Podcast 1
Music
Montage of clips.
The voices of female refugees. Most of the women seeking asylum in the UK have suffered appalling abuses. They’ve often been raped or tortured, leaving them traumatized and in need of protection or support. Others, who have escaped such horrors, face a raft of other gender-related issues – prejudice and social isolation among them.
I’m Rachel Salaman, and in this series of podcasts, I’ll be finding out about the problems refugee women face.
In this episode, I’ll be hearing about the Vulnerable Women’s Project set up by Britain’s Refugee Council in 2006 to address some of the needs of female refugees. Elena Hage is a therapeutic case worker with the project.
Clip: Elena outlines the aims of the project, providing advice, counselling and support to vulnerable women. Why the project is important.
Clip: Felicia says she was in prison, raped and tortured.
Felicia was referred to the Vulnerable Women’s Project because she was seriously traumatised and about to have a baby. Speaking through an interpreter, she told me what happened back in the Congo.
Clip: Felicia tells the story of how she was imprisoned and how she fled to the UK with the help of her priest.
Clip: Elena talks about her work with Felicia, how she provided her with support and medication.
Clip: Felicia saying how important the help from the RC was.
Felicia is still in need of a lot of support. As a failed asylum seeker, she is officially destitute and is sleeping on the floor of a friend’s flat, with her baby. Her weekly visits with Elena provide vital support as she rebuilds her life. With more resources, Elena and her team would be able to reach many more women who, like Felicia, are struggling to live a normal life.
To find out more about the Vulnerable Women’s Project, or support the work of the Refugee Council, please visit www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/vulnerablewomen.
In the next podcast, I’ll be meeting a young woman from Zimbabwe, innocent of any crime but locked up indefinitely with male ex-offenders and subjected to sexist taunts – not back home but here in the UK.
Do join me to hear her story. Until then, goodbye.
Podcast 2
Welcome to this podcast from the Refugee Council, the second in our series about vulnerable women. I’m Rachel Salaman, and in this episode, I’ll be finding out about the scandal of detention in the UK, and particularly, the effect it has on female refugees.
Twenty-five-year-old Yeukai Taruvinga first arrived in the UK six years ago, as a student activist fleeing political persecution in Zimbabwe. She was taken at once to an immigration detention centre, a prison in all but name. This is the fate of many asylum seekers, who expect a welcome and instead, find themselves behind bars.
Clip: Yeukai says she couldn’t understand why she was being locked up. She describes the conditions – police everywhere telling them what to do and when.
The British government runs 10 detention centres. They’re full of people who are awaiting decisions on their asylum claims, people waiting to be forcibly removed following an unsuccessful asylum application, and foreign-national prisoners who have finished their sentences and are awaiting deportation.
Six detention centres hold men only, and the other four are mixed centres, of which three detain children in families. Seven of the centres are run by private companies. The other three are run by the prison service. Shockingly, there is no maximum period of detention, and some people are held for many months, sometimes years. People being held have no idea how long they will be there, which inevitably takes its toll on their mental health.
Clip: Yeukai says that it’s worse than being a prisoner because at least prisoners can count down their sentence. She could only count up.
People can be detained at any stage of their application for asylum. Yeukai has been held three times since she’s been in the UK, and each time, she was given no notice. She was kept in Yarl’s Wood detention centre for a month and a half.
Clip: Yeukai says that life was ‘intolerable’ in Yarl’s Wood, not knowing what was happening from one day to the next.
Then, one day, without notice, Yeukai was moved to Dungavel House, a detention centre in Scotland.
Clip: Yeukai talks about having to mix with ex-offenders. There were only six women in Scotland.
Women in detention face particular problems, as the Refugee Council’s head of policy, Sarah Cutler, explains.
Clip: Sarah says women find detention very difficult and are subject to illness, physical and mental.
The Refugee Council has a unit at Oakington detention centre near Cambridge, which is now a men-only facility. It provides help and information to people held in detention, including legal advice. This practical involvement gives the charity an insight into how the detention situation could – and should – be improved.
Clip: Sarah outlines the Refugee Council’s position on detention and the reasons for it, and suggests some alternatives to detention.
To find out more, and to support the work of the Refugee Council, please visit www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/vulnerablewomen.
Another vulnerable group is elderly refugees, who often live in isolation, marginalised by society and by their own immigrant communities. In the next podcast, I’ll be meeting Hannah Ali, fighting isolation as a blind, elderly refugee woman. Do join me then. Goodbye.
Podcast 3
Welcome to this podcast from the Refugee Council, the third in our series about vulnerable women. I’m Rachel Salaman, and in this episode, I’ll be exploring the problems that elderly refugees face as they struggle to integrate in the UK.
Hannah Ali lives in a small flat in Kilburn, North London. She came to the UK from Iraq in 2001, after her family was terrorised for its political beliefs. Not only is she a refugee, a woman, and – at 65 – an elderly person, but she is also completely blind. Her local council provides 12 hours of care per week, but, through an interpreter, she told me this isn’t enough.
Clip: Hannah says she is suffering loneliness and isolation. If the carer doesn’t come, she never gets to see anyone all day. Edit to question “do you feel part of an Iraqi community in London?” Answer, she meets people sometimes but no one ever calls. To 13.54, she feels like committing suicide.
Hannah’s problems are not unique. In fact, most elderly refugees face similar issues, according to Fazil Khawani, head of development at the Refugee Council.
Clip (10.05): Fazil explains the difference between younger and older refugees, and why it’s important to help them. Cut to question: “what can be done to make the lives of elderly refugees better?” Answer that they need to be supported by their own communities and other services, like housing, welfare, etc. to create a sense of belonging (to 13.05).
To find out more about the Refugee Council’s work to improve the lives of vulnerable women, and to make a donation, please visit www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/vulnerablewomen.
In the next podcast, I’ll be visiting the British Afghan Women’s Society, as I investigate the Refugee Council’s work with Britain’s hundreds of Refugee Community Organisations. Do join me then. Goodbye.
Podcast 4
Welcome to this podcast from the Refugee Council, the last in our series about vulnerable women. I’m Rachel Salaman, and in this episode, I’ll be exploring the relationship between the Refugee Council and Britain’s Refugee Community Organisations – voluntary and community associations that are largely run by, and for, refugees.
There are 700 Refugee Community Organisations – or RCOs – in the UK, 450 of which are in London. They usually focus on one community group, based on nationality, gender or some other defining factor. The Refugee Council’s head of development Fazil Khawani explains how the organisation’s Community Development Team helps these RCOs.
Clip: Fazil talks about all the types of support the RC gives RCOs, including capacity building, providing information, client referral – it’s a very close relationship. (2.44-5.13 “national policy makers” – edited).
Clip: Actuality of an English class held at the British Afghan Women’s Association.
At the offices of the British Afghan Women’s Society in Edmonton, North London, Lailoma Fazli is learning English. She is one of many Afghan women who are helped by this RCO, which was founded in 2001 by Zhargona Rassa, herself an Afghan refugee.
Clip: Zhargona talks about how the RCO started, with networking events. Then it grew with a newsletter and a Saturday school for children (to “registered charity”).
The British Afghan Women’s Society provides vital help to Afghan women, who would otherwise be left isolated.
Clip: Zhargona talks about the difference the work makes to Afghan women, who build their confidence with language and driving lessons and become much more functional.
Zhargona says that membership of the Refugee Council, and the support that brings, has been instrumental to the growth of her organisation.
Clip: Zhargona says they got a lot of help from the Refugee Council.
Clip: Fazil stresses how important RCOs are, particularly for vulnerable women.
That brings us to the end of this podcast series on vulnerable women, highlighting the lives of female refugees in the UK. As a charity, the Refugee Council relies on donations to continue its valuable work. If you’d like to make a donation, please go to www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/vulnerablewomen. It really does make a difference.
Thanks for listening. Goodbye.
