Although there is great national diversity among refugee communities in the UK, the largest national group of refugee children in the UK are Somalis. Other large groups include Sri Lankan Tamils, Kurds, Albanian speakers, Zimbabweans, Iraqis, Afghans and Iranians.
Most refugee children still live in London and the South East, but new arrivals have been dispersed around the country since 1999 when the Government implemented the Immigration and Asylum Act. In March 2004, the UK Government also established the Gateway Protection Programme to resettle vulnerable refugees who are in need of long-term protection around the UK. For more information on the Gateway Protection Programme visit the Refugee Council website.
Refugee children’s needs
Like adult refugees, refugee children come from diverse backgrounds and may have had very challenging and possibly traumatic experiences. Many of them speak little or no English and will be living in temporary accommodation with no access to money. In addition, significant numbers of refugee children:
- Have had an interrupted education back home
- Are separated from their parents or normal carers or have parents who are emotionally absent or over-protective
- Move from school to school because their family lives in temporary housing
- Are bullied at school because of ethnicity, religion or culture or
- Arrive at school in the middle of a term and therefore have difficulty settling in
There is no simple checklist of services that should be provided to all refugee children alike. Each refugee child has very individual needs. However, the following issues should be considered for all refugee children, within and outside of the school environment:
- A warm welcome into school and a well-planned induction
- English language support
- Help maintaining and developing their home language skills
- Emotional and psychological support
- Parental involvement
- Homework clubs, after-school clubs and extended school activities (very beneficial to refugee children and others who live in temporary housing)
- Access to high quality early years provision
- Protection against any discrimination and prejudices other pupils may display as this can lead to isolation or bullying
Although it is sometimes difficult to get non-English speaking parents involved in their children’s education, many schools and early years settings are successful in doing so. It is important that there is good communication between schools and parents or carers. The school or the local authority has a duty to help arrange interpreters if necessary. Interpreters are also available through the community, such as Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs) for example.
