Refugee Stories Project - Reception and Integration

Fernando

editor — Fri, 25 May 2007 11:39:30 +0100

Summary

Fernando, a Colombian writer came to Spain as part of a resettlement program run by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). He talks about trying to start his life again, and the isolation that he and many asylum seekers he met experienced.

Body

Fernando was living as a refugee in Ecuador when his persecutors from Colombia found him and beat him. He ended up in hospital, with three broken ribs, unable to talk, and almost blind. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) asked him to resettle in Spain, or in Cananda. He chose Spain because of the language, and soon found himself on a plane to Madrid.

When he arrived at the airport, the police told him, 'You have a valid passport, you can go'. But he had nowhere to go. From there began his struggle to find a new life for himself in Spain. With the help of NGOs he was assigned a flat with some asylum seekers - not recognised refugees like himself in Gerona. Here he lived with people from all over the world, and experienced at first hand the uncertainty in which they were living while they were waiting for their claims to be processed. One of his flatmates - a young man from Chechenya - committed suicide and another one from Senegal could not wait to flee to another country.

He is now living in his own flat. He is grateful for the support of the goverments and NGOs, but still feels vulnerable.

"I put on a mask, I never talked about myself, but the documents I have showed everyone that I was a refugee, a word that most people relate to crime. Sometimes I think it would be better to say that I am an undocumented migrant."

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Resettlement

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Prisca

editor — Fri, 25 May 2007 08:51:18 +0100

Summary

Prisca is a refugee in Austria, who fled Cameroon in 2003. She struggles to feel settled and integrated into Austrian society, and hopes one day to find a job that relates to her experience.

Body

Prisca has been a refugee in Austria since 2002. She was granted refugee status within two weeks of arriving from her home country of Cameroon, and waited two years to bring her young son to join her. But she has since found it difficult to integrate – in particular to find a job that matches her qualifications and experience. This, together with some specific incidents of racism, has led to her feeling isolated from Austrian society.

“Integration in Austria is defined and limited to the level of learning a language and getting a job, and it doesn’t matter which job.”

Links 1

ECRE

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Reception and Integration

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Maria

editor — Fri, 25 May 2007 08:45:39 +0100

Summary

Maria has been a refugee in Greece ever since she fled Iran under the rule of Khomeini, when a colleague of her husband was imprisoned and killed for his political beliefs. Now, after twenty years in the country, Maria still has to renew her refugee status annually and struggles to belong in Greece.

Body

Maria says that her story as a refugee is full of too much fear and insecurity. She has been living in Greece since fleeing political persecution from Iran more than twenty years ago, but she still has no permanent status of any kind. The difficulties of her life as a refugee have taken their toll: the mental anguish of not knowing what the future holds and the memories of bringing up her children with almost no money to buy adequate food and clothes are hard to live with. Sometimes she feels like giving up but finds strength and companionship in an intercultural theatre group.

“Greece is a country that makes you feel insecure. If it weren’t for the theatrical group, it would have been awful. When our work was mentioned in the newspapers, I thought to myself ‘My land is the stage.”

Links 1

Reception and Integration

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ECRE

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Majidi

editor — Fri, 25 May 2007 08:42:49 +0100

Summary

Majidi is a refugee in Hungary, originally from Afghanistan. He fled war in his native country, poverty in Pakistan, and intimidation by soldiers in Turkey. He speaks eight languages, including Hungarian, and now feels settled in Hungary.

Body

Majidi is from Afghanistan, and has been living as a refugee in Hungary since 2004. His family fled the fighting in their home country, and tried to find a future in Pakistan. Poverty and lack of opportunity then drove Majidi to make his way to Europe.

When he arrived in Hungary, he did not intend to stay there, thinking that there would be more opportunities in Western Europe. But he now sees his future in Hungary, where through the kindness of friends and using his linguistic skills he has a job that he enjoys.

“I like reading, and going to the cinema or dancing. It depends on the company, I don’t want to offend anyone, I can fit in.”

Links 1

Border Controls

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ECRE

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Henri

editor — Fri, 25 May 2007 08:40:17 +0100

Summary

After training for a career in law in his homeland, Henri found himself retraining for work as a welder when he fled to Spain as a refugee. Now Henri manages to make ends meet for his family with his welding work but regrets his inability to practise law.

Body

Henri escaped conflict, political instability and persecution in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and arrived in Spain, where he was granted refugee status. An established lawyer at home in DRC, Henri had to retrain in order to find work in Spain's competitive labour market and began working as a welder. Henri lives with his wife - who travelled later to Spain and was recognised as a refugee following a separte procedure – and their young daughter born in Spain.

Henri longs to return home to his own culture and to practising law, his passion, but in the meantime, he makes the best of the life he has been able to build in Europe.

“I left my country unintentionally; I fled due to persecution… I would really love to go back and do again what I used to do there.”

Links 1

Reception and Integration

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ECRE

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Hedja

editor — Fri, 25 May 2007 08:24:29 +0100

Summary

At 19, Hedja was the oldest of three children accompanying their father to visit relatives in Germany. While abroad the situation in Iran prevented their father’s return and the family were obliged to seek politcal asylum in Spain – the first EU country they had entered. Five years on, Hedja's father and youngest brother have been granted refugee status, but she and another brother have not.

Body

Against all the odds, 24 year old Hedja is managing to complete her studies in dentistry at university in Spain. When she first arrived from Iran with 2 brothers and an ailing father seeking political asylum, she didn't know any Spanish and didn't have any qualifications recognised in Spain. The family waited five years for their asylum application to be processed. Even though Hedja doesn't know whether her temporary leave to stay in Spain will be renewed, she says it's preferable to the insecurity and anxiety of waiting for a decision from one day to the next.

“I live with my family, I am studying. We are less stressed now, after all the bad things that happened to us. They replied to us whether for good or bad, at least they replied.”

Links 1

Reception and Integration

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ECRE

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Habib

editor — Fri, 25 May 2007 08:14:25 +0100

Summary

Habib left his home in Afghanistan at 16, when Taliban activists punished his village by closing down the only school and carrying out routine attacks on the inhabitants. Habib fled after being badly injured in one of the attacks and is now living in Greece.

Body

Habib always intended to make something of his life but the Taliban deprived him of a future in his own country. Ill health, resulting from Taliban beatings, forced Habib to leave Afghanistan in search of medical treatment and better prospects. After living in Iran and Turkey for some 4 years with no prospect of earning enough money to pay for hospital care, he tried to reach Europe. He got across the waters in a makeshift boat that took him as far as Greece, where he has found treatment for his injuries, but not the future he had hoped for.

“My mind is confused. After 7 years away from my country, I called one day to talk to my mother and they told me she had died. There was a war going on where we were living, and there was nothing they could have done, they did not have medicine, they could not go to the hospital, so she died.”

Links 1

Reception and Integration

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ECRE

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Azekel

editor — Thu, 24 May 2007 13:56:45 +0100

Summary

Azekel. fled his home in Angola without knowing where he was going, and ended up in Belgium where he was put in detention, despite his poor health. Since he was smuggled into Belgium on an Italian visa, he was subject to the Dublin Regulation.

Body

Azekel, 43, left his home in Angola because his life was at risk. He fled the country without knowing where he was going and ended up in Belgium. Since he was smuggled into Belgium on an Italian visa, he was subject to the Dublin Regulation – the EU procedure for allocating responsibility to an individual member state for processing an asylum claim - and after two months in Belgium he was transferred to Italy.

Azekel was detained on arrival in Belgium in spite of his trauma and poor health. He received no information about the asylum procedure or the Dublin Regulation and had no opportunity to appeal the decision to transfer him. Azekel has now been recognised as a refugee and tells the story of his confusing encounter with Europe and its asylum system.

“If I could write my history as a refugee, I would only ask the persons governing the country that they should change their mentality.. their conscience. First of all their conscience.”

Links 1

Dublin II Regulation

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Alice

editor — Thu, 24 May 2007 13:05:04 +0100

Summary

Alice is a musician from Kyrgystan, who was arrested and tortured for her political beliefs. Since arriving in the UK to claim asylum in 2003, she has struggled to rebuild her life and regain her health. She has spent time living on the streets, has given up her profession, and is still trying to find work.

Body

Alice left Kyrgystan in 2003. She worked there as a professional musician, until one day she was arrested for playing at opposition rallies, tortured, and forbidden from playing in her orchestra. She was forced to flee, and came to the United Kingdom.

Since then she has been struggling to reassemble her life and to regain her health. She was made homeless during her asylum procedure, and after she obtained refugee status moved from hostel to hostel before finding permanent accommodation. She has found it impossible to continue her music, and difficult to get a job.

“Being an asylum seeker effects your whole life, your routine, it effects everything…because sometimes you want to do nothing, drop out of everything, you want to leave your courses or English courses or whatever, you want to go away, but to where?”

Links 1

Integration

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Cleo

editor — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 22:20:23 +0000

Summary

Cleo has lived in Scotland for seven years. She applied for asylum in 2000, but her final appeal was turned down and she is now without status. While she and her family wait for a resolution to their situation, she does her best to remain positive and to contribute to community life in Glasgow.

Body

Cleo's refugee story begins with her parents' flight from the Angolan civil war - before she was born - to the Congo and then to Zambia. Cleo has Zambian citizenship and is entitled to an Angolan passport, but she has never set foot in Angola and does not speak Portuguese. Her own troubles began when she was working in the Angolan embassy in Zambia, when relations between the two countries deteriorated and her own mixed heritage drew the attention of the Zambian authorities. Pregnant with her third child, Cleo travelled legally to the UK, in 2000, to escape the harassment of the Zambian police. She intended only to take a short break from the pressure back home, but when her sister warned her it was not safe to return, she applied for asylum.

Her asylum claim rejected, Cleo has lived in Scotland for four years without status.

"I owe a lot to Scotland, if only I had the chance to get the refugee status, I would pay everything back. I would prove to this country that I am not here for the benefits. I want to get a job.."