2,032 cases. 14% increase on last year.
- Assistance with Job Search,
Employment, Training and Volunteering issues: 375 cases opened. Outcome: 63 into employment or education
- Immigration matters 353
- Language assistance through ESOL
delivered by volunteers in the evenings: 18 individuals attending a voluntary programme from January – March
From a footfall of 5,346 during the twelve month period we worked with 2,818 individual clients - from 46 different nationalities.
June 2017
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June 2017
New refugees are supported to move on from asylum support within the28- day ‘move on’ period by providing assistance with applying for welfare entitlements and opening a bank account. Refugees are supported to fully understand the housing options available to them by a range of
- agencies. Assistance with completing housing benefit forms and support to
bid for council housing online. Assistance to chase up identity cards and refugee status papers. Assistance to identify local schools and GP’s and complete registration forms. Refugees are supported to fully understand the labour market and volunteering and employability opportunities. Assistance is provided to develop employability skills Refugees are supported to use the Rapid English programme and Learn My Way.
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June 2017
- Celebrate Refugee
week 19-25 JUNE 2017
- Visit website for
information and resources: www. http://refugeeweek.org. uk/
- World Refugee Day is
- n, 20 June each year
- The Race Equality
Centre is available to work with organisations
- n addressing
concerns, dispelling myths, understanding the constantly changing systems which impact
- n refugees and new
arrivals.
And finally,
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CONTACT DETAILS
Contact: Tahera Khan Tel: (0116) 204 2790 Email: tahera.khan@theraceequalitycentre.org.uk www.theraceequalitycentre.org.uk
June 2017