Lesson video

Hi everyone, and welcome to lesson one of The Refugee Tales with me, Miss Kuhivchak.

In this lesson, we're going to learn about some terminology for refugees and asylum seekers.

And we're going to learn about the history of The Refugee Tales and how it came about.

I hope you're ready to learn, and I hope you enjoy.

For this lesson, you will need three things; you need a pen, something to write on and your brain.

If your brain isn't switched on, then I'm afraid the lesson won't work at all.

Though if you don't have a pen and paper, don't worry, the lesson will still work.

However, if you need time, pause the video, go and get a pen and a piece of paper and we'll get started.

Before we start the lesson, I'm going to read you a content warning.

Please note that this lesson contains distressing content about war, violence, racism and imprisonment.

If these are sensitive topics for you, we recommend checking with a trusted adult before starting, or doing the lesson with a trusted adult nearby.

I'm going to take you through today's agenda, we're going to look at some key terminology, so that's key terms or words that you'll need to access this text.

Then we're going to learn about the reasons why people seek asylum.

And finally, we're going to look at, what is "The Refugee Tales Project".

At the end of the lesson, there'll be a little quiz for you to review your learning and see how much you've learned today.

So we're going to talk about The Refugee Tales.

Now The Refugee Tales is a collection of short stories looks like this.

For our lessons, we're going to be focusing on the prologue.

But before we do that, we need to understand, what The Refugee Tales is, and in fact, what is a refugee? We're going to look at some key terms that will help you to understand what these stories and what the prologue is about.

Our three key terms are refugee, migrant, and asylum seeker.

You might have heard all of these words before, but you might not know the differences between them.

And they're quite important to understand how to access these texts.

So we're going to think about what they mean, and I'm going to show you some definitions to help you.

Your first task, I want you to think about, what is a refugee? And you might want to pause the video and jot down some quick ideas or bullet points about what do you think the word refugee actually means? Now a refugee is someone who's unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted.

Now, that means somebody who has a justified reason not to return home.

And there could be a variety of reasons why they don't want to return home.

These might include reasons such as, being persecuted for their race, being persecuted for their religion, their nationality, being a member of a particular kind of social group, maybe for having a particular political opinion.

And this definition comes from what's called The Refugee Convention by the United Nations.

That's an agreed definition of what a refugee is.

And it doesn't matter what country or where they come from.

Refugees are people who are looking for a safe place because they no longer feel safe in their own country.

Now, the next term, migrant, you might have heard before, and you might be thinking that it's similar to what a refugee is.

Again, I'd like you to pause the video and just think if you can explain.

what is a migrant? And how might a migrant be different to a refugee? Now, a migrant is any person who's moved or has moved or is moving across an international border away from their place where they usually live, their habitual place of residence.

However, unlike a refugee, that's regardless of their legal status, whether the movement is voluntary or involuntary, meaning whether they want to or not, what the causes for the movement are, or what the length of the stay is.

Now, unlike a refugee, a migrant doesn't have to have a particular reason for moving.

In fact, migrant comes from the word migrate, which means to move.

So it means any person who's moved away from their place of origin, regardless of the reason.

A migrant isn't necessarily a refugee.

Now we have third definition, an asylum seeker.

And this is really important for The Refugee Tales.

You might have heard the word asylum seeker before.

And if you can try to jot down what you think it means, and maybe how asylum seeker might be different to migrant or refugee.

Now an asylum seeker is a person who has left their country, they're seeking protection from persecution, and maybe serious human rights violations in another country.

But they haven't yet been legally recognised as a refugee.

They are waiting to receive a decision on their asylum claim.

Now, the word asylum actually means help.

So an asylum seeker is somebody who is looking for help, looking for a safe place.

Now, because somebody is in the process of seeking asylum, they haven't got the legal recognition of refugee's status.

And this is very important to The Refugee Tales.

Because in The Refugee Tales, we hear the stories of people who are seeking asylum, and who haven't yet being given refugee status, which means they're not yet entitled to help.

This means that the stories within The Refugee Tales, often stories of struggle, people who have lacked support when they've come to the UK, even though they have a genuine reason for coming.

It's important to remember that seeking asylum is actually a human right.

Anybody in the world in any country is allowed to enter another country to seek asylum.

And we'll learn later in this video about the process of seeking asylum and how it works in the UK.

Now take your time to think more in detail about the reasons why somebody might seek asylum.

Pause the video and do a quick little either mind map or set of bullet points about the reasons you can remember why somebody might need to leave their country and seek protection somewhere else.

There are a few main reasons why somebody might need to leave.

And hopefully, you'll have remembered some of them.

For a start, you might get somebody fleeing their country, because it's a war zone.

And it may not be possible for them to stay safely in their old lives anymore.

The homes may have been destroyed, they may have had no jobs to go to, and their lives may be in danger.

And it's very common for countries surrounding a war zone to take in refugees as a result of this war.

There may be some other kinds of persecution, that's more personal than a war which affects everybody.

A particular group of people might be persecuted for their race or for their religion, and it may no longer be safe for them to stay in their own country, because the laws of their country won't protect them from their persecution.

Somebody may also be prosecuted for their sexual orientation.

So in a country where there is no law protecting gay, lesbian or trans rights, it may be safer for somebody to leave than to stay and hide their sexual orientation.

They may also be persecuted because of their religious beliefs.

And they may no longer be able to worship safely, either in public or in private.

And finally, their political beliefs may have caused them in some way to suffer some kind of discrimination.

And that might be because they're active in a particular political party, or because they oppose the government that's ruling at the time.

It can also be a combination of these things that has caused somebody to leave.

Now I'm going to do a short quiz to see how much you can remember about the kinds of reasons people seek asylum, and what the differences is between a migrant, a refugee and an asylum seeker.

These are going to be true or false.

So get your pen and write down quickly numbers one to five.

Next to each one you put 'T' or 'F' depending on whether you think the following statements are true or false.

You can pause the video at any point to think about your answers.

My first statement is, that migrants are always refugees? My second statement is, an asylum seeker could be fleeing war, violence or persecution? Number three, a refugee is someone who's travelled from another country? Number four, seeking asylum means you will be definitely granted the right to stay in your new country? And number five, seeking asylum in another country is a human right available to anyone? Now well done if you got these answers right.

We're going to check them together.

Number one was actually false.

Migrants are not always refugees.

If you remember from the beginning of the lesson, migrant just means, somebody who's travelled from one place to another.

It doesn't necessarily make them a refugee, unless they're fleeing some kind of persecution.

It's a more general term, whereas refugee is specific.

It was true for number two that an asylum seeker could be fleeing war, violence or persecution of some kind.

Number three, however, was false.

A refugee is not someone who's travelled from another country.

Remember, that's what a migrant is doing.

A refugee is someone who has travelled from another country in order to seek safety.

They've been legally recognised as a refugee.

Number four was sadly false.

Seeking asylum doesn't mean you'll definitely be granted it.

In fact, a lot of asylum appeals happen because initially, the appeal for asylum is rejected.

We're going to see a little bit about that later on in the lesson.

There are no guarantees that because you fled your country that another country is happy to take you in and legally recognise your refugee status.

However, it is a human right available to everyone.

Everyone has the right to try to seek asylum.

Whether or not it happens, is a different question.

And that's partly why The Refugee Tales has been written.

The Refugee Tales is a group project that was set up by a group of writers, poets and novelists.

They were set up because there were concerns about the treatment of migrants coming to the UK, particularly once you've had long, tiring and often dangerous journeys to reach the UK.

There was concern that too many asylum seekers were being put in what was called detention centres.

There is no limit to the amount of time that somebody seeking asylum can be held in a detention centre.

In fact, an asylum seeker could be held for years and years without any change to their status.

The Refugee Towers was set up to raise awareness of the number of asylum seekers in the UK being held in these detention centres, and to protest that the treatment was unfair.

But in fact, in a lot of the stories that we'll read, you'll come to understand, why it is that these refugees have made these decisions to leave their countries.

And as they wait for their refugee status to be approved, they often don't have much power to tell their stories or explain where they've come from.

Therefore, the refugee towers were set up so that these stories can be heard by a variety of different people.

And hopefully, some of their circumstances might be changed.

So an immigration detention centre is mentioned in the prologue and throughout the book.

It's actually a government centre run by a private business.

And they can be held indefinitely in a detention centre.

Indefinitely means without an end.

And in the UK, we have up to 25,000 migrants detained annually in 10 centres across the UK.

And the comparison that's often made with them is the security conditions are very similar to prisons.

That is nobody is allowed to leave or enter.

And if you want to know more about these, "The Refugee Tales Project" has a chapter on immigration detention centres at the end.

The part of the problem that is often criticised for these detention centres, is the fact that there's just no limit on how long somebody will be detained in one.

The United Kingdom is the only country where an immigration detention centre has no limit on the time that people can spend.

And in fact, in The Refugee Tales, somebody has mentioned who'd spent up to nine years in one of these centres, not able to think about their future and not able to make any choices about what happened to them.

So how does The Refugee Tales actually help refugees and asylum seekers in the UK? Well, there's a variety of things that they do.

The first thing that happens is raising awareness through the use of an annual Refugee Tales walk, which takes place every year.

This is a walk done with the poets and novelists within the book, and with refugees and asylum seekers in detention centres, as well as volunteers who offer to help them.

Money is raised to help people raise appeals to get out of these detention centres and find their new lives.

The walk and the book encourages donations to support claims of asylum seekers who need lawyers to help make their case.

And in fact, the proceeds of the book go directly towards charities that support these claims. The Refugee Tales also does train people to volunteer to support refugees in their local area.

So there isn't just financial help, but practical help as well.

You can also write to your local MP to ask your local MP to close detention centres in the UK to find a more humane and sympathetic way of treating these people.

And finally, the book itself helps just by telling the stories of refugees across the world.

And often these stories are stories that might not have been heard before.

Because these people might just not ever have had a chance to explain what has happened to them.

So, it's important that a lot of these stories are actually what we call anonymous.

Anonymous meaning we don't know the names of the people who were speaking.

And there's a good reason for this, which is often these people need to be kept safe from what's happened in the previous country, and there might not want these things to be known about them in their new lives.

Therefore, a lot of the names in The Refugee Tales aren't the real names of the people who were telling the stories.

These stories are also written and rewritten by different British writers who've chosen different ways of telling the stories according to the ways that they like to write.

Often they might have interviewed or spoken to people before writing and use their stories as inspiration for something new.

Importantly, these stories make links with Chaucer's "The the Canterbury Tales", which is stories of pilgrims travelling to Canterbury.

And in fact, the first Refugee Tales walk was a walk on the pilgrims way.

And we'll talk more about this next lesson when will learn about what pilgrimage is.

It's important to know that the stories within here, are based on true stories and experiences.

If you go on to read the stories after the prologue, please be aware that some of them are distressing.

But these stories are about what has happened to real people across the world, and we can't just pretend that these things don't happen.

Finally, all the profits for the book go towards charity.

So by reading or purchasing the book, you are also helping to protect people who are seeking asylum in the UK as well.

I'm going to show you a short video, which explains the situation of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

There's going to be some questions that follow.

And I'd like you to listen carefully to the video and think about the situation for refugees and asylum seekers and migrants, and you'll get some statistics that might be helpful for you to use as well.

There's also a personal story with somebody explaining their own experience of seeking asylum.

Listen carefully, and then answer the questions that follow.

Persecution, war, violence.

There are more than 40 million men, women and children around the world that need protection.

They can be persecuted because of their ethnicity, religion, nationality, or political opinion, or just because they belong to a social group that someone in power does not like.

Refugees are innocent people forced to flee their homes and communities, facing violence, imprisonment without trial, rape, torture or death.

Many have no choice but to flee, leaving family, friends and the country behind.

It is the most difficult decision to make.

For years, the UK has offered sanctuary to refugees.

Around 63 million people live in Britain.

Refugees make up only a quarter of 1% of the population, a very small number.

Each year, around 20,000 people fleeing persecution arrive in the UK seeking asylum.

Under international law, the government has to provide protection to people who meet the criteria for asylum.

in the northeast of England, we have a very small number of asylum seekers, fewer than 2000 out of a population of 2.

6 million people.

In Newcastle, the number of asylum seekers is smaller still, fewer than 300 people are waiting to hear whether they will be allowed to stay.

When a person is in danger and has to flee, there is often no time to say goodbye to family and friends and no chance of taking their possessions with them.

People are called asylum seekers while they are waiting to hear if the government will let them stay.

If the government thinks it's dangerous for people to return, it grants them status as refugees.

So what happens when a person fleeing persecution arrives in the UK to claim asylum? Most people fleeing persecution arrive by plane.

They present their passport at Immigration, they have to tell someone that they want to claim asylum, they are taken to a screening interview where they are fingerprinted, photographed and questioned, they are then sent to a nearby hostel.

Sometime later they are dispersed, sent by bus to another city in the UK.

They then have a long interview with a government caseworker and interpreter.

The first decision is then reached, if negative they can appeal.

But if the appeal is rejected, they face detention and removal back to their country.

If positive, they are given refugee status, initially for five years, and the challenge of building a new life in a strange place begins.

Ayesha, a young woman forced to leave her country will tell us the story of what happened after she arrived at the airport in London.

When I finally got off the plane.

I had been travelling for days.

I was very tired and confused.

I handed over my passport and told the man I needed to claim asylum.

I was taken away and asked a lot of questions.

It was difficult to talk straight away.

I felt exhausted.

I was fingerprinted and photographed before being sent to a hostel.

After a couple of days, I was told I was being dispersed to Newcastle.

I had no idea where this was.

After a long journey by coach, we finally arrived.

I was already missing my friends and family and felt so lonely and frightened.

A week later I had to go to a asylum interview where I met my case worker from the government.

She asked me a lot of questions and I tried to tell her everything that had happened to me in my country.

It was very upsetting to talk about the horrible things that I had seen.

I was given somewhere to stay and a little money roughly five pounds a day.

I wanted to do more for myself, but we're told we weren't allowed to work while the decision was being made.

After about six weeks, I received the first decision from the government.

It was bad news.

My asylum claim was refused.

But I was told I could appeal.

My solicitor says she thought I had a strong case.

I had to wait for months for the appeal decision.

And this was a very hard time.

A few people living in our streets were very unfriendly, calling us bad names, throwing eggs when we went out.

After four months, I heard the appeal was successful.

I was granted refugee status.

It was a huge relief.

I later found out that only 1/3 of applicants are given refugee status, 2/3 are rejected.

They can appeal but only 1/4 of those appeals succeed.

The rest are told they could return to the country they fled, but most are too scared to do so.

They can then be detained or forcibly removed.

And once their application is rejected, they are evicted from their house and denied even a few pounds a day they had been getting.

The system makes them homeless.

But for many I know this is still better than returning to the danger they fled from.

The Western Refugee Service helps people like me, who are granted refugee status, as well as those who are waiting for the government to decide.

They also help the people who have been refused asylum.

WERS refugee service is supporting over 400 people from 37 different countries.

They make us feel welcome.

They give us time to talk and help us to get back on our feet, but we still have to deal with the trauma that forced us to flee and the loneliness that comes from being away from home.

That's very tough.

And it can be a very long time before that goes away.

Having watched that video, there are going to be some questions for you to answer.

I'm going to read them to you, and it might be a good idea to pause at the end of the questions and have a think.

Remember, you can always go back and re-watch the video if you're not sure of the answers.

Question one, how many refugees are there around the world? Question two, what problems might a refugee face? Question three, how does a refugee claim asylum? Question four, what happens if they are refused asylum? Number five, how did Ayesha feel without her friends and family? Number six, how did she feel when she was granted asylum? And number seven, what total of asylum seekers get refugee status? We're now going to check your answers.

For question one, There are 40 million refugees around the world.

For question two, a refugee might need to flee war or violence or persecution for ethnicity, nationality, religion or their politics.

A refugee claims asylum by saying the words "I want to claim asylum".

And if they refused asylum, they can be deported or made homeless.

Ayesha felt lonely without her friends and family.

But she was relieved when she was finally granted asylum.

And in the UK, the total of asylum seekers that gets refugee status is 1/3.

Well done if you've got those answers right.

So to recap everything we've done today, we looked at key terminology on the difference between migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

We talked about the reasons why people seek asylum.

And we discussed what "The Refugee Tales Project" is, and why it does the work that it does.

Remember at the end of this lesson, there's a short quiz for you to review your learning and check what you've learned.

Next lesson, we're going to look in more detail at the idea of pilgrimage and how that relates to "The Refugee Tales Project".

Thank you for listening today.

I hope you enjoyed today's lesson, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your learning for today.