Volunteers help Romanians following Belfast racist attacks

British Red Cross is supporting a group of more than 100 Romanian people who have been evacuated from their homes in Belfast following a spate of racist attacks.

Since 11 June, there has been a series of racist incidents and attacks on the homes of Romanian families in the south Belfast area. This tense situation came to a head on Tuesday evening (16 June), when more than 100 Romanian residents fled their homes and were taken to a church hall where they spent the night.
A team of Red Cross volunteers was immediately called out and stayed until the early hours providing food, drinks and warm clothing to the evacuated residents. They were also on hand to provide emotional support to the shocked families, several of whom had been terrorised and had their homes vandalised in the past week. The group included pregnant women, young children and one five-day-old girl.

Very frightened

Another team of volunteers arrived early the next morning to accompany the Romanian families as they were moved to the Ozone Leisure Centre in south Belfast. The Red Cross has been working alongside the Salvation Army and ethnic minority support groups.

John Lyttle, volunteering advisor, said: “Our volunteers responded very quickly and brought along vital supplies – and, just as importantly, a bit of human kindness and support – to these unfortunate and victimised residents.”

Community support

He added: “Obviously, the Red Cross condemns outright any form of discrimination. It’s also worth remembering that there’s been a marvellous groundswell of support here from the wider community that, for me, has completely over-shadowed the shameful behaviour of an unrepresentative minority.”

Margaret Ritchie, social development minister, has stated that those who fled their homes will be temporarily re-housed in the city. – British Red Cross

Also read related story:
Belfast Romanians in hiding as attacks continue (Guardian)

Behind the statistics are thousands of skilled and talented individuals

By Nick Scott-Flynn

When the British Red Cross first commissioned a survey into attitudes towards refugees and asylum seekers we already knew there was a gap between perception and reality. We were pretty sure the results would show why Refugee Week, with the aim of celebrating and highlighting the positive impact refugees have on life in the UK, was so necessary.

But, despite working with refugees and asylum seekers every day, and hearing about the prejudice against them first hand, even we were shocked when we found that 95 per cent of people are unable to say to within 5,000 how many people apply for asylum in the UK each year. That almost a quarter of people think 100,000 or more people apply for asylum in the UK each year (the actual figure for 2008 was 25,670). And that people believe the UK is home to a quarter of the world’s asylum seekers.

But the more we looked at the figures, the more we realised that the numbers people carry with them in their heads – often vastly inaccurate guestimates – are a camouflage. A convenient way of hiding the individuality of the people they relate to. By referring to people simply in terms of numbers and labels is to deny them their humanity and ignore both their suffering and their contribution to society.

People like Eric in the video below, who escaped death threats in Rwanda to live on £10 per week in the UK. Destitute, the Red Cross provided Eric with food and clothing, and as his situation stabilised he began volunteering for us – distributing food and water to people affected by the Gloucester floods in 2007. He now works for the Red Cross full-time.

People like Aldijana, who together with her family fled for her life from the war in Bosnia when she was a teenager. Today she is a solicitor in Nottingham.

People like Titcha, who sought sanctuary in the UK after being forced to leave Zimbabwe. She now volunteers for the Red Cross, works in a nursing home for the elderly and is studying for a degree in social care. As she says herself, she didn’t want to leave Zimbabwe, but now she is in the UK, she wants to contribute to society.

The more we focus on the figures, the more we fall into the trap of dehumanising vulnerable individuals capable of extraordinary contributions. We must not allow the figures in people’s heads to obscure the humanitarian needs and contributions of individuals, especially given how distorted those notional figures have been shown to be.

We need to look beyond the numbers and concentrate on the individuals involved. We should be proud of the UK’s role offering refuge to people in desperate need of safety, and celebrate the skills, talents and contributions people seeking sanctuary bring to the UK.

Source: Oxfam

Nick Scott-Flynn is head of Refugee Services at the British Red Cross

Time to look beyond the label

Source: British Red Cross

To mark Refugee Week (15-21 June), the Red Cross has launched a bold new campaign asking people to look beyond the stereotypical ‘refugee’ label and highlighting the positive contribution many refugees make in the UK.

In recent years those seeking refuge in the UK have often had a poor press – and that’s why the Red Cross’ Look beyond the label online campaign is seeking to redress the balance.

The campaign includes an online video – introduced by Hollywood actor Dougray Scott – featuring three moving accounts by refugees about both their troubled pasts and hopes for the future.  As one of those featured in the video, Ticha Kanjanda – who is training to be a social care worker – puts it: “I’m not a liability. I want to be an asset to this society.”

The video also features Aldijana Becirevic from Bosnia and Eric Nkundunumbano from Rwanda, who were both compelled to leave their home countries fearing for their lives.

Eric, refugee from Rwanda – Refugee Week 2009

Fascinating Results

Underlining the need for the campaign, a new ICM survey conducted by the British Red Cross shows that a vast majority of the British public significantly overestimates how many people apply for asylum in the UK each year.

According to Nick Scott-Flynn, head of British Red Cross refugee services: “The survey results are fascinating because they show there’s a clear gap between perception and reality. The number of refugees coming to the UK is far lower than the vast majority of people think.”

Skilled and able

The survey also found that most people think refugees are largely low-skilled workers in their country of origin rather than professionals, when in fact the opposite is true.

Nick added: “From our work with refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, we know that people are skilled and want to contribute to society. We work with teachers, lawyers, doctors and business people who have all been forced to seek sanctuary here.”

Listen to British Red Cross refugee podcast
Visit the Look beyond the label website
Find out more about refugee week events in the UK
Visit the Refugee Week 2009 website
Find out about British Red Cross refugee services

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