I Did Not Choose To Come Here Listening To Refugee Children

I Did Not Choose To Come Here Listening To Refugee Children

Description: "I did not choose to come here - I was sent because of the war. I would not choose this for anyone." Aslem, who arrived alone in the UK from Afghanistan aged 15 years to seek asylum

What does it feel like for young refugees and asylum seekers to be in care in the UK? Sent here alone to find safety, unaccompanied refugee children are often fleeing war or terror. Without the care and protection of their parents, they have the same needs as other children but also require services based on their particular needs and circumstances but they often experience an unacceptable level of care in this country.

Based on interviews with 33 refugee children from countries including Afghanistan, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Yugoslavia, this book asks them about their experiences of being an asylum seeking child in the UK. It offers a moving record of what they think and feel about their pre-exile experience, arrival and care in the UK, school life, immigration and asylum determination process, informal support available and the impacts of racism, prejudice and xenophobia.

The messages from unaccompanied refugee children at the end make it clear that they have complex needs that can only be fully met by the effective collaboration of professionals in various fields, who try to understand their experiences and needs. But that can only happen when professionals choose to do so.

"It might be difficult for some people to understand about refugee children. If they want to stay happy then they do not want to hear our story." Abdoul, a 15 year old boy from Somalia."

Author: Selam Kidane

Published: Novermber 2001

http://www.baaf.org.uk/