Appendix I - List of refugee interviewers and co-operating agencies 85 ... undertaken in the 15 Member States of the European Union by the ECRE Task Force ..... for refugee assisting NGOs and had trained as social/political scientists. ...... Christian woman tells us that the change of culture posed no problems to her :.
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BRID GES AND FENCES : I THE REFUGEE PERCEPTIONS OF INTEGRATION N EUROPEAN UNION
CONTENTS
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Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. The European context of integration 3. Methodology - profiles of interviewers, experiences , countries. 4. A story of integration 5. Language and initial reception 6. Public authorities and institutional discrimination 7. Employment 8. Education and training 9. Health 10. Housing 11. Social racism, racism and personal strategies for integration 12. NGOs and refugee organisations 13. Nationality qnd citizenship 14. The future 15. Final remarks Appendix I - List of refugee interviewers and co-operating agencies Appendix II - Semi-Structured interview schedule
5 7 9 13 19 27 31 35 46 50 55 59 69 73 77 83 85 87
Acknowledgement s The thanks of the EU Networks on Integration of Refugees 1 and the researchers o t all those refugees who allowed themselves to be working for it must go first interviewed in the 15 Member States - for obvious reasons they are anonymous yet they speak for many who share their same fate and experiences in living in Europe. Their voices axe ones that need to be heard by all those concerned with refugees, whether policy makers or practitioners. A second acknowledgement and thanks must go to those NGOs who identified the interviewers for this project, providing them with time, space and support . A very obvious debt has to be paid to the interviewers, nearly all being refugees themselves, who showed such interest and enthusiasm for this project and who, despite their own problems tackled the task constructively and often with great insight. One of the rewards of participation for them was a much greater understanding of both their own experiences and that of others, while some made new friends . The analysis of the material and the writing and production of the report was undertaken by Dr. Elisabeth Mestheneos, Dr. Elizabeth lonnadi of Sextant, Social & Economic Research and Consultancy in Athens, and Sara Gaunt from OCIV in Brussels.
Formerly the ECRE Task Force on Integration is a partnership of seven non-governmental organizations working under the auspices of ECRE - (European Council on Refugees and Exiles) which is also responsible for policy development. The partners in the Task Force and their areas of responsibility are as follows: the British Refugee Council - Employment, the World University Service Education , the Italian Refugee Council - Health , the Dutch Refugee Council - Housing, the Greek Council for refugees - Community & Cultural Integration, France Terre d' Asile - Vocational Training, OCIV.the Flemish Refugee Council - Coordinating Secretariat .
Chapter 1: Introductio n This report is based on material gathered from a series of refugee interviews undertaken in the 15 Member States of the European Union by the ECRE Task Force on Integration. The refugee interviews were conceived as part of the refugee perceptions research which has been a key element of the Task Force project in 19992 . The aim of the interviews was to gather qualitative information about how refugees3 in each of the 15 Member States perceived their own experience of living in and adapting to a new society. Previous and on going research of the Task Force has focused on the ways in which NGOs and governments approach the integration of refugees and seeks to improve refugee integration through the identification of Good Practice and the development of policy recommendations4 . The refugee interviews have given refugees the opportunity to tell their experience and their story of integration. It was clear that many of those interviewed felt pleased and relieved to tell their story of life in the European Union in the way they wished and to a sympathetic listener. It is hoped that these experiences will provide a better understanding for NGOs, governments, public authorities and others working in the field of refugee integration of the obstacles which refugees perceive are preventing their successful integration into European societies. Another ambition of this report is to raise awareness among politicians and the public at large of the potential which individual refugees bring to their new countries and which is so often frustrated by the lack of opportunity to participate in and contribute meaningfully to the host society. Each story is individual and should not be read as being representative either of refugees in general, or of any particular refugee group living in any particular host country. Nevertheless general conclusions about what integration means to refugees, what difficulties a refugee experiences and what strategies s/he adopts in order to adapt and be accepted in a new society can and have been drawn. The project was highly ambitious in that it involved training people, mainly without previous experience of qualitative research, to undertake 10 interviews with refugees living in the EU country of their own residence within the space of three months. The reason for using qualitative methods was to avoid the use of structured or semi-structured questionnaires designed by non refugees, whereby the fear exists that important information from the perspective of refugees would be omitted. Another reason was the lack of resources, both in terms of time and money, to undertake any large scale quantitative research. A fuller description of the methodology is presented in Chapter 3.
As a separate but related activity, refugee panels on the six different integration themes were organised in Dalfsen in the Netherlands, 1-3 July 1999 in which refugees from all EU Member States were invited to discuss issues of refugee integration and to input to the development of the Good Practice Guides (see below); reports of the refugee panels can be found in the publications section of the ECRE Task Force on integration website: www.refugeenet.org Throughout this report refugees should be understood as refugees who have settled or who intend to settle in the Member States including Convention status refugees and people granted subsidiary forms of protection . The sampling criteria of refugees interviewed are explained in Chapter 3: Methodology "The Good Practice Guides on the Integration of Refugees in the European Union ", the ECRE Task Force on Integration, November 1999; and the "ECRE Position on the Integration of Refugees in Europe", September 1999
The intention was that the interviewers would themselves be refugees in order firstly to secure the agreement of refugees to be interviewed since acceptance of another refugee was more likely; secondly to ensure that those interviewed would speak more openly since the person opposite was also a refugee; and thirdly to generate some work and experience for a few refugees. In the end the group of interviewers consisted of 12 refugees, 1 migrant and 3 EU nationals who all had experience of living in other countries. (There were 16 interviewers in total as 2 interviewers carried out the work in France). The interviewers were selected by one co-operating refugee agency in each of the 15 Member States, according to suggested criteria drawn u p by the Task Force. The names and contact details of these agencies and the names of the interviewers can be found in Appendix 1. We would like to stress here that the work could not have been carried out without the help of these agencies who as well as finding someone to do the interviews provided logistical and moral support to the interviewers throughout the project . The research project was very fortunate in that the people selected to carry out the interviews were very able and co-operative individuals from high educational backgrounds who worked extremely well as a group and had a good sense of humour.5 From the beginning we had absolute confidence in the ability of the interviewers to meet the challenge of carrying out the work in the relatively short period of time available. The interviews were carried out between the beginning of May and the beginning of July. It was clear from the debriefing session that although the interviewers had needed to work extremely hard to complete the research on time and had not found it as straightforward as they had anticipated, all of them had gained a great deal from the experience . In particular, for those who were themselves refugees and who had struggled to gain professional recognition and the opportunity to work in their host country, conducting the research was a valuable professional experience and a significant boost to their self esteem. Many people made friends and for some interviewers it allowed them the first opportunity to listen to other people's stories and to realise that they were not alone in having experienced isolation and frustration in the process of integrating into the host society. As one of the interviewers said: "After I heard all these stones I realised I was more fortunate than many o f them, while at the beginning I thought I was in the worst and most miserable situation " Amajordifficulty of this research project has been in the resources available; this has had an effect on the analysis which is not as complete as could be wished . It is hoped that further resources can be found to allow for a more careful and complete reading of all the very rich material generated by the interviews and the possible publication of the report as a book for a much wider public.
A description of the interviewers is provided in the Chapter 3: Methodology.
Chapter S. The European Context of Integration The Member States of the EU implement different policies and practices towards refugees not only in terms of the varying duration of asylum determination procedures but also the very different levels of socio-economic rights accorded during this initial period and once refugees are granted a status and permission to stay. These rights which have a direct impact on their daily survival and quality of life in the host country include the right to work, as well as rights o t access adequate housing, education, training and health services. In some EU Member States they are the specific targets of integration policies and government sponsored programmes while in others a more 'laissez faire' attitude prevails. Refugees also arrive in societies with very different histories and attitudes towards immigration and reception. Some countries have, until recently, been major countries of emigration themselves and are not used to receiving immigrants and refugees. Some countries are strong in their defence of cultural and historical uniqueness, although Europe 's history of colonialism and immigration has contributed to the development of a new perspective towards foreigners in some sections of European society, one that is multi-cultural and accepts cultural variations as adding to the richness and development of Europe. These varying factors provide the context in which refugees must try to adapt to their new host society and obviously have a significant influence on their perception of integration which has been recorded in the interviews. The following paragraphs intend to give the reader a general feel for these differences which make up the context in which integration is taking place. Recent changes in policy and practice in some Member States which have direct relevance o t the way in which some of the refugees have related their experience will also be explained. However, for detailed and comprehensive information about the socio-cultural context of integration and the organisation of specific programmes and services in the different Member States, the reader should refer to the ECRE Working Paper: "The State of Refugee Integration in the European Union", (October 1998); and to the research of the Task Force partners on specific themes (education, employment, vocational training, housing, health, community and culture) which can be found on www.refugeenet.org. There are significant differences between those countries of the EU which have alongtradition of receiving refugees and those for whom the experience is relatively recent and memories of their own citizens ' emigration or flight still present. Social protection systems also vary from those which are well developed and based on an extensive public sector to those which offer minimum support to supplement that which is traditionally provided by the family. The development of coherent policies and government integration programmes supported by a comprehensive welfare state in some countries contrast with the more ad hoc approach and minimum financial provision to meet the needs of refugees in others. For example, in the Scandinavian countries and in the Netherlands, recognised refugees are obliged to take part in integration programmes of fixed duration funded by the government and administered either through municipalities who receive financial compensation from central government according to the number of refugees they receive, or by NGOs. Such programmes are often based on a principal of dispersing refugees by quota throughout the country with municipalities allocating social housing and providing integration activities which are focused primarily on learning the language of the host country, and following further education and training in order to gain
access to the job market. In southern European countries the integration activities and services which are provided are often done so by NGOs; even if they receive some state funding, most are working in the context of insufficient resources and a lack of a state sponsored policy specifically targeted at the integration of refugees. The lack of distinction between refugees and other socially excluded groups in society or the grouping of immigrants and refugees together in the delivery of services and therefore in the public perception is a feature of southern European countries which contrasts with specific interventions elsewhere in the EU . In practice all these factors emerge in the experience of the refugees interviewed. Often they will determine the perception of integration: for refugees from southern Europe material needs come across as a main preoccupation in response to the open question, whereas in countries where these needs are always met and comprehensive programmes exist, frustrations and disappointment with the quality of language teaching or the suitability and location of the social housing provided may be the initial reaction to a question about integration. Many refugees are themselves aware of the differences in extent and organisation of provision for them that exists between EU countries and make their own comparisons between their experience and that of their friends or relatives living elsewhere in Europe. Interestingly, their problems and frustrations can derive both from the lack of recognition of their specific needs as refugees which leaves them to fend for themselves and the opposite extreme of being the subjects of highly organised specific provision and services. The right to work and to have access to education and training also varies considerably as well as the availability of employment and training courses in the different Member States. The different rights granted to asylum seekers and recognised refugees is important in this context as denial of the right to work to asylum seekers which is the case in many, but not all of the EU countries is shown in the interviews to have significant consequences for integration. The choice of working illegally or struggling to survive in southern Europe is not a choice that needs to or can be made for example in Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, because in these countries a social welfare system exists and a black labour market does not . Enforced passivity during the asylum period as a result of not having the right to work emerges as a frustration in many interviews, particularly when there is no alternative means of earning some kind of a living. Unemployment or underemployment is also present in the narrative of all those interviewed, even if the conditions and opportunities vary from one country to another. The rights and access to integration activities, in particular the opportunity to learn the language, during the asylum period are also factors which vary nationally. Related to this and important to take into consideration is the fact that many EU countries introduced emergency or temporary measures to receive refugees from the former Yugoslavia (and more recently from Kosovo) which implied a suspension in the normal asylum procedure. In many countries the lack of rights granted to the beneficiaries of these temporary protection regimes emerges in the interviews as having had a lasting and extremely negative impact on the process of integration for those who were eventually granted permission to stay. This was particularly the case in Denmark with the group of approximately 17000 Bosnians who were granted temporary protection . In the three years before they were able to access the asylum procedure they had no right to work or to learn the Danish language.
Limitations to rights and provision also applys to other forms of subsidiary protection throughout the EU: for example in Germany, refugees recognised under Article 16 of the Constitution are entitled to integration measures available for migrants and funded by the Federal government, while people with subsidiary forms of protection are outside this system and only able to attend government funded German classes in exceptional circumstances. Although the different forms of refugees status was not one of the sampling criteria (see Chapter 3), clearly not all the refugees interviewed had Convention status and their experiences reflect these variations. The different criteria for gaining nationality and citizenship is also an issue which is reflected in the interviews conducted in different countries . The period for which refugees are required to have been resident in order to be able to apply for citizenship varies for example from 3 years in Belgium to be eligible for "naturalisation ordinaire" (the right to vote, not stand in election) to 7 years in Austria . As well as proving a certain duration of continuous residence in the host country refugees must also prove their successful integration, although again the emphasis and quality of proof varies according to the host country. In France newcomers are recommended to apply for French nationality in order to better integrate, however this does not mean that in practice nationality is easier to obtain: some of those interviewed explained their failure to demonstrate an adequate proficiency in French. In Denmark the fulfilment of the obligatory integration programme is directly linked to the granting of permanent residence and in Germany "proof " of integration is also required. In the Netherlands an adequate command of the Dutch language is the primary criteria. In both Italy, where the government assesses the socio-economic circumstances of the applicant's life, and Greece where decisions are made by the Ministry of Interior after an investigation of the character and personality of the foreigner, the actual granting of citizenship to refugees is extremely rare. The country of origin can also be a factor which works for refugees depending on the colonial and historical links of the European country in which they arrive . For example in Spain, Convention refugees may apply for citizenship after 5 years, but if they originate from South America or Equatorial Guinea this period is reduced to 2 years. Many of the refugees who were interviewed regardless of which country they were living in regarded citizenship as a pre-condition for integration, and this aspiration to be able to vote and be a full member of society was expressed more vigorously in those countries with stricter and more resistant policies to the granting of citizenship. The period of time spent in a country before being granted refugee status is also a relevant factor here, as the required period of residency is counted from the time of recognition not from the time of arrival . The pessimism expressed by refugees in certain countries compared with a more optimistic attitude towards the chances of acquiring citizenship in others can be understood with these variable factors in mind. The role of NGOs and refugee community organisations is more of a factor in the experience of some of the refugees interviewed than others, and perceptions are both positive and negative. In general, there are different concepts of the role of civil society and NGOs in the different EU Member States: NGOs may be little more than an extension of the state apparatus, their activities may serve primarily to fill gaps in state provision or they could work in a campaigning capacity against the authorities. For integration these variations in the role and tradition of civil society have various consequences. In some countries NGOs are the main providers and organisers of reception and integration services. In others they are present but have
limited capacities and are required to make priorities in terms of those they are able to assist . In Denmark for example, the Refugee Council was, until 19996 , responsible for the actual organisation and provision of integration services with all expenses entailed covered by the Ministry of Social Affairs, while the Danish Red Cross is funded to provide reception and assistance during the asylum period . In such a context refugees encounter NGOs implementing government policy and delivering services to them within the framework of State sponsored reception a n d integration programmes. This can affect their perceptions and expectations of what role NGOs are playing and what they should be doing . In other countries NGOs are not so present in the provision of integration services and refugees may only come across them as one of many different service providers, or encounter them indirectly in relation to their campaigning activities or advisory role to public services. In Portugal, Italy and Greece the lack of entitlement to specific assistance from the State means that refugees are reliant, almost exclusively on assistance and activities provided by NGOs (funded partly by UNHCR) and other charitable organisations. Refugees therefore have direct and immediate contact with NGOs but in a context which is not always favourable due to the lack of resources and the extreme need of the individuals concerned who have nowhere else to turn . Afurther variation concerns the degree to which refugees themselves are employed or work as volunteers in NGOs and the existence of other forms of participation and representation for refugees in society at large. Refugee Community Organisations do not exist in all countries of the EU and in some national contexts they are actively discouraged. The UK has the most established tradition of fostering and promoting community organisations to provide services to other refugees and to involve refugees in their own integration. In Sweden, the approach to refugee integration is based on the assumption that refugees integrate best through forming their own associations. These are typically formed along ethnic lines and refugees are expected to gain public recognition from within these general groups, rather than refugee specific organisations. In France, the formation of organisations by ethnic minorities whether they are migrants or refugees has traditionally been regarded as a failure of integration. However, there is a growing recognition of the specific cultural or religious needs of foreign communities and the empowering role which community organisations can play in integration. In southern Europe refugees are in general less well organised and have limited if any support or access to funding for the formation of their own associations. Aside from government policy and practice and linked to historical and personal circumstances, the presence in the first place of arefugee's family members or wider community provides much needed support and solidarity and can prove a decisive influence on integration and this is of course different for each individual and for each EU country.
On 1 January 1999 the New Integration Law came into effect introducing a range of changes to the organisation of integration in Denmark, among which was the transfer of responsibility for the organisation and administration of the integration programme from the Danish refugee Council to local government.
Chapter 3. Methodology As already indicated the research on refugee perceptions was based on qualitative methods; this involved allowing the person interviewed to express their opinions and experiences in their own way. In social research the use of qualitative methods is valuable since it provides a lot of information and the analysis is not based on numbers but on illustrative cases which present particular experiences, opinions , attitudes , beliefs and perceptions in a common context. In this case the common context is of being a refugee in the European Union . The qualitative method used included semi-structured interviews, involving a research guide (see Appendix 2) structured by the social scientists in charge of the research, to cover the various aspects relating to integration. Questions revolved around the Task Force themes in relation to refugee integration. However from the start the intention was that refugees should be encouraged to talk about integration and prioritise their own feelings and experiences without any intervention from the interviewer or the interview guide. Thus an initial opening question was asked of all those interviewed as used in the Biographical Interpretative Method ( Rosenthal 1993, Breckner 1998) 7 In this method the interviewer asks the interviewee to start his/ her narration on the selected theme, in this case refugee integration, in any way s/he likes, to express thoughts and feelings as well as experiences in any way they choose and without any intervention or prompting from the interviewer. This is fully recorded and subsequently transcribed . In most cases, in this study, the material also had to be translated into English or French . The analysis subsequently takes into consideration the main themes which the interviewee thinks important in his presentation , the language used (description , argument, evaluation, report ), the length of time dedicated to each subject, the emotions expressed, if any. In this way information is derived from the person interviewed in a way which perhaps the interviewee did not explicitly intend(Rosenthal 1993, Chamberlayne, Rustin 19998 ) Though this information could not be fully used and implemented in this study, the analysis undertaken did provide insights and useful information into the way refugees experience integration. The question does not define or ask for positive or negative aspects of integration, which would have oriented them to a particular mind set, but rather allows them to define the issue of integration in any way they wish. Some start by talking of the weather, others by thanking the host country for accepting them, others by reporting their immediate burning problem . In this respect it is important to note that people construct an answer, in this case about integration, in relation : to their personal characteristics, social background e.g. personality, gender, age, education, family, religion, culture, their past history in the country e.g. the length of time here, the initial reception , to what is concerning them at that moment of the interview e.g . divorce, unemployment, illness, housing, to the conditions they face in the country that has offered them asylum. Breckner R . (1998) "The Biographical - Interpretative Method - Principles and Procedures", in SOSTRIS Working Paper No .2. University of East London, London. Rosenthal G. (1993) & "Reconstruction of life stories. Principles of selection in generating stories for narrative biographical interviews." In The Narrative study o f Lives, (eds) Josselson R ., Lieblich A. Sage 1 (1) 59-91 Chamberlayne P., Rustin M. (1999) From Biography to Social Policy : Final repor t o f the 50STRIS Project. Centre for Biography in Social Policy. University of East London, U.K .
The very large variations in refugee backgrounds and the different contexts in which they experience their refugee status, makes it difficult to come to strictly comparable results. For this reason in the analysis comparisons between countries , or cases, are not made, rather each opening question in an interview is an illustrative case of experiences that may be found in many European countries . As the previous section has laid out, the public policy and welfare state systems of the 15 Member States, as well as the socio-historical and economic contexts vary so widely that any systematic attempt at comparisons would be hard to make. Despite these limitations, the initial narration and the presentation of their lives by refugees share many common elements which permit the researchers to indicate some of the main themes and issues which consistently appear. Thus the report goes beyond simply reporting individual stories of refugee integration and adaptation to the host societies of Europe, to an understanding of the mechanisms of adaptation (Rustin 1998)9 .There has not been time, nor is this report the correct context, in which to develop a more theoretically grounded and elaborate analysis of the rich material gathered from the refugee interviews and specifically the responses to the opening question . The mixture of methodologies used ( Biographical Interpretive and more traditional semi-structured) was designed to ensure that adequate responses were gained in each of the sectors covered by the Task Force on Integration. Thus after the initial open question the interviewers continued with open questions concerning the refugee's experience of the various themes relating to integration (employment, education, health, training, housing, social-community relations) as well as some additional questions relating to their experiences of NGOs, if not already discussed, and their plans for the future. Characteristics of the Interviewers 13 nationalities were represented amongst the 16 interviewers, half were men and half were women, though this happened by chance, of different ages (predominantly in their 30s and 40s), religions and origins . The interviewers between them spoke 28 different languages. Each interviewer was able to speak at least 3 languages, some could communicate adequately in as many as 7. All were fluent in either English or French and in the language of their host country, these linguistic abilities being a significant criterion in their original selection . As already indicated the interviewers came from extremely diverse backgrounds but were all highly educated each with at least one university degree obtained in their country of origin or in a second country of study. Three of the non -refugee interviewers currently work for refugee assisting NGOs and had trained as social/political scientists. The professions in which the 12 interviewers who were themselves refugees had originally been trained included architecture, civil engineering, medicine, journalism , sociology, economics, accountancy. Their own biographies clearly illustrated the difficulties which many refugees experience in being able to continue in their existing professions or further develop their careers in the host country: only one of the refugees was working in his original profession, while a couple more had been able to continue working in their professions only in a voluntary or unofficial capacity. The employment experiences in the host country of the remaining refugee interviewers included working in
Rustin M. (1998) "From Individual Life Histories to Sociological Understanding . In SOSTRIS Working Paper 3. Annexe I. Centre for Biography in Social Policy. University of East London, U .K .
Construction and catering, working (often in a voluntary and/ or unskilled capacity) for refugee assisting NGOs, teaching the language of the host country to other refugees, working as interpreters/ advisers to newly arrived asylum seekers, creating their own employment through running refugee community organisations. Training The research began with a training session conducted by Dr Elizabeth Mestheneos and Dr Elisabeth loannidi in Brussels, 30th April -2nd May 1999. 15 interviewers from 1 ' 4 Member States (Sweden did not join the project until July) attended the training session and worked intensively for 2.5 days, learning from scratch the method of open interviewing. This included, learning how to select refugees to interview, how to present themselves as interviewers, how to conduct the interview, how to transcribe and summarise the results. Emphasis was given to the methodology used, especially with respect to the opening question where the interviewer was asked not to comment, sympathise, reject or otherwise express their feelings about the answers they heard. This was particularly important since refugees come from very different political and religious backgrounds, have different values, and it was critical that interviewers kept their influence on answers to a minimum. Of course this cannot be controlled; but the content of the interviews from many interviewers indicated that the latter had managed to minimise their interference with responses. Another issue stressed during initial training was the importance of anonymity. Refugees, with good reason, may be worried about exposing their details to the public authorities, whether of their home country or the country of asylum. They were given the opportunity to use a pseudonym, and this was used throughout the interview. Interviewers were requested to tape the interviewers, since they had to be transcribed subsequently to ensure accurate and full details from the interview. It was recognised that since refugees and interviewers would be working in various languages and that subsequently these would need to be translated in part or completely, the information would not be available in its original form. The researchers would not be able to have full access to the emotions expressed, the setting of the interview, the comments and reactions once the tape recorder was switched off etc.; for this reason interviewers were asked to comment on these issues and they were discussed at the debriefing session. The training session was carried out mainly in English, which everyone understood though with some French interpretation where necessary for the sake of clarity. The interviewers were asked to conduct the interviews in whichever language they and the interviewee felt most comfortable. However, the final transcript had to be translated into English or French for the purpose of analysis. De-Briefing Adebriefing session was held 30th June- 1st July 1999 in Dalfsen in the Netherlands at which the interviewers were able to relate their experiences of carrying out the interviews, highlight any difficulties they had encountered, explain the circumstances in which they had interviewed people and provide other background information to the tapes and transcripts which they had sent for analysis. This information was recorded by the social scientists who had undertaken the training. By this time a refugee interviewer, an experienced social scientist, had also been recruited from Sweden and he attended the debriefing session as part of his training, The difficulties experienced by the interviewers mainly involved finding refugees
who were willing to be interviewed. It took considerable time and patience to identify and persuade potential interviewees to talk, especially given the necessity of recording the interviews on tape. Even with assurances of anonymity, many refugees were understandably reluctant to be interviewed and taped; some still feared the consequences of their persecution in their country of origin and others were reluctant to voice negative thoughts about the host society for fear of being seen to criticise those who had given them refuge. Some national groups, such as Somalis were particularly reluctant to be interviewed and thereby risk assuming a public profile, due to the bad press they had received as a group in their host country (Denmark and Germany in particular ), in recent months. Some interviewers also had difficulties in reaching women and particularly uneducated women in the home. In the original training women interviewers had been encouraged to interview more people of their own sex since it was felt that this might help ensure a n adequate representation of refugee women 's voices . Amongst the comments made by the interviewers were: uneducated refugee women were very hard to either find or interview. Even when they were willing their husbands sometimes were present for some period during the interview. Married women sometimes requested that their husband was not told about the interview. men seemed to be more likely to generalise while women tended to tell their personal stories less educated refugees were not always willing to talk to the educated interviewers or else did not understand the purposes or value of the research . there was a tendency for educated refugees to respond globally rather than personally about their experiences. some refugees took the opportunity of the interview to criticise since they felt this was a way to get their voices heard by the authorities, though after the end of the interview they were far more positive. Some clearly thought it was an opportunity to get their opinions heard at the European level. other refugees were very polite and responded in a very formal and non involved way refugees were less likely to have telephones, and thus were often very hard to contact. some refugees were willing to talk and provided interesting comments, but refused to be taped . In these few cases extensive notes were kept. for some the tape recorder was inhibiting and they said some important things when it was switched off. This information was written . The tape recorder was also very difficult to use where the interview was undertaken in a noisy context e.g. with children, in a cafe.. finding a suitable place to conduct the interview was sometimes difficult e.g. too many people sharing a room . other refugees were unwilling to provide identifying details of their country of origin. many refugees remained doubtful or cynical about the utility of the research (a point that may be valid!) the majority of refugees interviewed made the interviewer feel very comfortable ; they expressed their satisfaction that they had an opportunity to talk to someone about their experiences. some were offended when offered the small fee for out of pocket expenses at the end of the interview - though one refugee woman was delighted since it was the first
money that was entirely "earned" by her. She immediately insisted on treating the interviewer to a coffee in a cafe. interviewers commented on the fact that they had had their own lives enriched by meeting and having to really listen to people from other cultures and backgrounds. some refugees rejected the term integration since it meant assimilation for them. interviewers were struck by the variation in behaviour dictated by refugees from particular cultures; one African woman interviewer had her handshake refused by another African man, as he stated "men don't shake hands with women ." interviewers sometimes had to deal with strong emotions; one interviewer reported having cried through every one of the interviews with the women refugeeswho were also crying. A male interviewer reported that he found himself in strange situations when one women cried all the time, while in another interview the refugee laughed. Inevitably in some contexts the refugee interviewer was already known to the person interviewed; thus a doctor interviewing about health received more elaborate answers e.g. about health services and personnel, than did a non medical interviewer where responses on the subject of health were often construed in relation to personal health status. The way in which refugees were recruited for interviewing also affected responses; the interviewers were sometimes known to have come from a specific agency. As a result in a few countries there are far more elaborate responses to some subjects than in others e.g. on education in the UK, on NGOs and refugee involvement in the Netherlands, however this must be seen as a positive contribution rather than anational one. In the report some examples of issues in relation to integration may thus draw heavily on illustrations from one country, yet they can be generalised to other countries. Sample interviewed Interviewers were requested to ensure that in selecting their sample of 10 refugees they took into consideration that it should include refugees with the following characteristics : 1. Gender :both men and women, though not necessarily 5 of each 2. Nationality : selection should take into consideration the proportions of refugees originating from different countries in each Member State; thus more should be interviewed from the largest national group in the country, though refugees from other nationalities should also be represented. 3. Ages : 18-65. 4. Status : a legal status permitting them to stay in the host country. Terms vary amongst EU countries but includes those with Convention status, humanitarian status, exceptional leave to remain etc. 5. Length of time in host country :normally between 2 and 10 years following recognition as a refugee. 6. Education : variable from the highly educated to those with little or no education 7. Marital status : variable including the single, married with and without children 8. Employment : variable including those working, unemployed, students, retired etc.
The interviewers had two months in which to identify refugees to be interviewed, set up and interview the 10 people, transcribe 2 interviews and summarise the remaining 8interviewsunder the various headings relating to integration, including the material in the opening question. They were also asked o t include in these summaries any
quotations from the refugees interviewed which they felt were particularly illuminating or typical of either the individual's opinions or situation, or more generally of the situation of refugees in that particular Member State. Again these were to be translated . The fieldwork took place between May and the beginning of July when the debriefing session in Dalfsen, Netherlands, took place . The exception to this procedure were the interviews from Sweden; the interviewer began these in July and finished them in September in time for the analysis. Virtually all the interviews were completed; over 140 interviews were sent to the research team for analysis. Not all of the interviews sent were insightful since in some cases the refugee interviews reproduced the same types of materials and comments, while in other cases the quality of interviews varied with the skills of the interviewers or the willingness of the refugee being interviewed to talk freely. However there were a large number of interviews that permit extensive and substantive analysis in the framework of the qualitative method used. Analysis of data Each interviewer was responsible for the full transcription of two interviews. The first interview was sent to the research team to ensure that interviewers had understood the procedures and techniques of interviewing. This enabled comments to be made so that the remaining 9 interviews would follow the protocol . Subsequently the interviewer was requested to transcribe the "best " interview as described by the research team . The criteria set for this included the interviewer's sense that the interview did give a full description of a refugee's experiences in the host country, that the opening question was rich in material and that it covered many of the substantial themes relating to integration. The transcription involved writing down the interview in the original language in which it was conducted, translating it as faithfully as possible into French or English, though ensuring that the meaning of words was conveyed as accurately as possible . It was important that where a translator helped the interviewer, they worked closely to ensure that there was as little loss of meaning as possible . All tapes were sent to the research team in Athens. Full use was made of the transcriptions and as far as possible very little intervention was made with the English used except that which aided clarity. Thus despite sometimes having been translated twice from the original language of the interview e.g. Arabic to Italian to English, the characters and styles of speech of some individuals still emerges. The analysis of data and the writing of the report was undertaken by Dr Elizabeth Mestheneos and Dr Elisabeth loannidi in Athens, with the very significant help and work of Sara Gaunt from OCIV both in Athens and in Brussels.
Chapter 4. A Story of Integrat ion As explained in the earlier section on methodology the analysis of the opening question was important to the research since respondents could talk in an unstructured way without prompting about their experiences of integration in the new host country. The only initial suggestion in the opening question (see Appendix) was to remind the interviewee of subjects affecting integration including housing, employment, training, education, health and social relations. The open format of this question allowed the individual to construct his/her answer in any way chosen, and more importantly to select the areas which for them were of particular interest or relevance. Five main dimensions influenced the construction of responses to this question.: Firstly the personal dimension; the issues that concern the individual at the time of being interviewed. Thus someone who cannot find a house to live in or who cannot find a job or who recently has been the subject of direct discrimination, may decide to start the response in terms of this most recent and relevant occurrence. Secondly the individual responds within a national context; the policies for refugee integration, the dimensions and support from the welfare system, the numbers of refugees and the institutions set up to care for them, are significantly different in the various Member States. Thirdly the national, cultural and educational dimensions of the respondent 's country of origin also influences the way they construct their answer to this question. Thus for example educated refugees have different perceptions on their personal situation with respect to integration than the less educated. Fourthly answers are constructed in the light of how the individual refugee perceives and wants to report on the national and cultural characteristics of the host country. Fifthly, though by no means last, the personal characteristics and traits of each individual, appear to be very important in the strategies adopted by each refugee to deal with his/her situation. The reader should take into account the above dimensions affecting the construction of responses. Additionally age and gender in these interviews also affect the responses of individuals, as is always the case This chapter presents a detailed "story" of integration as presented by one refugee in Europe. His story does not represent everyone's but it is typical enough to be interesting and indicative of the problems faced by refugees and the strategies they use to try and live contentedly in the new host society. After this individual case presentation the issues and presentations arising out of the initial responses to the opening question by all the other refugees are presented in a more summary form. Within the initial questions there are many references to the main themes of integration and these responses are presented in detail in the subsequent relevant chapters. The analysis of the initial question provides the researcher with insightful descriptions of refugee experiences of integration. They construct their own priorities in responding to the initial question while selecting which topics and experiences they wish to talk about. In this section many of quotations are used enabling the reader to gain some vivid impressions of the reactions and experiences of refugees to living in the European Union. As suggested earlier, some of the problems that refugees meet in trying to integrate within the host societies have to do with their initial reasons for flight , their character, their expectations and the reactions of the host country. Yet there are enough commonalities in some of their experiences for the host countries to think
again about their attitudes, knowledge and practices with respect to refugees. Procedures in analysing an interview
In this report only one example is provided of the kind of issues and materials that one can discover through careful analysis of one case. The main aim of this report is not to provide a theoretical understanding of refugees ' experiences of integration but emphasis is given to the responses by refugees on specific aspects of integration e.g. education, employment, housing etc. are discussed in the chapters below. However the richness of material and the experiences of refugees tends to get lost when classified and presented under specific headings. Thus this section presents the immediate and vivid story of one refugee in Italy. His case is not unique. The way in which the text is analysed uses the following terminology: Biographical data - this involves following the chronological events in the interviewee's life independently of the way a person presents them. In this study o t events after their first arrival in biographical data is analysed only with respect the host society. Clearly this is different from the way the biographical interpretative method is normally used where people's biographies are analysed from the moment they are born . In this research context each refugee brings with them a past - their family history, their education, their origins. Yet at another level each of them arrives in a new society which they generally do not know; they arrive as asylum seekers and their past effectively is only used as a justification for receiving refugee status. But in other respects they have to start anew - finding out about the new society as if they were children again. Obviously the same biographical data in their own country would have led to a very different life course. It is true that elements from the past life e.g. qualifications, status, family, constantly impinge on the present life course affecting their reactions in the new life in the host country. Thematic analysis involves the reading of the opening text in response to the first question and the drawing out of the main issues as well as the so called sorts of text (speech) used by the interviewee. The main sorts of text (styles of speech) used in an interview include the following: narration argumentation description evaluation report The researchers take into consideration the form of speech used in the initial question and try to explain why this form was used for the chosen theme e.g . a person may decide to talk about something painful in the form of report where details are not included, while he may use an argument as the form of presentation for something which he considers he has to justify or explain in an abstract of theoretical way. An opening question in the form of a narrative is full of information and usually contains many descriptions. Descriptions are used for events or themes which the individual considers important in their life and feel that they do not have to hide in any way. Finally evaluation is used, both negative and positive, as a form of justification of their own or other's actions and to illustrate situations. (Breckner , 1998) The Case Structure involves an examination by the researchers of the way people present themselves (their told life) during the interview in relation to their lived life (actual biography). In this study the biographical data used concerns their life
since they arrived in the host society. The researchers will try to explain why the person chose a particular sort of text to present a specific event to the interviewer. The final type of analysis which would normally be used to test the hypotheses extracted from the original narration, the micro-analysis which seeks to take a very small piece of speech and analyse it word by word, provokes real difficulties here. The original interviews were conducted in many different languages and the text had to be translated before reaching the researchers in English or French. An additional problem is that the language used was often very simple since the refugee did not always have a good and full command of the language. Even when very highly educated the range of feelings, words, expressions that could be used was limited, while pauses did not necessarily signify emotions but sometimes simply a search for a phrase in a foreign language. These obstacles limit the utility of micro-analysis. The Case ofAhmed
Elements of his Biographical data: Ahmed originates from Algeria , is in his early 30s and completed a university degree in his home country. His interview is conducted in Arabic. 1996 arrives in Italy on an entry visa ; has some money and rents a room 1996 visits the UK and Ireland but not permitted to stay 1996 returns to Italy and asks for political asylum. His money runs out and he stays in a reception centre for asylum seekers for 3 weeks and then goes to live with his girl friend who is an immigrant. 1996 starts to learn Italian, works informally in translating documents and any other job 1997 Trains to be a electrician . Cannot find work. Admitted to a course to make pizzas. Continues with Italian. Now speaks it well. 1997 Marries and moves to a small town outside Rome. 1997 studies Italian law. Continues to work in the informal labour market. 1998 Wife has a baby Thematic Analysis Ahmed responds to the opening question with an argument about his situation. He blames himself for choosing a country where he doesn 't know anybody and doesn 't speak the language. He evaluates the first period as a "hard life that he didn't expect " and goes on by talking about discrimination . He again makes an argument about the treatment of foreigners in Italy and contrasts this with being a tourist in other countries where he had had no problems. He considers that the bad treatment he experienced was the result of ignorance, not of discrimination . He argues that he had nobody to share his feelings with and this resulted in health problems . He continues his argumentation by comparing his country with Italy and admitting that every country has problems . He then changes the subject to talk about integration and starts with an argumentation that the difficulties revolve around employment. He evaluates his own behaviour in the labour market as being honest despite temptations and the difficulties of survival since he has no permanent job . He completes this section on employment with an optimistic statement that things can always get better . The next subject he chooses concerns how when living with his girl friend ,
now his wife, he had to find work day by day; he describes in single narrations (stories) different occasions when he had work. After this he argues that the problem does not exist only for refugees and immigrants but for Italians too . He enters into a long argumentation of the understandable need of government to protect Italians but the needs too of refugees. He contrasts his situation to that of refugees who are in amuch worse situation and feels fortunate though he has no fixed income, which worries him . He argues that even if employers only offer a month or two's work, one has to be grateful since they have their problems too; anger against one person does not solve the problems of the whole system. He describes a situation when he was fr a job , he could badly treated by an employer but since it was his first opportunity o not be entirely angry. He then switches to talking about vocational training and says language was the first thing he studied and then he argues that foreigners must learn the language very well and not just street argot. Then he describes the different places he went to learn the language and finishes with an evaluation of this period as a happy one since he had the opportunity of meeting nice and polite people . He continues with the theme of vocational training with a description of the procedure he followed in order to get training in something in which he already was a graduate, since his qualifications were not recognised. He was disappointed that even after the training he couldn't get work . He trained to make pizzas as a way of filling his time. He describes being registered f o r work, attending the offices regularly but argues that he has few expectations about being found work . At this point he ends his initial narration. Case Structure Ahmed starts his narration by making a differentiation between the different phases he went through after he arrived in the host country. It is interesting that initially he chooses to blame himself rather than the country for all the problems he had in living in Italy, a theme that continues in the rest of his initial narration. "First phase I felt it was more or less m y fault , because I arrive in a country where I don 't know anyone and I couldn 't speak the language; then I never expected to leave my country to g o and live in another country and I arrived here, 1 was uncertain, Irealised that I hadn 't taken the decision yet to remain here, to g o somewhere else, Idon't know. At the time I was unstable because it was 50% my fault too. " One interpretation might be that he feels he had some choices e.g. about where to seek asylum, and that the "mistake " of arriving in Italy was his own. Another explanation is that he has a character which does not easily lay responsibilities on others for his own situation, this contrasts with many other interviewees who tend to blame others e.g. the authorities whether in their own country or the host society , the NGOs, even where it is clear they have some responsibility. After his unsuccessful efforts to go to other countries he accepted that he had to stay in Italy and began learning the language. At this point he turns to the subject of discrimination and he tries to explain what hurts him more. /// started learning this language that I liked before, and I still like; but the problem is that I didn 't expect such a hard life . I expected that immigration isn 't an easy thing; I know that to go to a country, where you don 't know anybody, nobody knows you , OK. But discrimination, ignorance, I say ignorance, I don 't s a y racism, as according to me ignorance is worse than racism, racism is visible; it is plain , you are not a countryman o f mine, that 's it. Ignorance that catalogues people, they see you come from Maghreb, Algeria, you are like the others. The fact o f cataloguing people, this is what hurts me."
Here we hove a problem of the term which he uses - "immigrant" instead of refugee. This suggests that in using this term he identifies his situation as one similar to any immigrant; whether this is because he does not wish to perceive himself as a refugee or because he wants to identify with the larger group with whom he shares many common elements. Indeed from his biographical data the identification with his Eastern European wife, herself an immigrant, might be an explanation for his switch in the use of the terms and identification with immigrants. His following discussion reveals that he has been the object of discrimination - or ignorance as he terms it. He then moves on to an argument that all Algerians are not the same. Again he returns to the theme "refugee v immigrant". However another implicit argument may be the notion that categorisations of foreigners need to use other criteria than origins. This is partly confirmed by his next statement where he compares his experience as atourist to the current one, as a refugee; "I went to America, I went to France, in Germany, in Spain, in England; I didn 't see such things. Maybe because I didn 't g o there to live, only as a tourist " The fact that he reports that this is the first time he feels discriminated against reflects the loss of home and his social status as well as the objective problems of having to live for a long time in a new country as opposed to being a visitor. These feelings cause him health problems. " I never heard its name before: nervous gastritis. I t means that there aren 't persons to whom I can trust m y feelings , there isn't a place where I can "empty out ". Then little by little I left everything inside, everything inside. I 've had nervous gastritis ". Indirectly this phrase indicates his social isolation, something he experiences unconsciously, since he cannot find people to identify with nor does he have any members of his family with him . Again when returning to the theme of integration in the life and culture of Italy he places the responsibility for adaptation on himself . "I 'm not saying Italy is a bad country, a good country, as each country has qualities and defects, different cultures and then we have to adapt. I don 't ask the Italian to have the same mentality as mine; it's me to get my mentality closer to his. This is a rule, because it 's me who came here, it 's for me to look for the way through which I can, I don 't know, how we call it, integration ". He considers himself integrated because during these years in Italy he has learned to distinguish between those who like foreigners and those who don't. "Now, for example, I see, as soon as I speak to a person, I know more or less, more or less i f this person is ready to have a foreigner or is not ready. I 've had other experiences, because you know I haven 't got here either father , or mother, or friend or nothing and then because I have to manage by myself ." The hypothesis that the social isolation he experienced because of his loss of family and friends is very important for him is confirmed in the above statement. He has also begun to deal with the problem of ignorance by himself making a categorisation between Italians who accept foreigners and those who do not. However his perspective on integration, that it is his responsibility, remains. He switches in his narration from discussing Italian people and employers to talking about himself in a positive way. He states that he is proud of himself that in all his time in Italy he didn't do any dishonest jobs . His sense of honour and personal responsibility accords with the way he avoids blaming "the other" for his situation. ..earning ten thousand is better than losing ten thousand. So I looked all the ways. Honest money, yes, thank goodness, I haven 't g o n e towards "black ways " (^dishonest life,)/ thank goodness this means that thanks to Italy that made me know many
wrong ways, I haven 't gone towards those ways. Now then I fee l really good , because I 'm feeling bad, yes, the true I 'm feeling bad, also considering the period I arrived here two years and eight months ago; but I 'm h a p p y for no-one can tell me: "here you are, you have bad record ". I have nothing o f that kind, thank goodness. Hem... look, u p to now, the only thing which is still missing is a fixed , permanent job , because I pay the rent today, I pay it this month, next month, I don 't know. This is what hurts me more" Although he repeats many times that he is unhappy since he doesn't have a permanent job and the future is so uncertain he ends up with an optimistic statement: "I have to manage by myself, not at 100%, because we are not, I don 't know, in the woods, we are in a society where there are people and it may be that what 1 haven 't found today, I will find tomorrow, let 's hope ". Again the isolation he experiences is obliquely discussed by stating that being in a society he expects others to eventually help him . Several times during his narration he talks about immigrants rather than refugees but at other times he makes a distinction and explains that the situation for the latter is worst. When he talks about unemployment he argues again that the situation is not better for Italians and therefore he can 't complain about his situation. "....I s e e the problem is not only for the immigrants, but also for Italians and, look, then it means that everyone has problems , both the Italian and the foreigner , it is not them, also the refugees. Now then, what concerns the refugee, look, on the one hand I 'm angry, on the other one I say it is normal as we all know that Italy is new country which became country o f immigration, before it was o f emigration. I don 't know, they started receiving , passing those laws for the immigration lately, thatis 10 years ago or 12 years a g o at most. Then it means that we have to be patient , but til l when ?" Again he excuses Italy for not having adequate policies and care for refugees. Another factor that makes him feel better is the situation of other refugees which is worse than his. "I 've been lucky, I found a house; there are other re fugees that, when I look at them, I 've got tears in m y eyes. A recognised politica l refugee sleeps in the street, I don 't know, he'll become a drunkard, a tramp i f we say this. This hurts me that it is not his fault , there are other people telling me that this is not a typical refugee; I say : "But it is not his fault ". The fault is the Commission's 10 , the fault is the one 's who implemented this statute. This is the problem , because until we can expect at least, I don 't know, the minimum , a lodging , a place where to sleep, where to put one 's head on the pillow, this is the problem . On the other hand, look, I got used, yes , I have adapted, yes, but until I have a fixed income, permanent job , because, also, look, because illegal work today is here, tomorrow is not here ". His tendency not to blame the country for all his problems is repeated once more when he talks about his first experience at work. "when an employer, me too I 've worked, me too I 've been told to g o away, I didn 't do anything, because I have to thank this employer, because at least he made me work for a month, two months; better than remaining in the street. W h y should I make denunciation afterwards? H e has his problems too; the person has to be open. I t is n o t t h a t a s i'm angry at the system o f the country I have to let this anger out towards aperson who once gave me a hand ". 10 Commissione Centrale per il Riconoscimento dello Status di Rifugiato - the Commission for Recognition of Refugee Status in Italy
His need for personal support is reflected in his lack of anger against his first employer who though eventually acting illegally against him, is not denounced since he gave him a 'helping hand', again a term that in itself reflects his need for personal contact. When he talks about vocational training he mentions that the first training he had was language courses. He makes clear that for him it was essential to learn the language well. "Learning does not mean learning the language as a foreigner would learn it, in the street; I have to learn it properly, because, among other things, I 've got a degree and, in order to convey my experiences I have to speak the same language and above all the same language that a graduate normally speaks here in Italy, that is a certain type o f vocabulary ... So I had to study ". He always has presented positive aspects and though he had a hard time learning the language well he says : "Those have been good experiences too, I met good Italians, hem... from this moment, when I remember those moments I 'm h a p p y, the truth, I 've been lucky, because I 've met quite a few nice and polite people, that's it." The theme of good V bad Italians emerges again with his identification with the good, nice and polite . In switching to discuss vocational training, he sees that the prejudice of Italians against foreigners for employment prohibits the full use of this training: "but what 's the need o f a training, and I 'm a graduate, having a training is all right, m y qualifications are not recognised here in Italy, I must follow a training course. I follow the course then you tell me: "I 'm sorry, there is no job ". N o, why do I have to waste 3, 4, 8 months." He discusses briefly his non acceptance on a Ministry of Labour project and his subsequent and current training as a cultural mediator. He is clear that he, like many Italians, is trying to find work in very insecure and unknown circumstances and that the authorities are of little help: "Wait for them to find me a job ? This I don't think. I don 't think so, from the beginning this was more or less clear; you attend the project , but you have to make do by yourself ." Discussion Ahmed within a relatively short period of time has found himself a new life. His loss of family and of social status appear to be two strong axis in his narration. Although not always explicit they appear to structure his told life and are values which he wishes to reproduce in his new life in Italy. The need to regain them drive him to adapt strategies of inclusion into Italian society; his moral code on the other hand does not permit him to work dishonestly. His determination to be integrated is reflected in his narration where he presents positive aspects of each situation. From his subsequent narration we learn that he has married a girl from Eastern Europe, undoubtedly a migrant worker. This helps us account for his flexible use of the terms refugee and foreigner/migrant; by identifying with her he does not perceive himself just as a refugee and this may help him adjust more easily to his loss of status. Marriage to an Italian would have been a more successful strategy for inclusion in Italian society but nonetheless his marriage provides him with a family, offering objective and emotional security, something which he needs as evidenced in his opening narration. His other preoccupation, with his social status, emerges in his decision to learn the Italian of educated people, rather than that of foreigners. His
continuing reference to a lack of permanent work and a financially insecure future is explained by the lack of social support mechanisms he and his wife experience in Italy; this contrasts with the situation of most Italians who rely on their families for economic as well as social and psychological support. One hypothesis is that Ahmed will try to improve his situation by making a wide network of friends but in particular will seek to find educated Italians who can act as mediators with the society and help him find better work and satisfy his expressed need for social support. His case is an example of positive integration in Italy under difficult circumstances where support for refugees is partial and limited. The above description of the case of Ahmed provides an insight into the depth analysis that an initial narrative can bring to light about the life course of refugees. No refugee arrives in Europe without their own values, social expectations and agendas and the methodology allows one to reveal these which are often not apparent, even to the refugee being interviewed. Critical Themes on Integration Following the methodology outlined above several themes emerged in the initial responses of other refugees to the opening question. Since these themes emerge without the guidance of the interviewer we can assume that they are significant as structuring elements in the lives of refugees. The material derived from the analysis of the opening question has been incorporated into the relevant chapters constructed on the basis of the issues that refugees consider important since they are referred to in their initial narratives.
Chapter
ia il 5. Language and Int
Reception
The material transcribed for this section is derived both from responses to opening questions from the selected full length interview in each country, as well as specific responses to the subsequent question concerning their ability to learn the language of the host society. Additionally material from the summary versions of the remaining interviews has been included. This procedure has been adopted for all the subsequent chapters. The subject of safety was the focus of the initial narrative for some refugees. The issue of initial reception emerged as a theme in a number of opening narrations; it can thus be assumed that this period is an important one in terms of later integration and adaptation to the host society. Inevitably many of them linked this reception period with the issue of language which explains why these two themes are presented in this section. Safety
For some refugees the most important and immediate response to the opening question was to express their gratitude to the host country for offering them asylum. The traumas of their past lives and going into exile are still uppermost in their minds and structure their responses. An educated middle aged Peruvian man starts his interview by expressing his gratitude to the interviewer for having the opportunity to talk about his experience and to the Spanish government for accepting him in the country since he felt secure and had managed to overcome his fears of death and depression. // When I arrived here, I first had a feeling o f security , relief , peace in general, that permitted me to be calm in the first place, to be calm psychologically . I am grateful for this, I must be grateful " The same feeling of security although with mixed feelings is expressed by an poorly educated, middle aged Kurdish- Iraqi woman living for 10 years in Germany, officially recognised as a refugee and with citizenship: " l a m satisfied living here because I see no more war. In my country the wardisturbed me a lot. On the other side I am home sick, I feel that I am a foreigner here. "
Initial reception Though the focus of the interview was on integration in the host society, many refugees started by talking of the initial period when they applied for asylum. They recognised their own paralysis, their feeling of being unable to get on with their lives as they tried to recover from traumatic and painful experiences, but also the paralysis which was the result of their lack of rights and status. The length of period of this moratorium varied in line with how long it took for them to be recognised as refugees, but also with the policies of Member States. Those who felt that this period was particularly negative were most inclined to want to talk about it in detail to the interviewer since it scarred their subsequent life and integration. A young Bosnian woman in Denmark tells of the lost years involved in seeking for asylum and being unable to speak the language: "It looks as i f I never lived between m y 26th and 29th years o f age. I was 26 when I came and I was 29 when I got permission to stay but it seems as i f someone gave me some sleeping pills and I slept for three years ." An educated Sudanese man in his 30's and living in Sweden tells the interviewer: "I n the camp we did nothing, we only played cards and talked to each other. When
we moved to the city we were given some money to take care o f ourselves and we also started learning Swedish. After a while we lost interest because o f the cold weather and the long period we had to wait for our status recognition ".However the kindness of a Swedish refugee worker who took them on a picnic is still remembered after several years. The negative role of government reception centres for asylum seekers and refugees in promoting integration was commented on wryly by a Hutu man from Rwanda living in Austria : "I think it is some kind o f a joke . They call them integration houses and I have never met an Austrian inside the house except the s t a f f . So what d o they mean by integration? Integration between ourselves? I am sorry that I did not have the chance to learn anything about the Austrian culture during m y stay in that integration house. All I have learned is the language but nothing about the culture, not even about the eating culture ofAustrians ". Asimilarcomment was made about the government integration houses in Austria, where she initially lived from 1994, by an educated Christian Palestinian woman from Syria , "It was not integration, it was kind o f putting obstacles between us and Austrian society. I f they had left us to find our own way to integrate into this society it would be much better. The problem of being put in unsuitable reception conditions was reported by an Iranian woman, pregnant when she arrived in Austria , who was accommodated in a village in which there was no medical care. "That forced me to walk more than four kilometres to get some medical care in another village. I can 't tell you how I managed to recover, but it took me nerves and energy, and I won 't forget it for the rest o f my life ." The waste of time while in initial reception centres is commented on by an educated man from the Cameroon in France : "What struck me is the fact that during the procedure ( to get a refugee status) you are not allowed to d o anything . I lived with a small allowance and small illegal jobs . Being a painter I sold my creations to survive ". However the negative aspects of initial reception were not always the ones recalled by those interviewed: an Afghani professional man describes his experiences in the Netherlands: "Everything was new for me and I have experienced a lot o f joyful happenings. I didn 't confront any problems yet . I n the beginning you are always full o f hope and expectations, not knowing the problems you will meet later on. So I had some good times when I first got to the refugee camp. " The cultural contrasts between the society of origin and the new host society was also commented on. Those European social welfare systems which contribute extensive support to refugees and others excluded from the labour market also provides a strong contrast to their own cultures. A young married Sudanese woman with secondary education whose husband is studying at the university in Sweden and who have both a scholarship and receive social assistance tells us: // In my tradition it is not good to depend on others for living . H e is a young man, he has to work, he told me he looked every where unsuccessfully. After a year I discovered that all foreigners are like that and gradually I got used to that. I feel like begging . I n fact it is not different from asking people on the streets " Bosnian Moslem woman in Denmark starts in the opening question by talking about integration and that after 7 years in the country she does not feel integrated
100%. Then she goes into detail about the first period where they were living on a boat for 17 months and waiting to get recognition as refugees. She says : All that time I had the feeling that the Red Cross fed me, and that made me feel bad. I felt like I was a beggar and I thought I have to find out some way to earn money. I n a way I forgot about my education from m y country, even though I had good education but I did not have any kind o f prejudice I tried to find any job just because I did not want to get money from the Red Cross ". Cultural differences may be experienced in a positive way. An educated Iraqi Christian woman tells us that the change of culture posed no problems to her : "since I didn 't like the customs o f m y society very much ". Language courses Unless a refugee arrives already speaking the language of the host country s/ he is faced by having to learn a new language. Refugees may already speak several languages, including European ones, while many are from highly educated backgrounds in their home country. Both these factors influence refugees in their perceptions concerning the quality of initial language tuition . A middle aged and educated Palestinian Christian woman from Syria comments: /// am sorry to say that the language training I received in Modling (Austria ) was kind o f elementary... it could help me survive for a couple o f weeks but couldn't help me integrate myself into the society... The course, well the level was too low." similar observation was made by an Ethiopian man in his 20s in France who had run a business in his own country; the awarding of refugee status after 2 years enabled him to go to the Centre for Refugees where he stayed for 8 months. During this period he took French classes, since in the first two years there was almost no French taught: "Only 2 hours a day and the person in charge was anything but a teacher." ir Lanka commented on the very short period in which In Germany a woman from S she had the opportunity to learn the language and low initial expectations that the organisers had: "They told me : i f you are able to work and you manage it is enough. But I wanted to be in a position to fill in a form , to talk to the teachers etc. Now I am attending a course which adjusts to m y time. M y son will start school soon and I want to be able to help him " Her husband, as she explains, never managed to learn the language because he had to work. " If he started learning the language he would lose his job . The working plan changed
all the time so he couldn 't follow a regular class ". Bosnian woman reports that : /// didn 't have a wish to learn. I had had terrible experiences in learning Danish in refugee centres. There we were u p to 40 people in one class, and we were between 15 and 65 years o f age, and all o f us had different educational backgrounds and interests. And we didn 't have any similarities." The problem of learning Danish for the Bosnian (and other) refugees in Denmark a few years ago was acute and left many with bitter memories and resentment. A Bosnian mother recounts the story of her daughter: // Finally she got the permission to start the third grade in a normal Danish school, but she felt deeply handicapped there beca use o f h er lang ua g e. Now she is atten ding the sixth grade and you can still feel all the consequences. She still feels insecure and alienated. A couple o f months ago she for the first time used the phrase 'We Danes '
. All in all it took her six years to say that. It took three years for a child who came to the country when she was six to learn the language." The illogical position of governments on language instruction for asylum seekers was commented on a by Bosnian man who was lucky enough to be in the first intensive training course organised in Denmark for Bosnians after recognition and had learned the language quickly // But the problem is, as I said, I was lucky, most o f the others I know many others, other groups not only ours, they have problems because they had to wait for a long time to start the course, they are doing it very slowly, they are doing it once or twice aweekand that is a bad idea....it is not enough to do it like twice a week or something . And that should be definitely done just after arrival. And i f people don 't stay in Denmark, what is the difference ? I t is better that they learn language and then leave than the opposite, not letting them learn language and then they stay.." The lack of opportunities to learn the language, even when the individual refugee sought tuition, was reflected in the account of an Christian Armenian woman from Iran, in Austria . Though she had decided to learn the language as soon as possible "to be able to understand and to integrate myself into the society, nobody offered me achance to get any language training.'"
The negative consequences of not knowing the local language are also discussed by an Angolan in Ireland who despite speaking French on his arrival faced significant difficulties: "I was exposed to physical and verbal provocation from local people and couldn't easily communicate because of language barriers."
Without the ability to speak the language of the host society refugees are condemned to social exclusion as an educated man from Zaire in Italy says: "Communication is an important thing, because it is important to speak the language, otherwise you cannot talk o f integration." Lack of information For many refugees what makes them find initial adaptation to the host society difficult is the apparent lack of clear and accessible information; this is commented on by refugees in many countries. Though every Member State has developed information pamphlets and services, these do not always reach the refugee or else they did not know how to access the information. An educated Congolese man in the UK says how lucky he feels to be living there but "Theproblem is how to get access to the re fugee society, you must know what services are available for you before you ask for help. ....You have 'to spend a lot o f time to ask questions and sometimes you are humiliated because few people d o not like to answer when they hear you are a foreigner . Imagine those who don 't speak the language, it was very difficult for me to find out about the services available ". In many cases reliance is placed on compatriots to provide vital information and help, otherwise apparently unavailable: a woman teacher from Iran living in Germany says: "At that time when I didn 't have an apartment I didn 't know where to stay and where to sleep. That was my biggest problem . I was nearly in the street. I had no access to any NGOs or even someone to help me. Most o f the time it was by chance or by contact, especially through my country people, that I was able to achieve what Iwanted "
Chapter 6. Public Authoritie s and Institutional Discrimination Rights and duties. The role of governments in granting refugee status and providing adequate protection for asylum seekers and refugees is part of the Geneva Convention" to which they are signatories. However the level and type of coverage implied by the term protection varies. What was envisaged was that refugees would be offered many of the same rights and take on some of the same responsibilities as citizens of the host countries . In reality specific help has to be provided to refugees to enable them to have access to their rights. This implies that governments have to ensure that information is given both to refugees and those who deal with refugees e.g . police, public authorities . In the interviews refugees commented on the lack of information concerning their rights and the services available for them. Too often each refugee had to struggle to get access to this information while having to confront officials who were poorly prepared . An example is a quote from a refugee in Austria : "During my stay in Austria, I have never been given any useful and full information about my rights in this country and about the limitations to my rights. I have never been informed about rights to social benefits, the vocational training, the right to get aid like housing aid. I have found out by myself and through personal contacts " She also commented on the repercussions this had in her and her son's life: "I never had any idea that my son was registered in a school that did not allow him to qualify and continue his studies into the university. This really a f f e c t e d me and will a f f e c t me for the rest o f m y life." An African woman living in Spain commented: "I think that this country doesn 't have a policy for refugees. Once you are recognised you have to find your own way around." Asimilarcomment is made by a man from Kosovo, an economist in his own country who found difficulties in getting any information in Italy: in the end he wondered: "The government gives no information on anything. How can we integrate?" Sudanese woman living in the UK when discussing the rights of refugees and government policy towards them says : "I feel that refugees don 't have a voice. They are not in the governmen t structure. There is everything else to help people in this country, like the disabled, but there is nothing in the government policy about refugees." Later she says about refugees " they are well qualified but they are not able to contribute.......Even when it comes to talking about our own a f f a i r s somebody else will talk and we have to be passive and just listen. " Even when Member States and NGOs have developed elaborate systems of information and services for refugees, they may not correspond to the needs of refugees. Thus in Denmark a young Bosnian man wryly points out: "On arrival everything seems to be organised and everyone seemed to know what they wanted to do with us. But they had some wrong ideas about our situation and no-one wanted, to hear what we had to say. What I tried to explain is that I haven 't l e f t my country before I was sure that I couldn 't live there. Anyway Danes had their own ideas."
1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
The experience of dealing with the public authorities led an African man in Ireland to say: "The authorities themselves fuel racism ". A rather similar reflection on the role of politicians at local and national level in supporting refugees or alternatively making their lives more difficult by encouraging racist and discriminatory attitudes against them was commented on . A professional Somali man says : "There is a bad expression in Denmark which says ' i f someone wants to make a brilliant politica l career it is enough just to make a bad statement about refugees ." Problems over status and specifically the right to family reunion continue even once arefugeeis recognised . Integration is hardly feasible where the spouse is under threat of being expelled from the country as an Eritrean Coptic-Christian in his late 20s, and of low level education explains: "The law demands a certain income for family reunion. I comply with that rule, I have a job , but still m y w i f e is not accepted. I cannot find a solution for it, we even received an order to leave the country when she was pregnant ." Other refugees relate integration to services and practical support , or their lack. An African girl in Spain tells us: // You cannot integrate people when they are sleeping outside, they have no food to eat, that 's absolutely nonsense." While in a similar vein a 'Zairian man in Ireland points out: I f you want someone to be integrated but you don 't give him the right to work, the right to study, I don 't think that you really want him to be integrated ". The practical repercussions of Western bureaucracies have cultural effects for refugees: S ir Lankan woman discussing her marriage in Germany points out: " We had our I D cards from home but they rejected them saying that they are not travel documents. According to our tradition we couldn 't s t a y together without being married. So, in the mean time we did our cultural and religious marriage. "The three year delay to get the necessary paper meant that they had their first child before the official marriage: "The baby was registered under m y maiden name. For our culture this is disgrace. The child should have his father 's name " Ayoungwoman of Iraqi Kurdish origins with secondary education living in the UK says: " Living in another country as a refugee is very difficult . We were forced to leave our country. We have not chosen to come here ourselves. I don 't say that it is not a good place to live but I want the government to treat us like other citizens. We are human beings and have the right to live " However not all Member States were accused of lack of help or care for refugees. Luxembourg seems to have managed its refugees well, perhaps because it is a smaller and relatively prosperous society. A university student in his late 20s from the Congo states in his initial narration that he believes the country respects the rights to obtain refugee status and obtain social support. "They also look after children extremely well. This, I recognise.". Contacts with Officials The personnel who have to deal with refugees are employed by both public authorities and NGOs . They have to confront difficult situations, different cultural backgrounds, emotionally upset people who have lost their homes and countries . The need for special abilities in this group of people is particularly evident. A number of refugees commented on the behaviour of the staff both in residential reception centres for asylum seekers and in the public authorities with whom they had to
communicate. There were bright memories of staff and officials who helped and made them feel understood and supported . However the stories recounted were particularly those of misunderstandings and indifference. A well educated man from Rwanda (Hutu), who lives in Austria comments on the period he spent in the government integration house where he felt that neither the staff or the place aided integration: "I think that the s t a f f there were not prepared to work with marginal groups. They behaved as i f they were xenophobic. They did not treat us as human beings, they treated us as foreigners and unwanted persons ." In the same spirit a Bosnian woman, who lives in Denmark says : // 1 will never forgive the Danish society and I will never forgive and forget the officers in the Danish Red Cross and the Danish Refugee Council. They never cared about our background, or age, or s t u f f like that. But they always put us all together in the same sack and on the sack is written 'Less worthy people ' and they are always in the position to say 'ours is best, we know things better, we think o f the best way, we will teach you how to use the toilet, what a library and a vacuum cleaner are etc. You are refugees You are refugees, it means you are savages. We are Danes, we are civilised." The lack of differentiation or personal interest in the background of refugees is perceived by some as a negative quality of public administration as they feel that they lose their social status once more. A university graduate from Eritrea started his interview by joking with the interviewer asking if it is necessary to give his ID number since everywhere in Sweden he has to show his number. "Swedish authorities recognise me only through this number, I am only a number. All the foreigners are the same : educated or not, black or coloured, from Africa, Asia or Latin America ". The dependence of refugees on public funding for survival, given the difficulties that the majority have in finding paid employment (see section on Employment) follows the rules concerning social security in the different Member States. As mentioned few refugees come from countries with well developed welfare states and often feel highly embarrassed at having to depend on public funding even though it is their right . This is not always taken into consideration by the personnel in the public sector: a Sudanese woman in UK tells of her feelings when queuing for the social security money: 'You get terrible looks from the s t a f f . They look at you as i f they take the money from the government without giving something back in return. They don 't actually say that but you get it from their behaviour, attitude, the way they treat you , which is different from an English person ." Racial prejudice emerges in the treatment of some refugees by the police. An African refugee in Finland talks about his experience: "I f we have women with us when we are driving or when we are driving a car o f good mark especially a Saab or BMW, the police arrest us and ask us to take the breathalyser test, and what are we doing with this car. Once they said to us clearly that we should g o home (to our country), and this makes it a bit difficult to integrate." APeruvianwoman studying in Spain mentions that some of the policemen in the asylum office are poorly prepared and racist . "I noticed that they put white people before black, and things like that. I protested but nobody paid attention." Another difficulty lies in the fact that refugees come from countries where their expectations of officials is very poor; they are often in fear of those who wear uniforms and wield authority. This is described by a university educated man from Zaire who points out that in order to get a legal status he had to deal a lot with the
police department and he describes how difficult it was for him to go to the police . " I n my country the police intimidates you " Another problem reported on was the difficulties of dealing with border officials. An African refugee in Ireland commented on the racism he had experienced but also the officials' lack of knowledge about the Geneva Convention and the validity of documents from Ireland: he had experienced problems in the UK, Belgium and Ireland: "The authorities o f S c h e n g e n states should educate their immigration officials " In Denmark the bureaucratic structures and lack of flexibility lead to problems for many refugees. The recent decision to allocate responsibility for refugee integration to the Local Authorities is seen with considerable worry by some refugees: "It is impossible for refugees to fight with the local authorities. T h e local authorities have extremely capable bureaucrats. There is not a n y organisation or institution where refugees can go and complain about any local authority 's decision." Refugees may come into conflict with bureaucracies as a direct result of their status and the rigidities in bureaucracies. Thus in France a recognised refugee whose wife arrived after him as an asylum seeker could not get admitted to a hospital to give birth because she did not have any papers: // 1 found it strange that I was not able to register m y w i f e with a hospital to give birth normally because all the hospitals are organisations who think o f making money. As we didn 't have any papers , m y w i f e was an asylum seeker, no one would give her a scan and nothing was possible . I tried to do it with my social security but it was not possible . .. Finally 1 registered by telephone via a social assistant. But the hospital had not understood how she had been registered .. and it was nearly a demonstration in the hospital to know how she had been registered ....." When his wife was hospitalised he was asked to pay 20 000 FF and as he could not, they asked for medical aid and in the end fortunately the situation was resolved.
Cliapter 7. Employment Throughout the European Union there are difficulties for refugees in obtaining employment. To some extent this reflects the general situation in national labour markets; unemployment is still a major problem in many Member States. However in great part the problem for refugees is that even when they are highly qualified in their own or other countries, their qualifications are rarely recognised. Secondly there is the problem of discrimination ; many employers are unwilling to employ refugees even when they have the appropriate qualifications and skills. The recent upturn in employment in some countries e.g. Netherlands, the UK, Ireland, Luxembourg, does not yet seem to have had any discernible affect on the employment of refugees. An additional problem is that many refugees in northern European countries are dependent on social security benefits; temporary or part time work which might be the first step to longer term employment, represents a greater risk for them than for most unemployed people. Many feel insecure and unwilling to make the move to self employment or insecure employment contracts while bureaucratic rules may hinder initiatives. A number of refugees told their stories of trying to work legally, then becoming ineligible for social support if the work ended, and thus being forced into illegal employment. In southern Europe the lack of social security drives refugees into all forms of insecure, temporary and non registered forms of employment regardless of their qualifications. Unlike unemployed local people who find support through their family and kin, refugees are in a more vulnerable situation. As a Peruvian university student reports about her experience in Spain: "moreover the persona l and kinship networks function here to a great extent. They may function in many countries, but here it's more. So a refugee who hasn 't got these contacts , it 's more difficult for him." The employment vulnerability of refugees in such types of work is evident in Portugal // ... a big problem with the men or refugees working in the construction is that the owner runs away without paying the person . It happened to me and many o f my friends and i f you come and explain to the authorities (e.g . the Santa Casa) there is nothing they can do." An Iranian refugee man tells his story of survival: /// look for work through my friends or the people I know. It is very difficult to get employed in Greece. Now I sell things in the street, but I don 't know for how long I will be able to do this. And I don 't have social security " The lack of understanding of the situation of refugees in the host society also means they are often perceived as migrants and treated in the same way. An Algerian man in Italy says: /// see the problem is not only for immigrants, it is also for Italians, and that means that everybody has the problem . On the one hand as a refugee I get angry on the other I understand that it is normal. We are all in Italy now, a country that recently receives immigrants. We have to be patient ." Recognition of qualifications and work experience For virtually all countries one of the main issues raised by educated and highly skilled refugees is the non recognition of either their formal qualifications or their work experience. Even where some recognition is given, refugees are expected to take additional courses on the assumption that their qualifications are inferior . A refugee in Austria says:
"being refused a position on the ground that I have not studied here and on the grounds that I don 't have a n y work experience in Austria, as i f m y previous qualifications were really nothing " He recognises that he has undertaken many different jobs " rejected by the nationals " and describes his experience in the labour market: "I see some kind o f exploitation o f foreign human power like myself . I have been exploited, I have never been allowed to do what I can and to show what I can d o. I have just met people who have never gone to school, or have just finished second year level and we have met in the labour market doing dirty jobs ". Even where there are demands for the skills that refugees have, their qualifications are not recognised: a Bosnian nurse in Denmark says: "They didn 't recognise my education as a nurse. I got an answer from the Ministry for Foreigners, just like all other nurses, that we have to g o to the nearest medical school to where we live and there they would give us an answer as to how many exams we have to take. I must add that Denmark has very few nurses and at the time when we lived in the asylum centres the country was importing nurses from Sweden and Holland, although they could neither speak the language or spoke it worse than we did. I still don 't understand why we should study for a year or u p to two years . I was very unhappy about that. " university graduate in his 40s from a Saharan country and living in France explains: "Since I couldn 't bring m y diploma with me to have it recognised I was obliged to accept "stage " in ceramics, painting ...which is not very convenient for me because o f m y age and m y background. I found small jobs in parking for example. I sent my CV, I searched a lot but I never found a n y proper work. Given m y a g e and m y education I have to live on RMI (social benefit)" In Austria an experienced television journalist from Rwanda expresses his frustration at having no prospect of being employed in an Austrian television station: "As a journalist ...well..it looks like it would be a dream for me thinking that I will some time work for Osterreichisches R u n d f u n k ( ORF) or whatever TV station in this country, because the answers which have been given when I applied for such jobs were 'we are sorry but we need your working experience only in Austria . We don 't recognise your working experience outside Austria '. That was kind o f frustrating for me. I mean it looks like outside Austria there is no....I mean nobody can d o anything worthwhile. Itislike telling me that my previous studies outside Austria were useless... or just don 't count as i f only studies in Austria were worthwhile. I think this is some kind o f negation o f m y being as a human being .. being a citizen o f the world.. I mean.. I have the right and did have the right to study where I wanted .." He concludes his interview with the same preoccupation .. //... before I came to this country I did have a teaching experience for five years and an experience as a TV journalist for more than two years . That belongs already to the past , I can 't enjoy it you know I can 't use m y experience to compete with other Austriansin the market place here, because they simply don 't recognise my previous experience." The formal recognition by the public authorities may not affect prospects for employment. A Bosnian woman, a judge in her country of origin, gained recognition of her qualifications from the government but commented that despite this she could not work in offices where employees have to have Danish citizenship, and that employers were not obliged to recognise her qualifications: // J experienced that no firm or institution wanted to recognise it, even though
I have the paper where it is written that my education is on the same level as the education o f a Danish j urist. Sometimes I have lost competition with a Dane who has just a few months in some kind o f training." Even where a refugee is willing to retrain the issue of prejudice clearly emerges. A Somali man, aged 30, tells us about his experience in Denmark: "I could not use my education. I n my country I was an accountant and after two years in a language school here I started my education from the beginning. I attended again the 9th and 10th class o f primary school and then to a gymnasium for adults so that I could get the student exams to g o to university. After three years in the university Ihave a degree as a computer assistant. I went to school from 1991-98." Despite all this he explained the fact that It is still very difficult for him to get a job : "It is hard to find a job with my education, even though it is Danish education because Danes prefer to give the job to Danes. Therefore I worked as a free lance translator. Now I work as a shop assistant. It is very - very hard for foreigners to find ajob in Denmark." Overcoming the difficulties of the non recognition of qualifications has been achieved by some refugees. One important route to acceptance is to obtain recognition from a local educational institute or employer. A man from the Cameroon in his late 30s explains that he benefited from social security since they had paid his training. "it was very useful, since in this country foreign diplomas, foreign experience counts for little. Now I can present a document from a Finnish institute, and they see m y request for employment with another eye." Local recommendations he sees as key to future integration in employment : "the doctorate obtained in Paris and the CAPES from the Cameroon don 't signify anything, but this local accreditation I think has a great importance." The non recognition of qualifications originates in the host society's attitudes to foreign qualifications : a Burundian woman in France talked about the attitude of employers: // Certain employers think that refugees do not have the same rights as nationals to work, or doubt the quality o f their training or the competencies " Apoet from Congo, mid 30's, living in the Netherlands felt very upset by the devaluation of his diploma in modern literature and he says: "They said the university I went to was another level. This was the way they saw m y diploma, but I counted on m y brain. The diploma is just a piece o f paper. You can fake your diploma but your experience never. Within 5 years I won two literature prizes in the Netherlands.." Other refugees reject the idea of returning to school again . An Albanian girl, in her 30s, a university graduate whose degree was never recognised in Belgium says: // Even when they ask me, why don 't you. g o back and take a degree again, it would just be 3 or 4 years, I say 'No, m y diploma from Tirana, when one d a y I g o back, it 's valid at least in a small land. " AKurdishpilot in France told the interviewer that the non recognition of qualifications makes him feel that integration in France is not positive: "..when I think o f my compatriots in Canada or elsewhere and who had less problems than here in getting their diplomas recognised and who are today naturalised, and well sometimes I regret having landed here..." Employment & Discrimination Discrimination is experienced by many in the labour market regardless of their origins. Thus a trained Bosnian woman in her 40s tells us how she obtained a job in a hotel in Denmark since she did not want to be dependent on social security:
"M y personal opinion is that I got that job because the owner o f that hotel was a foreigner . I cannot say that I was discriminated against but I think that there is a great deal o f mistrust towards us. I cannot accept that because I was born and grew u p in Europe, and we are Europeans. And I cannot understand the reason for so much prejudice against us." She also explains however how she was subsequently sacked as the result of her immediate boss' racism i.e. not general discrimination but just one person : // The Danish woman who was my boss could not stand that one foreigner working in the hotel, and at the same time her cousin has no job . At that time the owner o f it sold it so he could not influence her decision." However for an African man with a university degree in Ireland, where there are few people from other cultures, discrimination was very evident: "You can have education, but it will not be recognised. I f you are a foreigner mostly black, the chances are very narrow here... " refugee man living in Portugal explains: ".before leaving my country I knew I had to start from the scratch because some o f my friends who went as doctors and teachers are working as cleaners and sweepers. So I was mentally prepared to do any kind o f job . And I had no big hopes o f getting awhite collar job once I reached Europe ". qualified engineer from Iran in his mid 40s talks in his initial response about finding work in Denmark. Despite sending 30 applications to employers he received no answers so, with the help of a social worker, he found a "stage" in a Danish company. He recounts his experience : "When I went there they explained to me : "Your job is to take out the flowers every morning, to water them and take them in every afternoon ". I was surprised and I said 'After 19 years o f education I don 't w a n t t o water flower 's. T h e y t o l d m e t h a t i f l didn 't like it I could g o home. I didn 't and I went home. But the problem is that I didn 't know the law and the next month I didn 't receive any social security money. N o -one told me anything about the rule " The priority given to nationals in the European Union has repercussions for refugees who, even when accepted, do not appear to have the same chances as a national from another Member State. One Sri Lankan woman talking about her husband, explains why he cannot get a decent job . "B y l a w, Germans get the best jobs , then the Europeans and then the people with a permanent visa, last are those with a 6 month visa. H e was h a p p y to have this job (in a hotel) even with this 6 month visa rather than living on social security " female teacher from Iran and also living in Germany says: "Always foreigners have less chances when you compare them to Germans. Either you start with a lower salary or start from a lower job and you g o u p. I t is always a matter o f luck to see a foreigner working in his qualified job ." refugee from Montenegro who had begun training in hotel and catering was very disappointed that she couldn 't continue her studies in Luxembourg, since she had had good experiences in the language school there. With advice from Luxembourg she went to Belgium to study Economics and now works in an NGO . "I was surprised. l justwanted to continue in the field that I had chosen in Yugoslavia, that 's to say hotel and catering . They told me that this field was very d i f f i c u l t even for people from Luxembourg . So for you foreigners ...! did not know what the person wanted to say. I think that was why I went immediately to Belgium."
However prejudice, either directly from an employer or as a result of their perception of possible public reaction, also inhibits their employment as a woman
from Zaire living in Italy recounts. Even though the employer who had been involved in a training course liked her and asked her to go to his shop: "When I arrived his mother was there and I understood that it was not possible for me to be hired because the clientele couldn't accept a black person to make pizza . After that I don 't have the courage to look for work anywhere else." Colour as the basis for discrimination was also a problem for a Somali woman living in Denmark. "I am very disappointed. I dreamed about Denmark as a democratic country with open minded and democratic people. But the reality is completely different. When I go to ask for a job, even before I say something, they ask me if I would like to clean their office."
Racial prejudice was illustrated in the interview given by an Iraqi man living in Luxembourg: "How many times have I been accused for things I haven 't done. They address me saying 'Is that how Arabs work ?" As i f Arab work was always badly done. I f I 'd really done the work badly they would have shown me the door a long time ago." ACongoleseman reportsi about his extensive efforts to find work and how he feels very affected by not finding work contrary to his expectations when he arrived. " All m y hopes are in the water. There is no work for me, although I was sure I would have some work when I arrived in Luxembourg . There is work. M e, I am not looking to be a deputy or a minister or a director. There is work, give me any work, I wil l d o it. M e, I say to myself that they will give me some kind o f work, but they don 't give it to me, so all my hopes have fallen in the water....... I live o f f the R M G and the allowance for children. There we are. It does not honour me" The complications that result from unsuitable work as well as racism are illustrated in the case of a Rwandan man in Austria forced to leave his first job which involved working at night after 11 months because he was exhausted trying to look after his newly arrived family. He couldn't get any social assistance because he had not worked the required number of months and this cycle continued... "So I had to find other means o f living . Afterwards I found another job , and I stayed for another four months. Then I had to quit because they said "OK the job is over and you have to leave ". I l e f t again and I couldn 't get any assistance from the AMS for the same reason that I had worked for only four months not the 12 months required. I found another, a third job after a couple o f months but by then I was kind o f frustrated . Additionally my boss used to treat me not like a human being, he discriminated against me on the ground o f my skin colour. H e used to say that I am stupid because I was black..... I Ie ft and ever since I have been jobless . So it 's already six months now and I can 't get any help from the AMS again, because I haven 't worked the required 12 months." This case is not unusual and results in many refugees being forced into illegal or black market work: "I didn 't have any alternative but to work. The AMS didn 't help me in that way." Another university educated man living in Luxembourg originally from Kosovo, does not report racism but says: "The problem is the salary. I don 't get, for example, what a man from Luxembourg would receive because he's at home, and I 'm a foreigner , I 'm well treated, but to make a good living like the others, that 's difficult ." Asimilarcomment is made by a Bosnian man living in Luxembourg who talks about the exploitation of refugees by employers who take advantage of the fact that many Bosnians are afraid of losing their jobs :
"They try to pay the least possible salary to the worker. There are some employers who profit from this situation and find Bosnians who do not know the law very well For example, they work many supplementary hours without being paid . Even on a Sunday. They do not know that they should be paid for extra hours." He explains that discrimination is often indirect ; // the work that I do and that which most foreigners d o, is work that Luxembourgers do not want to do. This is why I suppose that foreigners are not seen badly. I don 't know. The work here is hierarchical like in the army." In southern European countries a major problem is unemployment, with many people working without social insurance: a Kurd from Turkey says: "I have no social security in Greece, and the money I 'm getting paid is not enough. There are a lot o f foreigners in Greece, so employers can choose among many people , and they take advantage o f us." The fact that public sector jobs are not open to non nationals also works against refugees: a journalist from the Cameroon living in France applied for a job he saw advertised in the employment agency: It was for a position sorting mail in t h e p o s t o f f i c e, a manual job which I considered Iwas more than able to do. T h e person who interviewed me took copies o f m y papers , identity card and my CV and promised to call me later. A few days later I saw the same advertisement with the mention that the post was open to foreigners but only those from the European Union. I telephoned the person who I met before. Irritated, he confirmed that the post was only for French and that in the last resort only foreigners o f European origin could a p p l y." qualified Romanian woman applied several times for a post in state libraries, "but I was simply refused the job because I was not an Austrian national. When I got the nationality then I got the job " Discrimination appears to be directed particularly against educated foreigners an Iraqi woman trained in design who could not find anyone to employ her, even as a volunteer, reported the advice she received from Danish friends about looking for a job : they said to her - // I f you try to get a job do not show your degree, because i f they see it you would not get a job . Danes do not like educated foreigners ." This perspective finds itself echoed in the interview with a refugee from Portugal : "..the lesser educated refugees are much better o f f than the more educated because they work in construction and make quite a good living and they are ready to d o any kind o f work, but the more educated refugees are behind because they want to d o the job o f their own choice and even when the peop le who are doing the top white collar jobs are earning less than the ones who are working as cleaners and sweepers. I f by chance you. enterin one o f the lesser educated persons ' house you will seeall the modern gadgets like TV, video, washing machine, refrigerator etc. And it is not the same in educated men 's house " Legitimate discrimination? The prioritisation given to unemployed nationals in the labour market and discrimination on the basis of inadequate knowledge of the language are recognised by refugees as more or less legitimate bases by employers for discrimination against their employment. A Cuban with university level education reports : /// was going to work as a translator from the Russian language but the Nationa l Institute o f Employment rejected my a p plication on the ground that there were Spanish people unemployed with the same qualifications." ASudanesewoman who could not find work since she had no UK qualifications
admits: "It was true. M y English was funny at that time and I took a job as a cleaner in a hairdressers. They were not polite to me. N o-one believed that back home I was an engineer. I l e f t the job and stayed at home. There was no way to enter l i f e ." An apparently enterprising Ethiopian man says: "During the 8 months in the accommodation centre, I spent 3 months on a stage (work placement ) in the self service o f the casino. At the end o f the stage 1 knew they were looking for someone but they didn 't hire me because o f m y low level in French. You cannot accuse people for that; they want to talk and joke with people o f their own tribe. That's how it is." An educated Kurdish man in mid 40s says : "You must have French titles to get a job , and above all you must have a very good knowledge o f French. Because o f that it 's impossible for me to find a proper job . " However when refugees are forced into taking any job , their opportunities to improve their knowledge of the host country's language can also be restricted . An Iraqi (radiologist) tells : // / am working now as a cleaner and this frustrates me a lot, because I can 't develop my German language and I 'm not given any chance to prove what 1 can do. Once I applied for a job as Heimhilfsarbeiter ( homeworker), but m y knowledge o f German couldn 't help me to get this job " Congolese man in Luxembourg talked about the frustration of asylum seekers not being able to learn languages or obtain training which he interprets as being a way of holding refugees back, given that they will never be anything but workers. " Here there is no training forasylum seekers. I received my status and went straight to the language school to learn languages. They would say to you it isn 't worthwhile to get too far because who will you be? You will be nothing, you are a labourer. ... me, I am going to, I think, continue with my languages and then d o a computer course and there we are!" problem faced by many older workers throughout Europe is that of age discrimination, since employers tend to prefer younger workers while training is also only made available to younger unemployed people . Older refugees despite their many years experience in their own country, on arrival find themselves faced by the same age discrimination . Arefugeeliving in Austria tells us how: "I went to Austrian Manpower Service but the lady told me that she couldn 't let me have any vocational training, because I am more than 50 years old " He also applied for a training to convert his qualifications: "but unfortunately they didn 't o f f e r me any chance to prepare myself for any integration on the ground o f m y a g e " Positive experiences Clearly some refugees are able to overcome their many difficulties with respect to work with the help of employers and others. One Sudanese educated woman reports how after much discrimination she is supported and helped by a n NGO for whom she wrote a proposal about environmental issues and subsequently organised an exhibition about environmental problems in Austria and Sudan. She says : // When I went there, I was filled with dismay, the administrator and the s t a f f were waiting for me, even in m y home land 1 didn 't get this kind o f consideration. On this specific occasion I wrote a poem in Arabic and it was translated by an Austrian poet . It was an unforgettable moment that I went through. Meanwhile I found another job , but this time as a cleaner."
A Bosnian women, in her 50s with only an elementary education talks about her gratitude to the Austrian government and NGOs and her own way into Austrian society: "An Austrian family allowed m y husband and me to share their residence in return for serving them... It helped me to learn the language, to see a way out for integration in this country ". Subsequently her female employer and the Austrian Manpower Service helped her get a permanent job as a cleaner in a hospital . Thus she feels herself to be integrated. In Luxembourg a refugee from Peru reported accepting the first job he was offered as a caretaker because he had never been unemployed. He knew he could not convert his qualification, and in his initial response stressed that his expectations were to find calm and peace after what he had been through in his own country. He was fortunate in knowing the parish priest who found him a job : // It 's difficult to find work in Luxembourg . There a're people who have problems and people who don 't. The latter was m y case. Really thanks to God, I had a few acquaintances. I made the acquaintance o f the parish priest and it was him who o f f e r e d me the work. Without thinking about it I accepted . I had never been unemployed. As soon as I got my status the next day I started working . " Loss of status It should not be entirely surprising12 that in Europe a disproportionate number of refugees are highly educated and drawn from amongst the intellectuals in their home country; these are the people who come into opposition with the authorities in their countries of origin and subsequently have to flee. One result in terms of employment is their considerable frustration when faced by their inability to find work in line with their experience and professions in their home country. A journalist from the Cameroon says: // .. I am sure that i f I was a plumber or a painter, I would not have had a problem to find work. It is the problem o f intellectuals. There are very few prospects because we do not correspond to the stereotype image o f the African and therefore to what they expect o f us." Asimilarpoint is made by a man from Western Sahara who explains that the educated are doubly excluded when trying to access training and employment since they do not conform to the service providers priorities for the socially excluded : "They told me "we are for people who do not know how to presen t themselves or who are looking for low level jobs in construction "; therefore they did not integrate me when they saw that I know everything, that I know how to look for a job , because I understand and I am not stupid ...... therefore I am excluded 2 times: by the lack o f work and by not being in a desperate situation in a centre, or I don 't know what.." The loss of status and dignity associated with certain kinds of work is evident in this quotation from an Angolan woman, now training to be a shop assistant, who felt unable to accept to work as a cleaner: // I t 's also a question o f having a certain self respect, working as a cleaning woman... that does not suit me..." 12 Generally refugee status is allotted on the basis of individual applications rather than to groups of people in Europe, though the recent case of the Kosovar Albanians is a contrary example. Thus those seeking asylum in Europe are disproportionately drawn from the better off, who can fund expensive travel to Europe, while many of those who have studied in Europe will naturally seek refuge there if conditions become unbearable in their home country.
Self-employment Creating their own employment may be a realistic solution for some refugees, either those who are educated but find themselves unemployable, or for those with transferable skills. Typically self employment amongst refugees in the EU is concentrated in sectors where low capital start up funding is needed, and where either the particular skills of the refugee can be applied or else there is a perceived demand for the product or services. Trading, small shops and restaurants, small service enterprises are typical; a few obtain an income through their work as artists. o t retrain, could AKurdishrefugee, once a pilot in his country of origin and unable not accept the only job offered by the employment agency as a street cleaner: // They proposed a job to me as a municipal street cleaner. I replied that even for 100 000 FF I would never do that and I would rather stay on the socia l benefit.... Eight months after arriving in France, I have arrived at the conclusion that the only thing that is l e f t for me is to create m y own business, I am thinking o f a restaurant." Less educated refugees may also find self employment to be a solution: a Kurdish woman in her initial discussion talks about the fact that she had worked as a hairdresser since she was 13 in her country and when she came to Greece, with the help of her social worker she went to a school for hair-dressers, while also working as a housecleaner. She has started her own small (informal) hairdressing salon: ' I love to make money with m y own hands. I always worked hard and helped m y family and my children above all '. Employment as the key to integration Many refugees, perhaps accurately, perceive employment as the key mechanism for social integration. The playing field is not even for all refugees; some kinds of occupations involve skills and knowledge that are transferable to other countries, others require language or other skills where being a foreigner is a very real disadvantage. The sadness creeps into the account of a young Rwandan woman in France for 6 years who had originally arrived as a student: " Tome integration is work, i f we work we are integrated. We must find a way to help people to find a f o b . M y husband was in a senior position in an NGO back home, now he stays home when he does not study..." journalist and satirical cartoonist from the Cameroon reports on living in France for four years without finding work : // Until now I cannot say that I succeeded in finding a job that could allow me to say that I am integrated, despite the tons o f letters I have sent. Until now integration is only about expectations and nothing about achievements because I am still unemployed and I continue only to survive even i f I have a profession that I know perfectly " In his case, as for other refugees, his original profession was the cause of exile and thus it is doubly hard to give up. He, like many others, continue their struggle in the host country, while also trying to prove their professional competence and gain employment: told by the ANPE (employment office) that his profession as a satirical cartoonist didn't exist: // 1 's aid to myself that I can not give u p a profession that I love so much and that made me leave my own country. I can not stop the fight . I told myself that I have to do something in the press ." ABosnianwoman did not try to have her qualification as a primary school teacher recognised in Luxembourg, because she did not know the language well enough and a teacher in her daughter's school had told her that these positions were
only open o t Luxembourg ers. She works as a cleaner in a school instead. This is hard for her but she needs to work to keep her children and she has clearly adapted her expectations : // When I started to work I cried everyday, (she laughs,). Now I know I must work and that I don 'thave a choice. At the momen1 1 work as a cleaner in a school. It 's important for me to work in a school because I was a primary school teacher, notthatthe work Ido now matters, (laughs). l a m there, I watch the children, the atmosphere reminds me o f what I used to do before. I t 's better to have a different work than none at all, especially because it is so difficult to find a job ." Later she says again that she cried a lot at the beginning and reflecting more on her work she says.. " I d o not earn much, but.. yes .. perhaps I shoul d find something a bit better?" For those with few qualifications and lower expectations there may be very different expectations about employment; this is expressed by a Bosnian woman alone with her 3 children, who thinks she was fortunate to find work as a baby-sitter as soon as she arrived in Luxembourg. For some refugees the loss of their previous job appears to be something to which they can never be reconciled : an amusing example is provided by an Iranian man who worked for 19 years in different Iranian embassies who expresses great disappointment in not being able to work in his former job as a body guard: You know how much I liked my job ? I f you o f f e r me to choose between ten o f the most beautiful, the most prettiest women in the world and on the other side m y job , Iwould always choose my job ." • However more typical is the situation of refugees who reconcile themselves to the fact that they have lost their previous work and related status: a Bosnian woman who had worked as an administrator in her father's factory for more than 25 years tells us that she is satisfied with the job she has had for five years as a cleaner in a hospital: // 1 simply recognised that I had no chance to get m y previous status I l e f t behind, but to accept any kind o f job to survive " Similarly a well educated Bosnian woman in Denmark says "The job was manual, but it was my choice because I wanted to earn m y own money. And I would do it again and I would recommend to all refugees to d o the same. I t doesn't matter i f it is manual. All jobs are good and honest. I thought it was much better to work than to sit down in refugee centre. Maybe I was lucky to get the job . I t was accidental that I got it, the owner was a foreigner and he could understand refugees."
An Iraqi who found work in a restaurant in Luxembourg states that work is an important means of making friends and improving his French. His job provides a minimum wage from the state (Revenue Minimum Guarantee) for which he works six hours a day: // 1 do not have many relations with my neighbours. By contrast at work I have many friends . Thanks to this I can improve m y French " AyoungBosnian man who had attended technical school compared his experience of working in Bosnia with that of working in Luxembourg where there is more discipline, the rhythm is faster and generally work is a serious matter. He felt that Communism had made them learn to consider work as unimportant, so he and all the Bosnians found it a shock to adapt. Fortunately I have a good boss, who understands me, who knows about the situation in my country and can see that I was also young . He was also really kind to me and
helped me a lot. Initially I had real difficulties in understanding this new system o f work. I didn 't work as I do now. I learned that work is something really important." Volunteering may also be a way into employment and integration. A well educated Sudanese man in his mid 40s who had originally studied in Spain, explains how he sought asylum there and how different his experience was since, unlike his first stay, this time he had no money and thus needed help. He found various jobs , good and "bad": /// used to tell myself "I need to work because I need to feel useful .1 need to d o something, not to stay in one place and say it's over ". Work is a kind o f cure and it was very important." He started working as a volunteer with "Doctors of the World", informing refugees and immigrants, or whoever needed services, and also sensitising Spanish society to the situation of immigrants. This led to a course on social and cultural mediation in schools and employment in a group of cultural mediators, drawn from 8 nationalities . A40year old man from the Sahara region and a university graduate who has lived in France since 1994 thought that the refugees who find work are those who have a high education and bring " a lot of diplomas from home..... But I didn 't waste my time, I stayed active i n Human Rights associations, I created my own organisation for missing Sarahan people.."
In the UK a university trained Iraqi woman in her 50s unable to find employment in Britain, used her experience of being a volunteer for OXFAM in Iraq and started to work for them in the UK. "I think the thing that really saved me was voluntary work." Subsequently she did voluntary work with youth in schools in the area where she lives. "I did that for three years and the experience I got from them was really valuable. It was on that base that I got my present job in the Municipality." She has had paid
work since 1997.
Chapter 8. Education and Training Education The predominance of highly educated refugees in many of the host societies in the European Union results in many seeking to obtain further education or requalification as a way either of entering the local labour market at a level for which they believe themselves qualified or as an investment for the time when they may be able to return to their home country. Younger refugees may be keen to seize opportunities to obtain qualifications while slightly older refugees may gain higher degrees. Many Member States support continuing education yet there are particular strains for refugees trying to both study, adapt and survive; a well educated man from Burundi started his interview by pointing out that despite coming from a French speaking county which enabled his children to enrol and adapt to school in Luxembourg without any problems, he still has problems finding work: "I started looking for a job very soon but it didn 't get me anywhere. Then I decided to g o back to university and I followed a training course, a master in strategy and engineering on adult education. I t was very d i f f i c u l t for me given m y family responsibilities and my limited financial resources. I continue looking for work through agencies and magazines ..." When refugees are given adequate support there is the full expectation that they can contribute to society once again. A university trained woman from Iraq in her mid 30s explained how she had received continuing help from the World University Service in the UK : "I would like to bring a bunch of flowers to them. I met an advisor, she was very nice, she encouraged me, she pushed me up."
Originally p l a n n i n g to start with a n u n d e r g r a d u a t e d e g r e e a g a i n, with encouragement from WUS she enrolled for a Master 's degree in IT and engineering. She confronted significant difficulties on the course; firstly she was the only woman; secondly had problems with the language, having been only 18 months in the UK; she had no access to computers and she could not afford books and photocopies . Her tutor encouraged her to keep going and she learned to work with the Englishmen on the course, discovering that they also had problems since it was a hard course. She passed one unit and after pleading for a time extension passed the second unit. "For me it was a big achievement. Even though I passed I feel myself lower than them. I did m y project very well but still don 't have confidence to get a job ." She is now being helped by WUS in preparing her CV o fr the interview process : "This is my dream, to get a job in this country. I am sure i f I get a job I will d o it very well." ASudanesewoman in her late 20s in the UK describes how she managed to get her first qualification despite difficulties: "So I went to the Africa Educational Trust. They were prepared to pay m y diploma course for Health Education in a London University... I grabbed the opportunity, went to university and I had some difficulties to adjust." Despite this she found this a very positive experience and with the support of her tutor obtained a further grant and completed her Masters degree. In some countries refugees from professional backgrounds have to work in all kinds of temporary, non registered and insecure employment, but they too retain a vision of an alternative future: a young educated Kurdish woman from Iraq, tells how a year after the birth of her child she started cleaning houses. Though she has to continue with this type of work to survive, she participates in Greek, English and
Computer lessons at the Greek Council for Refugees along with her child in the hope of one day finding different kind of work: "I n m y country I was a teacher, here I have no fob ". ALiberianrefugee woman tells a similar story: "I n Greece, I attended a polytechnic so as to study nursing . But since I have to work, Idon't have time to finish it. I don 't think that I will ever finish the school." The lack of opportunity to continue with education because of the obligation to work in order to obtain a residence card was mentioned by a Kosovo Albanian who had had to stop his legal studies in Luxembourg: // It is not only a problem o f language because here in Luxembourg the Government says - i f you want to stay in Luxembourg and have a residence card, it 's necessary to find work as you can not live o f f the state. So, it is not possible to study and work at the same time, so I am obliged to do something which has nothing to d o with my subject." Even in the UK despite the positive examples cited earlier, there may be real difficulties of access to educational opportunities . A refugee doctor who had almost finished his qualification to practice in the UK , when given refugee status went to td l at the Job Centre claim the Job Seekers Allowance. He was very distressed to be o that he was perfectly capable of getting employment now and should put aside thoughts of re-qualifying as a doctor in this country. Young refugees who have not been able to access education in their own country because o f the situation there, who have clearly got the potential to do well and are keen to make good use o f opportunities available to them, walk a similar benefit tight rope when studying for further education, particularly i f the course is longer than one year, e.g . i f they are undertaking A level, GNVQ13 advanced or National Diploma study." Similarly a US university trained man from the Congo living in the UK comments on the fact since 1992 : This year the situation is worse because what was available then is no longer available now. So systematically the service for refugees has been cut down. Education was then easy for refugees and asylum seekers, they could easily get access for higher education. There was no difference in getting grant for Higher Education or training courses. This is no longer the case ". Taking a higher degree may be a way of dealing with unemployment as a journalist originally from the Cameroon explains; since he could not find work within the French press he registered to do a third level diploma in journalism at university... " I registered myself to do this training because it allowed me to do something essential, that's to say to help me to kill boredom and pass the time. With regard to the e f f e c t this training will have on finding work, I have no illusions." Children's Education Refugees with families reported mainly on the positive opportunities that their children may now have in the local education system in a country at peace . A man from Burundi commented on the Greek educational system as he experienced it through his daughter:
13 General National Vocational Qualification
"The teachers are very good, everyday my daughter wants to g o to school. Sometimes she wakes u p Sundays and says 7 want to g o to school '. So we understand that she is fine in school. I f she didn 't feel nice in school, she would say that she does not want to g o to school. But she does." ASyrianrefugee woman in Greece says: "Every time my children pass a grade and they move to a next one, I cry...I cry because I know what e f f o r t is needed from them to move on with their studies... I am very satisfied with the school. Children d o not get beaten, and i f they want they can speak their mother tongue, but o f course not in the classroom, in the breaks they can play freely and enjoy themselves " Even though there have, until recently, been few facilities specifically for refugee or foreign children to learn Greek in schools, the capacity of children to learn with appropriate help is tremendous. An Iraqi refugee woman tells us such a story: "....my children g o to school, and until they learned the Greek language they had many problems . They didn 't do their homework. They just sat in the classroom just listening . They didn 't participate at all. Luckily the teacher was very nice and helped them a lot " ABosnianrefugee explains that her experience of the Luxembourg education system is good since children have good opportunities ; she recounts how a 12 year old girl from Bosnia was illiterate when she arrived as had received just one year of schooling in Bosnia . In Luxembourg she had caught up and could speak all the languages of the country. A similar story is told by an Iraqi refugee about his 8 year old daughter who had difficulties initially at school, but is now well integrated as she had help from the school and her friends // Now she speaks Luxemburgish correctly and is integrated with the children as i f she was from Luxembourg ." ABosnianwoman who is happy and proud at the way her children have integrated as they arrived when they were very young: // When m y daughters began the first class in primary school, nobody could recognise that they were not Danish children. I think it 's the most important thing for children that they feel equal among other children " Another Bosnian woman had a different experience - her daughter was 6 when they arrived in Denmark, but children were not allowed to go to Danish schools during the three years they were waiting for asylum. In this period she went to school in a refugee centre (where they lived for 10 months), then she spent two years in so called Bosnian schools where they were taught Danish, but during the first year they had seven different language teachers. It was only after three years (when they were granted asylum) that her daughter was allowed to go to a normal Danish school. // Finally she got the permission to start the third grade in a normal Danish school, but she felt deeply handicapped there because o f her language. Now she is attending the sixth grade and you can still feel all the consequences. She still feels insecure and alienated. A couple o f months a g o she for the first time used the phrase 'We Danes ' All in all it took her six years to say that. I t took three years for a child who came to the country when she was six to learn the language." Cultural differences and perceptions of education play a role in the satisfaction parents feel about the education their children receive: an Iranian refugee talking about the Danish school system: // It is two different cultures. I n m y country, children can not decide i f they want or not to do homework. Children there just must do homework. Here they discuss with teachers about it. Among other things because o f it the level o f knowledge here is
much lower than in my country." The role of Training The reintegration of unemployed people through training is a well established practice in Member States. However this does not always lead to employment. The lack of careful counselling and advice in many countries leads to rather silly assumptions about the level of training appropriate to refugees. Refugees may find inadequate support for the completion of higher education courses while being offered lower level training: a Sudanese woman makes a comment that has wide application "All refugees do not need to g o for basic courses. Some o f them are highly qualified so it could be better i f they know who are highly qualified and what can they do for them. ". Some training courses clearly can be very useful. Thus a Romanian woman reports her positive experience of the Orientation course (Orientierungskurz) offered by the Austrian Manpower Service: // this course helped'me a lot as far as the marketplace is concerned " Training is often followed simply as something o t do in the absence of employment and being unable to practice an existing profession ARwandantelevision journalist living in Austria says: "Well... the training I am getting now, I took it because I didn 't have anything else to take. I would have applied to take a training that will help me practice or put into practice the former qualifications that I. have, like the teaching period and the journalistic period . Unfortunately, I haven 't been able to get that kind o f training. So Ichoose computer training simply because it's in fashion , and I hope that in the next two or three years its is still in fashion and I can live with that." Refugees clearly find difficulties in some countries in getting access to information on the availability of vocational training courses as a Kurdish man from Turkey living in Greece tells us: // 1 would like to. participate in vocational training courses, but it is not easy to get information about them. Usually, it is my friends who keep me informed when they know something ....I have attended in the past a vocational training course, but it is very difficult to find work afterwards." This last comment is echoed throughout Europe- vocational training often leads nowhere but in some countries it may be the only thing available to support a refugee who is not in a proper job : again in Greece a refugee from Iraq says: "I hope to find work after the vocational training course...It is not very much related with m y previous studies, but at least its something ...M y husband had a vocational training course in the past, but he wasn 't able to find work " The lack of connection to employment is commented on by the Bosnian nurse living in Denmark for 6 years who did retrain as a nurse: "No, I don 'thave any experience with job training. Thank God I succeeded to escape. Ireally tried hard the whole time to keep myself far from it. I don 't have any confidence in their job training. A large number o f refugees have very bad experience with it. I n many cases it looks like this: one works three or six months, sometimes even a whole year, during that time one still get money from the social security and a f t e r that almost nobody gets a real job . Because o f that I didn 't have any wish to attend vocational training."
Chapter 9. Health. The theme of health in refugee narratives appears in a positive way; their experiences in nearly all the Member States have been good as far as treatment and hospitalisation are concerned. Their main problems arise from their change of country and the difficulties of adapting to a new climate; the particular health problems they had before coming to the country, and finally though importantly differences in culture when confronting health problems and dealing with patients. Dealing with pre-existing health problems The fact that so many refugees come from areas of civil war and conflict, totalitarian and repressive regimes, leads to specific health problems related to malnutrition, torture , psychological illness and distress. Many have had poor access to health services and treatment prior to arrival . A young Eritrean man 's opening theme in his interview is related to the problems he initially faced with his health as the result of a bullet during the war in his country: "I was hoping for medical treatment. What I admire in the Netherlands is the health care. I am really grateful for that. " A40year old Burundi man starts his short opening story by saying that he was well looked after explaining that when he first arrived he was suffering from kidney problems and had stayed a year in hospital. The war meant he could not return and he had to bring his wife and four children two years later because the war was going on . He was looked after; they gave him a house, and he, his wife and two older children received refugee status. He is very grateful because he was looked after and he says: "1 was well received. I thank Belgium. " The earlier traumas through which many refugees have lived continue to affect their mental health on arrival in their country of asylum . A Zairean woman, in her mid 30s starts her narration in the initial question by describing how on her arrival in Italy she needed a n operation for a health problem, after which she moved to a reception centre; A very, very difficult l i f e there. I remember as I was ill I expected to die and 1 thought it was better to die. Even though I was ill I had to do everything myself , cook, clean etc. I t w a s very difficult for me... but this psychiatrist has helped me a lot who would ask many..., and every week he would fix me an appointment, and then, here I was given a p sychologi st who's helping me; now I g o every week and so on; but other things, that since January I 've also had the possibility o f communicating with my family and the letter I received from my daddy, for me that was, hum, I don 't know, I can say it: "Ah, then it is true, he is alive ", because I saw this in the letter and everything . To me, this has become, before, even i f ..., I remember in a centre where I was, in a centre a woman, there were only four people , this woman would do everything, would let me out, I think Centro Astalli talked to her, that I needed..., she would let me out, we would also g o to the restaurant to eat and we would g o to the park , but to me all that was useless, parties could have been given, everything, but to me useless. But a f t e r I got these letters, to me it had been a big, big, big change. I had also started the university in October, because I had matriculated; it 's true that with medicines, the psychiatric medicines, there was a confusion, I couldn 't concentrate; there wasn 't a zone among ideas, even i f l e a n read a sentence, before getting to the third word I 've already forgotten the other. So reading , everything was much too difficult . But there was also the problem o f m y thoughts, that everything
would, make me dizzy: when I wanted to read, I said I would hear: "Her dad has died, he had been killed. Her mother too has died. And her brother..." and everything (short laugh,)/ and all, because I lived these... no, it 's difficult to tell all that has happened to us. I would remember when the military men entered my house, they shot, the house, luckily, luckily for me they didn 't kill anyone in m y family even i f they took my father out, now he is alive, so; but all this would come to my head, it was as i f (pause), when I lived these situations I had a strength, I was strong , but I had lived this period as i f the moment I 'm living all these things, I live all these things night and d a y, dreaming, dreaming, dreaming, not only dreaming, but walking, talking to people I hear these voices coming ". Cultural aspects An issue raised by women refugees in their opening remarks about health was that they felt uncomfortable with the organisation of health services and the fact of having to go to a male doctor. A well educated Sudanese, Muslim woman in Austria says: // Once I went to the radiologist for an examination. H e asked me to take m y blouse o f f . I was shocked . How could I take m y blouse o f f in the presence o f a strange man. For me it was not logical but for him it was normal.." Another Sudanese woman in UK says something similar: "At home when we are shy to talk to a male doctor we have the opportunity to g o to afemale . But here we don 't have that choice. We also have d i f f i c u l t y with the language. Even though I learned English I don 't speak it like a native, so o f course you want to explain yourself and so maybe he doesn 't understand what you want to say. Also the people who work at the surgeries, nurses and so on, are not really sensitive to us." She talks about the problems of smear tests and how their culture makes it difficult for women to just open their legs. She also comments on the lack of continuity in the primary health care clinics since one meets a different doctor every time one has an appointment. She herself is a qualified health worker and raises another important issue: "We are used to a doctor who touches us, listens to our chest, but here it 's fust conversation. And because we are foreigners and they are not touching us we think that maybe they are afraid to get infectious diseases like AIDS . We have all these things in our minds." Mental Health Remembering the problems of psychological health and the stresses that so many refugees have been under, the need for sensitivity to mental health is evident. However as Iraqi Kurdish young woman living in the UK complains that doctors do not help refugees, relating her experience when suffering from depression : /// went to G P and told him about m y depression and he didn 't help me." The same problem was discussed by a Peruvian university student refugee living in Spain who relates how on her arrival she was depressed ; now she is better but feels there is a need for counselling and advice services to help refugees: "I d i d n 't getto the point o f needing psychological help but i f there were other kinds o f support besides that o f resolving the problems o f where to eat, where to live, such as how you feel , well I didn 't find this kind o f support. You only get it when the situation is dangerous. But other kinds o f prob lems, they don 't consider them." The long wait for refugee status was mentioned as a critical factor in the depression
found amongst many refugees. Waiting for the recognition o f our status, well for me it was 15 months, for others more than 3 years, some people had psychological problems , depression, frustration and even some committed suicide." says an educated Sudanese man in his 30's. The health problems associated with becoming a refugee are related by a man in Portugal "I remember the first two months I could not sleep and the next d a y at work I was getting miserable and I had some hope that I should get over all this. Those strong continuous headaches...! had to g o to the hospital and tried to explain everything in my broken language and the doctor could not d o anything much, j ust prescribed some medicine which did not have any impact. But I must say the doctor and the nurse were good and they kept talking and inquired me where about, and how long Iam in Portugal." Another refugee from Kosovo makes a comment on mental health which has relevance to refugees in many countries: " I f bad things happen in our country, for two months we are in Italy only physically " Asimilar form of comment is made by a n Iraqi who when asked about his health initially says he has no 'problems and has never been ill and then goes on to say: // M y feeling o f not being well is that I think a lot about the future , in Iraq. I am very anxious about that, frankly , it 's bad for the health. I think about the future o f m y children who must live in this society which is different from our own. I reflect a lot but I do not see any solutions. " The consequences of unemployment and exclusion are discussed by a Congolese refugee who starts by saying he is very pleased with his health treatment: "I suffered torture in my country. So I asked i f they could at least examine me. I actually had many problems with m y health but now I fee l very well . There are no problems . Bravo Luxembourg . I am very satis fied ." Yet just a little later he talks about his inability to feel well psychologically because of his failure to find work : // From the psychological point o f view I am not well, I am not at ease. I have not been a free man, since I fought against the regime o f the dictator Mobutu . Arriving here, from the psychological point o f view 1 am not at ease, 1 am not wel l. W h y? Because I do not have any work. You understand what I mean M r.. you stay at home all d a y from the morning to the evening . The fathers o f other children g o to work, my children g o to school and one o f them says their father has gone to work........... .. Now psycho logically I am not well, it's the shock." An Iraqi refugee woman commenting on her mental well-being in Greece tells the interviewer: "When we first came here, I was feeling strong . But now I feel that I am hopeless. We didn 't expect the situation to be so bad. We were surprised ". Another point made by a Rwandan refugee concerns the importance of cultural differences in mental health treatments: sceptical about the psychotherapeutic treatment being offered to his companion who is from the Antilles he says: // I doubt very much the effectiveness o f this kind o f treatment for people who are from traditional societies where custom, the wise and religion sti l l have an important place in people 's heads. Furthermore to g o and display your life in front o f a group o f people with problems does not seem either healthy nor the kind o f thing that will improve the situation....... I think you can do a lot o f harm when you distance people from their culture and in the end what is the result ? Young people who are not at
ease with themselves who no longer respect anything and are ultimately unbalanced." Communication Anyone who has been ill or in need of medical attention in a foreign country, as the previous example suggests, knows how frustrating it can be to try and explain symptoms in a foreign language exactly at the moment when one feels unwell, frightened and unable to cope. A typical example was provided by a Sudanese woman who talked about the fact that in Austria , where she is living, all information about pregnancy was in German. // How can an African or an Arab woman have the full information about pregnancy i f she doesn 't know the language?" There is no way of knowing what occurred in the situations described below; the feeling remains that at least some of the problems may revolve around bad communication rather, than bad treatment . An Iraq refugee woman in Greece commented on the problem of communication with doctors: "M y daughter had a problem with her eyes, but the doctors started examining her stomach " while a Syrian woman living in the Netherlands talks in her initial narration of the problems of the health of her child and the poor quality of treatment she felt she received :: "I am not pleased at all with the health care here. M y child has been operated on twice for no reason. The doctor advised us that the child should have his tonsils operated on but my child still doesn 't sleep well. One year after this he had a stomach ache, they sent us to the hospital for an operation on his appendix but a f t e r the operation they realised it was not necessary. M y child was operated on twice for nothing ." Cultural differences can also be an obstacle to the diagnosis of both mental and physical health; one such case is illustrated by an Iranian man in Denmark who though saying he was generally satisfied with the health system, also said he missed his country, had many health problems and forgot things all the time. // 1 have problems with my stomach, for a long time. The problem is that I d o not know what to d o. I n my country i f you come to see a doctor, she or he knows what to do. Here they ask me i f I want to get m y blood checked or g o to some special examination." Health Care As already stated in most countries the experiences that refugees had had with the health care systems were on the whole overwhelmingly positive. A Kurdish refugee in France reports being very happy with the treatment he received in hospital and attributed it to an understanding of the situation in his country of origin : // I was very well treated by the doctors and nurses. When they knew that I came from Kurdistan, that 's to say a country in which the population has suffered massacre after massacre during 20 years now, they were very sympathetic towards me. Knowing certain friends or members of my family in Europe, I think that on this subj ect everything is OK."
Another refugee from Rwanda was delighted with the way she was treated when she went o t have her baby in hospital in France: "I really liked the quality o f the reception in the hospital, the people were kind, especially the nurses, when I gave birth the midwives were very kind." ABosnianwoman talks of her good experience of the medical staff:
"They are kind - they know how to be kind. I have never been very ill. ...M y husband who was injured during the war, had many problems at the beginning . H e stayed for one year in the hospital. H e did not understand the language, and did not know their culture and he got angry sometimes. There was therefore a problem o f language, but otherwise they were kind with him, and then it is a well paid job (laughing). Luxembourg is a rich country, there are many means and access to healthcare is not difficult " The organisation of the national health care system which does not ensure continuity in terms of the medical personnel seen, constitutes a problem for people in both the host society and amongst refugees; different expectations and the problems of having to tell a new doctor each time about their medical condition are specific problems for refugees. A Liberian refugee woman in Greece tells the Interviewer: "When I was pregnant I used to visit the doctors, but it was not always the same doctor. I had to explain all the time my situation. I was fee ling alone and helpless " Lack of information about the health system in Austria and the dangers of not being covered by health insurance which is dependent on having a job or on being eligible for social benefits (one has to have stayed in a job at least 12 months for this) can lead to tremendous problems as illustrated in the narration of a refugee from Rwanda who tells of his difficulties when he was between jobs and for two months had no health insurance. His child got sick and had to be hospitalised for a week: // Then I got the bill. The bill was 55000 shillings ( 3666 Euro). I did have 3000 shillings ( 200 Euro) in m y bank account and that was all. I can 't tell you how I managed to pay the bill, but it took me time, nerves and energy to pay the bill..... I didn 't really know how far or how dangerous could it be living here without insurance. This information should have been given to me when I was taking the integration course..." The situation of refugees exposed to new risks, to difficult, temporary and dangerous work and the realization that they need to care for themselves since this life is the only one they have, may help change their philosophy of life in line with their new life course. Two different refugees in Portugal sum this up: "It was a disaster when I arrived in Europe but now I have stopped thinking too much and take things as it comes and for that I do not allow m y s e l f to be weak and enjoy taking care o f myself ...........". "It is very important to know that refugees s u f f e r seriously. I tended to neglect m y health and now I realise that m y health is nothing but a rich wealt h ".
Chapter 10. HouBlng Few refugees upon their arrival as asylum seekers have any choice about their place of residence. The experience of initial reception varied enormously for refugees interviewed. This appears to have related to the country of reception, the reception camps, the age and expectations of the refugee, and the length of time they remained in them. Some, particularly in southern Europe, were not necessarily provided with initial reception facilities and suffered as a result. But even when accorded status the lack of choice in and the problematic nature of the housing often continues. Initial reception Although the period of asylum is not the feature of this report , it is worth underlining the fact that recognised refugees do spend considerable lengths of time in asylum camps, an issue discussed in Chapter 5. A Gambian man in his late 30s narrated his story of the recognition of his refugee status, 6 months after he arrived in Spain in 1996: "It wasn 't easy, especially when I arrived here because o f the language. And the living conditions weren 't good at all. I happen to live in a Refugee Centre in one room with 18 refugees and at 8.00 o'clock everyone had to g o out. The Centre is closed for the rest o f the d a y till 6.0 0 p.m. when it is reopened and you are allowed to come in. I was fortunate because a f t e r one and a half months I l e f t the Centre. I stayed with some Gambian friends and at least there m y living conditions improved. At least I was eating the kind o f food I was used to and I was leading a kind o f life I was used to." Asimilarproblem was faced by another young Gambian in Portugal who though glad of the integration and language programme provided by the Portuguese Council for Refugees said : "When I came here, the Council for Refugees was providing food to us and we were not used to that kind o f food . I n fact now I am very h a p p y that I am on m y own and Ican cook any food I used to eat at home ". The provision of accommodation initially solves the problems of many refugees on their arrival, but often difficulties start once they are expected to find their own housing . A university trained Kosovo-Albanian, in his 40s started his narration in the opening question by talking about this experience after living in a refugee centre for 2-3 months: "Then my problems began because I had to find a house ". The same situation was reported by an educated Iraqi Christian women who reported that one of the main problems concerning integration in Spain was that of housing since people are unable to feel secure without a house of their own. She describes how she stayed in a refugee centre for a year and when she had to leave she had no place to go and had to accept any kind of job in order to support herself and be able to rent a house. "We can stay in a centre for one year or 6 months and after that you find yourself in the streets without work, without anything .....and this is the most serious situation " The inadequate reception facilities in many of the southern European countries leads to other kinds of solutions e.g multi - occupation of rooms. In Portugal the interviewer was told that a common strategy is for men to share a room while women tend to get some housing protection from an NGO. While the men are left to fend for themselves in the end, as a refugee tells us: //... Most of them rent a big house and share the room between 4/ 5 person so that it
becomes easy to pay the rent, electricity, gas and the water bill............... Mostrefugee men after a period o f 2/ 3 years have a house or room o f their own." Choice of housing Many refugees rely on the public authorities to find them public housing. The quality and location of such housing is often problematic as one Bosnian woman recounts: "The apartment was situated in the old part o f Copenhagen where "normal " Danish people don 't live. I n these apartments there are mostly drug addicts and alcoholics, so I became, in a way, one o f them. The biggest problem was that there was no bathroom in the apartment, but many Danes live without a bathroom but I was not used to live without one, I was used to living in human conditions..... I used to take abath at m y friends ' places . And every time I took a bath I got ill and I had a hig h temperature every time. I had big health problems at that time." AKurdishman comments: "I do not appreciate Dutch housing policy . For instance the flat I am living in is situated in a neighbourhood which is densely populated by foreigners . There are some four or five hundred H ats and aliens occupy all o f them. So in m y view, the policy o f the government is one o f segregation. People o f foreign origins, regardless o f their differences in backgrounds and cultures are housed there " Congolese woman in her mid 30s living in Belgium in her initial response to the opening question talks about the difficulties in finding a house because of prejudice against foreigners, while the social housing conditions are very poor for everyone, foreigner or not. Additionally social housing has long waiting lists "and even when you get them they need refurbishing " Another problem lies in the fact that in many situations refugees may have no right to refuse the public housing offered to them even if they find it inappropriate. An educated Kurdish man in his mid 40s pointed out that it is difficult to get a house without a job and this is worse for a refugee, especially a single one, who has spent years in camps. He pointed out that once a council house is proposed it has to be accepted: "I insist on this as an issue because I was almost expel led from the CPH (Provisional Accommodation Centre) and I tried several uncomfortable rooms before finding something by myself ."
Discrimination The prevalence in most Member States of discrimination, against most foreigners in housing in the housing market14 is not new. A woman from Sri Lanka talks about the effect this has: "The foreigners pay a higher rent than the Germans. A German family will pay only about 500 DM where as we have to pay 1000. With the commission and deposit the money was 7000 DM . We had big financial problems " Despite this she comments that the landlord was very kind to them, letting her husband be the caretaker for the block of apartments.
"Wealthy foreigners of course do not confront such problems but also tend to pay.
"Even though there are German people in our block o f flats , he preferred us to take care o f everything in the block. W e are proud o f that. Also the neighbours are nice to us." Awomanfrom Eritrea in Germany tells the interviewer about how hard it was for her o t find an apartment because she was pregnant. "The landlord wanted to visit us at our place, to see how it looks, i f it is clean. After he came and looked then he allowed us to have this place " AKurdish-Iraqi woman in her 40's, says that she is looking for an apartment now because the baby needs another room but it is not easy to find one. "Even though we are German citizens they see that we have black hair. They say that they will call back but nothing happens. I have I S more days to g o, because I got a notice from the landlord, and i f I don 't find one I will end u p in the street." An educated designer from Iraq, a married woman in her 40s, with links to the local church tells of the advice given by a Danish member of the congregation: "'Do not tell the owner o f the house that you are refugees, fust tell them that your husband works as a professor here. Because i f they find out you are refugees you will never get the house'." ALiberianyoung woman in Greece in her initial remarks talked about housing and the fact that Greeks don't like Africans in their homes. They ask for documents, they say they prefer students and they find excuses not to give their house. Nobody in the neighbourhood gave us a house to rent. We are still looking." Ghanian educated man started talking about the problems he had finding accommodation. /// contacted the landlords but they did not want to rent their properties to refugees. They discriminate against you because you are a. refugee. They asked me for two references. I provided references and the deposit I was asked to and I received a phone call from the agency that they couldn 'tgive the flat to me. When I asked them why they told me that the landlord had withdrawn the flat from the market. When my girl friend called and pretended she was someone else they told her to g o and see the flat . Most agencies 9 out o f 10 do not want to deal with asylum seekers or refugees." Specific Housing needs One man in Ireland originally from the Congo, talked initially very extensively about his problems in finding housing in Ireland, which he argues is primarily because he is a single person . "For us who are not married yet there should be many houses available. Since I started looking for accommodation for a single person I cannot find one. Everywhere I g o there are houses only for married people ......... It is not good for single person to share a house with married people."
Asingleyoung Sudanese woman in her late 20s with a technical school education and living in the UK echoes these feelings: /// was single, not married, I was put in a hostel. This hostel was paid for by the Council. I lived in the hostel for almost 4 years and although I 'm over 25 the girls there were between 16 and 25. 1 was not offered any accommodation because I didn't have any priority for housing, so the temptation of having a child came up because Ithought this would get me out of this environment" .
Housing also depends upon having an income; in the Southern Member States without adequate social income support, some refugees can find themselves homeless: an Algerian man living in Italy comments:
"I found a house, there are other refugees, recognised political refugees who.sleep in the street, this hurts me. They can become drunkards, tramps and it is not their fault. It is the Commission's15 fault that doesn 't implement this statute. "
Solutions Eventually a number of refugees are able to achieve stable housing conditions and even buy a house; an Afghani woman in her late 30s with two children related in her response to the initial question about her housing problems in Spain. CEAR16 had helped her to find a small flat since she had two children, and after 3 years and with their support she managed to buy a social apartment through the Institute of Housing of Madrid who also helped her to furnish the flat . Another comment made by a Syrian refugee woman in Athens echoed others' experiences: "In the beginning it was very difficult to find a house... People are afraid , because they think that foreigners come in Greece to earn, or steal money, but it is not like that...Now, I know my neighbours very well. I have my contacts. I f a friend asked me to find a house for him, I would be able to d o that for him very quickly. People trust me now, because they know me "
15 Commissione Centrole per il Riconoscimento dello Status di Rifugiato - the Commsision for Recognition of Refugee Status in Italy 16 Comision Espanola de Ayuda al Refugiado
1. Chapter 1
Social Relat ions, Racism and Personal Strategies for Integration
In every society some social discrimination occurs; despite much rhetoric about equality many people tend to show a preference for those who are like them and discriminate against others on the basis of their dissimilarity . Gender differences, kinship, education, community, income, age - the list of ways or "reasons" which people use as a way of discriminating against others is long. Refugees also arrive in anewcountry with their own prejudices, while their cultural expectations may come into conflict with the host society. This is particularly evident in the reactions of refugees to issues related to gender. However the colonial past and economic dominance of most European countries has had an effect on the attitudes of many people in the host society, even when they do not think of their attitudes as racist. It is rather the comfortable assumption of superiority that becomes reflected in many of their relationships with refugees. Many refugees being themselves from the better off and educated sections of their own country, confront these attitudes with dismay, feeling hurt and surprised at the racism that they often confront, whether explicitly or implicitly. Yet there are differences between Member States that emerge in the interviews. Racism and Prejudice In virtually all the Member States refugees have confronted racism, though it appears to be a more common and intense experience in some of the Northern European countries . Racism takes many forms, all of which hurt individual refugees: if they did not hurt they would not have mentioned the experiences in their interviews.Colour is not the only basis for racism although clearly people from Africa particularly suffer. One of the most horrific stories is told by an African in Ireland, though this story could have happened in a number of Member States: "The aggressor stuck a fork in me and ran away, and everybody around was just watching, it was like a film . Nobody helped except an old person who gave me his handkerchief to stop the bleeding . What wrong have I done? I was just sitting without moving . And among all those who were around, nobody even expressed a willingness to witness that I was innocent a n d should be taken to hospital. I had to stand u p and move myself to the hospital; as I couldn 't speak English I didn 't know how to call the ambulance and what to say i f I g o to the police station. So I went to the GP." AZairianman tells about his experience after he divorced his Finnish wife: "I n this system, they treat us, we foreigners , like animals. They always treat us like Negroes. It isn 't good. I have experiences here with a Finnish woman. They 've made me s u f f e r because o f my two children....... It 's better to g o and die in Africa . The problems that I have here make me s u f f e r but I just want to give them, m y children, my proper identity, I need to arrange my life.. They treat us, strangers, like rubbish. Here they respect dogs, but not us black people ". ALiberian young woman in Athens says: "They don 't like us from the third world countries. Italian or Americans they treat them nicely because they are like them. The rest o f us they look down as i f we are inferior. What wrong have we done them?" Asimilarfeeling is expressed by a Peruvian man living in Spain: People from Third World countries are looked down on as third or fourth class citizens, and that shouldn 't be like that as we all live on Planet Earth. We have the right to be anywhere we like. .................... I think they owe us something, don 't
they. People from different countries from Asia, Africa , Latin America , they take all their natural resources, so Europe was able to industrialise from these. So Europe has to pay back something to those who are visiting it, nothing more." Discrimination was met in various sectors of life - in work, housing, education, social relations. An Eritrean woman in her 30's with secondary education living in Germany for 11 years didn't have good relations with her German colleagues: // We were 3 at the vegetable section a n a l was the only foreigner , the other two were Germans. They wanted me to do all the work. Later on I got pregnant and I got maternity leave...., ... M y neighbours are all Germans. W e do not greet each other as human beings even i f we meet in the city or the stairways. I am looking for another apartment the last 3 years but I can not find one ". An African man in UK says: "I n my opinion is not easy to adapt especially i f you are a coloured person and come to Britain. It starts from the school, you find some teachers who are not h e l p f u l. I had problems with the language and I was expecting extra help . There is a lack o f encouragement i f you are a coloured person ." Some refugees are surprised by the level of ignorance and prejudice they confront in the host societies and this is surely one major explanation for the level of racism in the host societies. A Sudanese educated woman talked about her experience of the Austrian perceptions of African women : "It was tragic when you find an Austrian asking you 'Are there a n y other educated women in your country except you ?'. Then I was asking m y s e l f "We have a lot o f information about Europe, but why do the Austrians know nothing about us ?'" ACongolese woman with technical education and in her mid 30s stressed the importance of social relations in finding work to overcome isolation. She has Belgian friends and neighbours but in general there is a tendency for them to assume that if you are black you belong to a low class. Once they get to know you they start being interested, to recognise that you have something in your brain." Many refugees are only too aware that prejudice and discrimination are experiences they have lived through in their own countries and not simply confined to their lives since coming to live in Europe. A Sudanese educated woman talked constructively about the discrimination she meets: "In my own country there was sort o f discrimination against the southern people on the ground o f their origin. I used to consider them as second class citizens. When I felt that in my new job (in Austria ) in which m y previous qualifications were totally ignored, I found out what discrimination is, and had another pom t o f view.... Later she says "Discrimination against myself didn 't come only from the Austrians . I was discriminated against by the Arabs and the Africans as well. I am o f A f r o -Arab origin and sometimes I found an Arab friend asking how I speak Arabic or and African asking me where did I come from and they would react negatively. I am a human being regardless o f religion and place ." APeruvianman in Spain now working for an NGO talks about this experience: "Apart from finding a job it helped me to meet people from other countries. I didn 't have that experience in my country, I mean people from other cultures. I t was a very important experience in m y l i f e , I began to see the Cuban issue in a more humanitarian way. I n the past I would have been more sectarian and would not like to talk to people who disagreed with their governments." An African man in Spain says: /// haven 't experienced racism since I came to this country but there is racism
everywhere. Even in Africa because everybody prefers their own race and it's u p to you how you show this. You shouldn 't show yourself superior to your fel low human being ." Cultural patterns in the host society The perception of the host society by refugees is insightful since it does reflect on the capacity and willingness of refugees to integrate. Thus the strong civic and democratic commitment to support refugees in need and provide them with practical support to aid their integration, as evidenced in many countries especially the Scandinavian ones, may not be reflected in the ease of relationships at the everyday level with local people. On the contrary the individual friendliness and support found amongst many people in southern Europe is not reflected in their civic society, given the absence or very limited nature of practical government support for refugees. One type of response in refugee narratives emerges from the sense that the refugees perceive Europeans in some cases as truly 'alien', belonging to societies and cultures which they do not value in selected respects. For some refugees this stance makes it difficult to use the term integration. As a Bosnian woman said: "Every time when someone says integration, my flesh creeps. When someone says 'integration ' my first picture is we have to be Just like little Danes. There is not a chance that we can become like them ". The period of time in which a refugee has lived in the receiving country as well as the policies of reception frame the responses to questions about integration. The following quotations illustrate the feeling of refugees that coming to another country means starting from the beginning again. An educated Somali woman points out there is: // the harsh reality. You are like a small child, starting all over again." APeruvianman in Spain: "You feel like a child l e f t alone in the street, totally abandoned. " The shock of being in a different culture, sometimes for the first time, is apparent in the responses of several refugees. This does not relate to education but to central values and the fact of not having experienced Western cultures and society. A young Iraqi man contrasts eastern and western culture. " As you know, our oriental customs are different from those o f the west. On arriving in Luxembourg I faced a lot o f difficulties but two and h a l f years , now, I am adapted to this society that gave me refuge " An educated Tunisian man says: "I am a Moslem and I practice it. There are things that are very important for me to be calm. I 've found many people with different cultures and different behaviour. I am a bit shocked by this contact even though I know that it is a rich experience to know about other cultures." The strong sense of individualism and the stress on privacy in northern Europe contrasts unfavourably with the societies from which refugees generally originate, that tend to place a high value on sociability. Thus the difficulty reported by refuges in actually meeting local people, in communicating with them, in forming friendships, leaves many of them feeling excluded: an educated Bosnian woman, in her 40s points out that she meets few Danes except for those in her sports club and work place . "Even though I have been living in Denmark for over 6 years, I only have two or three really good Danish friends who visit me and I visit them. I don 't know why it 's like that. I think there is no big difference between our and Danish traditions. We lived in Bosnia in the same way people live here. Maybe the problem is the lack o f
common interests." An Iraqi man, in his early 30s and living in Luxembourg says: ""When you live in such a society, you feel isolated. More than that relations with neighbours are virtually non existent. I 've no idea what m y neighbours are like., They sleep here, they get u p to g o to work, return in the evening and so on. I t 's a society that 's isolating. I feel most Arabs share this point o f view. I n Arabian countries it's different. I can meet people, discuss with them exchange news..." The difficulties of meeting local people with whom she could share a common outlook and interests are narrated by a Sudanese young woman living in the UK, undoubtedly reflecting a wider phenomenon that refugees tend to get housed near some of the more problematic members of the host society. "I went to discos but it didn 't actually give me a friendship with the people there. The people were from London, Europe, but it was difficult because the girls who were at the hostel were girls who had run away from their homes and they didn 't have contact with their families . So even i f I went to discos I didn 't come across people that I could expect to respect me. People who came from abroad to m y country, we took them to the family , we ate together and welcomed them". She still had no real English friends and even though she invites and entertains them at the hostel, she is 'disappointed because they never invite her to their homes. "Sometimes I wonder why I have not been invited. I keep thinking, they are not racist because we g o out together; maybe their parents are racist and they wi ll not accept me. Or maybe it 's London, a big city with people who don 't care for each other. But I get on well with other people, like Spanish, Turkish, Italians, all these people I get on well with except people from here." She points out how difficult it is to get married since she never meets people and additionally he has to meet her community: // because we don 't just marry an individual but the whole family . But this doesn 't seem to exist here." Another Sudanese educated woman commented on the fact that she has been in a flat for 2 years and she has not spoken to her neighbours. She finds this situation very difficult, especially for a refugee: "Here English people don 't l i k e to social ise w i t h strangers. "
Atrainedwoman from Romania in her 40's also talks about her experiences with neighbours, though pointing out that in every country there are good and bad people: /// do not have a contact w i t h Germans. We greet each other and exchange 2- 3 words. Once a year there is a day organised by the housing authority, so that neighbours meet, and get to know each other. That is where I got to know most of them........ What I think is that when people are educated they accept the others, the strangers, those who are not educated are the problem "
The impenetrability of the host society is discussed by a creative Kurdish man in his mid 30s living 7 years in the Netherlands and with Dutch citizenship. He says that despite this he is still not Dutch :. 'According to me to become a part o f a society it is not because you are living in it but because you live as a part o f the system, you have to be accepted by the maj ority o f the system as a part o f it. I f you are not you will always be an outsider." He explains that speaking the language is not enough for one to be integrated. He says : " Many refugees are on the survival edge. Day by day they want to survive, f ust a survival. To live on surviving it is not considered a life. But to lead a life you need to be part of a community, which it is the broad community we rely on when we are at
home. Unfortunately here we don 't have this opportunity " The same issue of cultural differences between the home country and the host society was commented on by a Bosnian man: "Bosnians arrive here with differen t traditions and social habits. I don 't know i f I can s a y t h a t i'm adaptedto thiscountry. I don 't think so. Because I haven 't made friends except with a very few peop le from Luxembourg ." Refugees continue, even after many years, to contrast their home society with what they find in the countries of the European Union . A graduate woman in her 40s from Serbo-Croatian starts by pointing out that though herself from Europe there are still cultural contrasts with her host country; "W e suffered a lot during the war . Now we want to enjoy ourselves, to laugh, to be optimistic, but the problem is the people here are more depressed than we are and I cannot understand them because they have everything here " ASudaneseyoung woman admits that after several years she still has no Swedish friends and most of her friends are African: "At first I thought it was the language but now that I speak I still have no Swedish friends . I think it is the nature o f this society " An educated African refugee woman with a similar experience tried to explain this impenetrability to the interviewer: // A Finn told me that from a young age they teach their children an attitude o f introspection. That is to say the Finns hide their feelings . They are introverted. So for him to really know you takes years ". Positive social relations Refugees are particularly vulnerable individuals since few have social support and friendship networks when they arrive. This makes the personal relationships that they may have with local people particularly important. Even in what they may perceive as an unfriendly environment these few people help them to overcome their initial obstacles and begin to adapt o t living in the new society. A Bosnian woman, who lives in Denmark explains that even though she had negative experiences, she makes friends and is able to distinguish amongst Danish people, putting them in three categories: "I dare to say that about 30% o f the Danes are like that (hostile); then there is a middle group who neither like or hate foreigners . They live their lives and don 'thave the time or interest for refugees; and there is one really small group o f people that understand or at least try to understand. They try to help at least with words. I was very lucky because at the very beginning o f my life in Denmark I met a couple from this third group o f Danes. That couple always have been a bright spot in m y heart even in m y deepest depressions and in periods when I hated all Danes " Awomanfrom Rwanda had originally come to Greece to follow a post graduate course when the war broke out. She tried to go home to Rwanda but it was too dangerous and she asked for asylum: That's why I am telling you that I have good memories from Greece. After I got m y status recognized I found a job at a hotel, I got married here, our best man is Greek and we have good relations. M y husband was in Greece to study in a military school and he stayed here after the problems in our country. I knew my husband since I was a child and we finally met in Greece ". She finds support from the people in her neighbourhood and she reports : "I f I want to g o shopping I look at the money I have and then say : Today I don 'thave enough money but I need to buy certain things. Then the people at the shop will tell
me: buy whatever you want and you give us the money tomorrow" She then speaks about an old man they all call "grandfather" who met and helped an African 50 years ago and from that time on many Africans have been helped by him. "H e is like our grandfather. H e is Greek but we call him our grandfather. H e had a shop, a c a f e, in a place called Burundi square since we used to gather there. Anyone without money used to g o there and when we got the money from the scholarship we used to pay our grandfather I n order to show our gratitude we used to take him out for trips. Now m y husband took him all over the island o f E v i a because he is old now and he has shut u p his shop." Neighbours everywhere are important since they can offer refugees practical and emotional support . This was reported in several countries. An Iraqi refugee woman in Greece says: "M y neighbours are very kind people ...One d a y I was very sick, I had pain in m y kidneys, so m y husband asked the neighbours for help. Not only they called for a doctor, but they also paid him because we didn 't have enough money " AKosovarman with a family living in Italy points out that: " I f we live together with other -refugees there is no integration and i f we live among ourselves, we speak our language.... .. With a young family he told the interviewer how he could rely sometimes on help from neighbours when he was away working, and that he has Italian friends //... the 1st o f M a y we celebrate, they call on me with their car to g o to the beach and then there we found other friends " . An Albanian man from Kosovo in his early 30s and studying at the university in Luxembourg is very positive despite his limited knowledge of French : "I had no problem at all in adapting, neither with the work nor with the Government. Moreover I was helped a lot in the neighbourhood where I live. It wasn 't that I asked for help but that they came round to see me..... When I have something to sort out, they don 't look at me as a foreigner but just as a person who needs help. For this reason, I 'm fine ." Ayoungstudent from Algeria in his brief response to the initial question tells us that in his 3 years in Belgium he feels well adapted to life and : "Everything is fine with social life, studies and work ". Similarities between cultures undoubtedly helps contact between locals and refugees despite language problems: a Kurdish man from Turkey in insecure employment shares the same social behaviour and expectations as local people : "When I don 't work, 1 g o to a central c a f e and I talk with several people , who also g o there. Sometimes I buy them a c o f f e e, sometimes they buy me a c o f f e e ...! prefer to relate to Greek people, they are very 'warm ' people "—An Afghani woman in her late 30s with two children reported that she felt she had no social problems in Spain: "Thanks to God I didn 't have any problems with integration. I never felt a foreigner or rejected by the people ." The situation of the relatively few refugees in Portugal appears also to be a positive one judging by the response of this refugee: Most refugees are happy to live in Portugal i f they have a good income because it is a peaceful country. The police and the authority is not strict like France and Germany where they ask for legal documents everywhere they see a stranger. During weekends you see all strangers meet at one popular place called "Praca Figueira " and exchange views and pass on the news o f their country and go for drinks together.
Nobody feels lonely here, every body has his or her friends ....". Strategies for integration The personality of a refugee plays an important role in the strategies they adopt o f r integration. Some refugees are good social strategists and have personalities which enable them to reach out to others, to feel optimistic and able to adjust even if they too have been through traumatic experiences. Others are trapped in past lives and traumas and cannot easily find ways out of their current situation. Character and personality exist prior to individuals becoming refugees and are irrespective to a great extent of education, income and culture; thus it appears that some refugees in themselves are more able than others to deal with uncertainty , new cultures and situations, the traumas of the past . Others need a lot more help and support. It is necessary to take this aspect into consideration before presenting the personal strategies adopted by refugees. It can be expected that those who are more active and positive will also be those who are able to take advantage of both what is offered in the host society but also make efforts to reach out into the society. While not all such attempts are successful some cases are. A Kurdish man, now in his 40s and living in Belgium, had developed a number of such strategies including training and retraining, flexibility in work, seeking friendships with local people : he starts by discussing how he had to change his job since it was hundreds of kilometres away from his Belgian girl friend: I decided to find something else. I followed a new course in IT and at the same time tried to integrate myself with sport, so I was a member o f the national team for Belgium. We travelled in Europe and once outside." Echoes of the same kind of strategies are heard in the voice of an Afghani doctor in his late 30s, now living in the Netherlands: // / was lucky, I only have good memories but I was always very active. I was willing to work more and I was always looking for more opportunities." An educated Sudanese man had recognised his need to study again in Sweden and had studied Swedish for two years and then enrolled at the university. He made links to Swedes through some of his Sudanese friends who had Swedish girlfriends and he liked to go out with them, to discos, and to visit each other. These girls were accustomed to Sudanese tradition and they were not surprised when we visited them without telling them first . I have also contacts with a Swedish man who is always drunk and he has no relations with Swedes ". For many refugees work is the important key to integration: a skilled Peruvian man , aged 50, starts his narration with a positive statement that he was well looked after by the Luxembourg Ministry for the Family, had learned the language and had made a lot of Luxembourg friends through work: "I can say that I 'm well integrated into this society ..... Speaking about adaptation, it's u p to us refugees to adapt and integrate. For this it's necessary to master a language and integrate in the social life. On one hand it's difficult to find work. However i f you get a job , you have to care about it. " The ability to recognise that most foreigners a p r o ir i face problems in the various countries appears to provide a form of psychological armour, enabling individual refugees to confront the problems of discrimination in a more constructive way. A university trained Albanian girl, now 27 years old, Italian speaking, had initially been helped but then talks about confronting the pressures of being Albanian in Italy: " I don 't wan t to deny that during those first days we were treated very well. Humanity
is -the best word..... .... I don 't want to think I am a foreigner , refugee, all the names they give to foreigners here in Italy. I don 't have to think I am this and I am not worth anything. I put myself on the same level as the Italians ..... I have to strugg le, Ihave to find m y way I have to find what I was once." Another strategy, though often not consciously chosen, is marriage with local people and there were many such cases in the interviews. It has to be said that marriage appears to be a strategy more open to men refugees than women . Two possible explanations exist: one is that in general there is a shortage in many age groups and in most or all Member States of marriageable men, thus there is a surplus of local women seeking husbands. Another explanation lies in the class nature of marriage: marriage to a foreigner is in most cases seen as marrying down and men are less willing to lose status than women . However another perspective is that some local women may be able to get a higher status and more educated husband by marrying a foreigner. Whatever the explanation this strategy has the benefit of providing a refugee with links to the local society, though this should not be exaggerated since not all the local woman who become the wives of refugees have strong family links or social networks. A disabled Somali man, in his 40s and a teacher starts his initial narrative by saying : "l a m 70% integrated, as you know my w i f e is Dutch.... A bird builds it 's nest twig by twig . I had to start low, the Dutch language is very difficult . I have no one else, besides my w i f e, who can help me. There is no one who I can ask for help." An educated Iranian man in his 40s and married with a Danish women, said he had no problem of getting integrated. "I could think like many people in a negative way, but I didn 't. I thought positively and I never cared about those Danes who didn 't like refugees so I didn 't have a n y problems " ACubanman reports that he is married to a Spanish woman and that this influenced positively his integration. However, as he points out: " For us Cubans, a Spaniard has never been a foreigner ". Another strategy is to work with people who need help or belong to the same refugee and foreign community. In Belgium a university trained Serbo-Croatian exjournalist talked about the way she worked with others from the Balkans and they developed a newspaper without politics . For three and a half years she has been working for this popular paper : "Everyone, Muslims, Croatians, Serbs, everyone likes the newspaper because it gives important information about status, about OCMW ( Social Security O f f i c e ), how to find a job , things like that." Clearly there are refugees for whom their arrival in a new country represents personal liberation, opportunities not only to live in peace, but also to study, to have apersonal life of their own choosing. An educated Iraqi- Kurdish woman in her 40s and living in the Netherlands, though losing her original profession manages to work in the refugee community and finds pleasure in the fact that : "l a m happy for my children, because they don 't have to think about the war anymore. They are living a normal life here. We had enough o f the war." Auniversitygraduate, an Eritrean woman in her 30's talks about the fact that she divorced, something that would not have been possible in her home country. Though living and working for 3 years in Sweden she still says: I 'm very reluctant to do things that I would like to because I 'm afraid that others will gossip about me..... After m y divorce I also lost most o f m y family friends . Now Ihave both African and Swedish friends but I prefer women from Sweden so I can
learn the language and also keep a distance from Africans who remind me o f my past . " She likes Swedish people, explaining that she is accustomed to living with foreigners as she used to travel a lot with her ex-husband, but that she particularly likes the freedom women have, and being economically independent. Some refugee men in the Scandinavian countries clearly found this liberation of women hard to deal with; thus liberation for one person or gender may be perceived as a loss for the other. An enterprising Iranian in his 40's, arrived in Sweden in 1986 and after six years in the country married a Swedish woman. They divorced after 16 months: "I didn 't like the way she behaved as a married woman. She was much too independent." The tragedies Despite all the efforts of refugees, NGOs, governments and well-wishers, there are refugees who remain paralysed in the new society. They cannot go back to their home country nor do they find enough help which would enable them to move forward and start a new life. The poignant story of the woman from Ethiopia, with a degree in banking, who had to leave her four children in her country to be looked after by their grand mother, while her husband has been arrested and killed by the Ethiopian government, started her opening narration by telling how she got into Italy, being offered a house for three months by Caritas and after that working as a servant in a house. Currently she has no work and nobody to help her. Her diploma is not recognised in Italy. She has no house and lives with some other girls. There is no-one I know who could help me. I 've got the document, but the document alone is useless. You need a house, you must eat, above all you need a job ...there isn 't any job ."
Male refugees tell equally harrowing tales of being entrapped both by the host society and their own cultures. The story of a married Somalian in his 40's separated from his wife during the 10 years he has been living in Sweden who is unable to bring her into the country since her application has failed three times, is one such story. The long delay (5 years) in getting his refugee status recognised, the related discouragement from learning the language, means he still only speaks Somali; though he now tries to learn the language, he has only just adapted to the idea of sitting next to a woman in a classroom. Now in his late 40's and still without children he plans to meet up with his wife in Syria, presumably to try and start a family. Divorce is not possible: "Women in Somalia are shy and can not do that (ask for a divorce) because o f the customs and traditions. She is also from my close family and this would be a bad sign for the family also " Other refugees have such tragic tales to tell and it is perhaps salutary to remind ourselves that some need considerable and consistent help: the individual case of the Ethiopian woman discussed above could be resolved by far more help from the Italian authorities and refugee support organisations to find work, a home, psychological counselling, help with family reunion. Her story is not unique and desperate stories like this can land up with women pushed into prostitution and men and women pushed into deviant behaviour, and this probability is mentioned in some of the interviews from refugees. In other situations, such as that of the Somali man discussed above, a more flexible application of rules could help refugees solve insurmountable bureaucratic restrictions which entrap them. The feeling that they are in an alien environment is graphically illustrated in the following quotation from a young educated Iraqi man:
"imagine a bird who lives in the forest , flying from tree to tree, going from one to another. You trap him, youputhim in a cage, you take him to the vet for examination, you give him to eat a great variety o f seeds despite the fact that he eats quite sparsely, you give him fresh water. Despite that you see him sad, tired, indeed very tired. H e 's out o f his natural environment and he says to you :' Ah, I f only the good days could come back.' It 's true for me. I 've electricity 24 hours a day, a refrigerator, the bus is outside m y house.. Despite that I 'm not well, because I 'm not in m y environment. Perhaps after 10 or 20 years it will be better, but for the moment I d o everything to adapt simply because I have no choice."
Chapter 18. NQOs and Refugee Organisations For nearly all refugees NGOs have played an important part in their settlement in the new country. Some NGOs are the basic and major organisers of services, provide financial support , but perhaps more importantly are the links to the host society. Their primary task is to work for refugees. The size of the refugee population in a country, the role of the government and/ or other bodies in terms of responsibilities for refugees, and the funding of the NGO are all factors determining the size and functioning of the NGOs. These factors can lead to an inability to function as independent organisations for refugees. Many have become highly bureaucratic bodies. Thus refugees report both negative and positive experiences of NGOs. However not all refugees commented directly on NGOs yet throughout other sections it is obvious that they have used the help of NGOs . The comments made were overwhelmingly positive - and thus the criticisms must be seen in a constructive light. Problems of NGOs The sense that some NGOs cannot act autonomously for refugees is commented on by refugees; a Kurdish artist says: ".... the Dutch Refugee Council Rotterdam and in other parts o f the Netherlands are doing their best, but they can not break the system within the system. I t j ust can not. So in a way we are not too welcomed here. Welcome does not mean just say to somebody you are welcome. Whenyou start feeling at home, then you are welcomed." similar statement is made by an Eritrean man wounded in the war in his country: I only know the Dutch Refugee Council. They claim to help refugees, but as soon as you are rejected they can not help you anymore. They ask me "why don 't y o u return to your country ? While they know the situation in my country. The Refugee Council is supposed to be independent but they do not work independently from the government. " The lack of clarity in the bureaucratic criteria used for the allocation of help to refugees was the object of a remark by a man from Burundi with a family: commenting on the criteria set by the Greek Council for Refugees to find refugees work he says: They help people with 4 children or more first . But this is not right. I f you have 4 or 10 or 1 child as long as you are a refugee is the same thing " An Iraqi Kurdish educated woman with three children makes a comment on the inexperience of many working for NGOs: "The Dutch Refugee Council is very good to refugees, they help us a lot. The councillors are often trainees and are not experienced enough. So it can be difficult . Every six months there is a new trainee, who doesn 't know anything about the former agreements. I t is bad for the continuity o f the work ...... NGOs like Amnesty international do not exist. They do nothing. Millions o f people are killed and they d o nothing . " The attitudes of refugees to NGOs are often ambivalent especially where they are unaware of their remit and capacities. A Tunisian man in Italy with various experiences of organisations dealing with refugees (CIR, Chance, Centra Astalli, Caritas...) tells us: "As for CIR the first experience wasn 't very encouraging, when I was recognised I didn 't have anything, anything, I asked for help in order to obtain the documents, I didn 't find anything . Now I think I find a bit more attention, I feel better, there are more effective possibility o f help. Now, these last weeks, the relationship is
stronger.....he then goes on to say about CIR " They receive me in a good way...they listen to me well... try, at least my last experience, really to understand the situation, they really try help, find some solutions... I feel things are serious ". The very different level of services provided by NGOs in the different Member States can lead to comparisons with other countries which make refugees upset about the very different policies and practices followed in the European Union . An Iranian refugee man says: "I am not satisfied with NGOs. I don 't understand why they don 't give me more financial help. Some of my relatives who live in Germany have better financial provisions. In Greece, whatever they give is not enough, and it is for a short period of time "
An Ethiopian woman agreed with this sentiment when discussing the need for policies to change in Italy. Talking about her situation and that of other refugees there she says to the interviewer: // If this information gets to the EU, things for refugees must change. Here things have to be done as in the other countries . Here we are dying, it 's serious, I have to say only this, there is nothing else ".
Refugee participation in NGOs Another issue in the functioning of NGOs for refugees is the fact that in many of them refugees are poorly represented and refugees expressed their desire to see more refugees employed in them. In Spain a university student, originally from Peru, comments on the absence of refugees within organisations dealing with them : "There are refugees working in some organisations, but not in all o f them. And 1 believe that refugees understand our problems better. M y personal experience is the same as theirs so I think it is important in the administration o f these , including the asylum offices, to have refugees since especially when they first arrive they feel more understood and welcome." However it was clear that many of those selected o fr interview included refugees who worked for NGOs and thus had managed to develop other perspectives on the role of NGOs. An Algerian in Italy said he thought that criticism of NGOs is exaggerated; "This field is very difficult . Refugees themselves have a contribution to give; efforts, experiences should be put together to give something new, rather than criticising . " In the UK with a large number of refugee organisations however, the confusion over responsibilities also generates problems for refugees and this should be recognised. As a Rwandan woman told the interviewer: I wish that NGOs worked in close co-operation with refugee organisations. Exchange o f information would be achieved ...Now refugees g o to various NGOs and ask about EU projects . And whichever organisation offers more money, they g o there. I f NGOs co-operated with refugee associations, these problems wouldn 't exist." Positive The vital help provided by NGOs creates loyal support for them . A woman from S ir Lanka illustrates this in her narration: "At the time I had m y child we did not have any social security help and with a high expense on this apartment it was very difficult to manage with the child . A friend helped me to contact CARITAS. We had no allowance nor social security help. At this time CARITAS gave us all the needs for the child. They gave us from bed, to cupboard, to pram . After that they paid me an allowance o f 150-DM a month for one and a half years . This was a big help for us. They also gave us a washing machine, because
o f the baby. All this time I was doing his washing in hand to avoid infections and I used to take our washing to the public washing machine. Some years ago the government was trying to close down offices like CARITAS, Diakonie, Red Cross. I was in the street , in front to protest and to march because I was one o f those who had benefited from these organisations" Help with the practical problems of survival and getting a home are also discussed by an Afghani woman in Spain: "GEAR has helped me. They were trying to find me a house because I have two children and I lived in a very small flat . Then after almost 3 years o f trying and with the support o f GEAR I managed to buy a social house through I V I M A (Institute o f Housing in Madrid). Then GEAR also helped in furnishing the house " In Germany an Iranian woman tells us: "With the influence o f an NGO I was able to get this apartment. One o f the NGOs was Diakonie Bavaria. At the time I came to Germany they had a mother language adviser. I had them introduced to me by m y people . They gave me their telephone number and address. That is how I was able to contact Diakonie Nurnberg . They were able to help me in many ways. I still g o to them when I need help, and whenever Ican not solve my problems by myself ". Help with other practical issues like the language, social contacts are also discussed by another Iranian woman with two children in Germany "I have contacts with the Diakonie. I g o to them very often when I need help. With writing letters and to fill forms in German. German language is very hard. I do know them very much and also they help me a lot. When I came I was alone with the children and they helped me a lot. That time I didn 't know to read or write German. I also tell many people about them. We g o there also for meetings every month and also when there are special events we go there." Somali woman married with two children also provides a positive perspective on the practical help she has received: "The Dutch Refugee Council helped me a lot when I arrived in Holland, they helped me with sorting out everything and helped me with finding a house. When I came to live in Rotterdam, I started to do everything myself . I tried to be independent. I also did some work for the Refugee Council " The fact that NGOs have often been working for years offering support and help to refugees is evident in the following remark by a Vietnamese running a restaurant in Southern Germany: "I know the Diakonie for the past 15 y ears. Those days they helped us a lot as we were new... We were living in a refugee home and they came there to help us... They helped in many ways....... With the school .educational training, language courses, and also with contacts. Everything . When ever we had problems , we could g o to them at any time." Where there is a clear separation of the NGO helping refugees from the authorities , this allows refugees to trust the help and advice received from the NGO . An educated man from Togo tells how : /// hcard about Diakonie very late. It was after my first interview with the governm ent office for refugees. I got to know them late. At first I signed on a blank piece o f paper. I have done it. On the first interview I signed on a blank paper and later they typed all what I had to say. Through the Diakonie I learnt that it was not normal. CARITAS was where I gave my application for asylum , it was in Beirut, there was CARITAS. I do know also the AWO here in Nurnberg . They helped me to get a translator and with the other government offices in this place those days.' The range of work that a refugee organisation can do for refugees is illustrated in
the following account from a Syrian refugee housewife with two children: "The Refugee Council o f Rotterdam is an important organisation for refugees. They play a huge positive role for refugees. I f you have any questions or problems , it is always possible to make an appointment. They always give good advice and the right information. They organise activities for the refugees and especiall y for women. They also have a language school The employees and volunteers are always friendly with the people . They sometimes help the refugees to find a job ." What should NGOs be doing The aid offered by NGOs is not always seen as appropriate and refugees have adifferent perspective on what is essential. In the section on Employment one can read the perceptions of refugees towards social security support or financial handouts; many would like to find a permanent job since they feel they lose face and credibility as individuals by living on hand outs. A Liberian woman living in Greece says briefly that: "I don 't g o often to NGOs...I wish they didn 't give us financial help, but jobs ...f obs, jobs is what people need. Financial help is going to finish at some point . The question is what we do afterwards...." For a man from Zaire living in Italy the main organisation for refugees needs to give refugees information explaining what CIR does for refugees: Otherwise they expect a house, a job ; that 's why they get cross when they don 't get it."
However an NGO functions within a specific social context where local people also have their expectations. An educated Iraqi woman tries to interpret the lack of extensive projects for refugees: "The Spaniards consider that the money they pay to the socia l services and to the NGOs that is their money, that . it is paid from their taxes, then they see it more logical that it would be spent to get or to perform some projects for the Spaniards themselves since they have the same problems o f work and unemployment "
Ch-apter 13. Nationality and Citizenship The issue of obtaining the right to become a citizen of the host country varies both by Member State and by the expectations of individual refugees. Cultural identity for most refugees is at the very heart of their being as few wish to entirely assimilate and "disappear" into the population of the host society. On the other hand many are those who seek nationality for various reasons such as security, benefits or even as a means to integration. Nationality in the Member State. The need to acquire a nationality if deprived of one is evidently a major stimulus for some refugees in trying o t obtain nationality in the host country. A man from Western Sahara who is frustrated by the fact that he is defined as Moroccan by nationality in his passport , has tried unsuccessfully to gain French nationality in order to annul the Moroccan one says: "It is a way o f finding a nationality, as I do not have a nationality, I am Saharan but that can not be written on my papers ." The same feeling is expressed by a man from Congo who says: I have no nationality me, my country is Luxembourg ..." Security is another strong motive for seeking nationality in the host country. For a Bosnian woman widowed and in Luxembourg with her daughters security is clearly the motive ; she tells the interviewer that as soon as possible she would definitely like to vote and take the nationality of the host country - her daughter adds: " to stay always in Luxembourg ." An Ethiopian man living in France, who feels threatened by the politics of the National Front also seeks the security of a passport and nationality: "I f things continue to deteriorate towards political refugees, we never know maybe one day they will rej ect us, it would be reassuring to have French citizenship. When you see pictures o f L e p e n orMaigret, i f it continues like that it would be unbearable, it will get worse and worse. You know it comes naturally to be scared o f things like that when you suffered the way we did." The gaining of the host country's nationality for their children is also important for some refugees: a Peruvian man in his late 40s with a Cuban wife and now expecting his first baby: "In Peru I never thought to have a baby because o f the political problems , the threats etc. I didn 't want to leave an orphan. Here it 's peaceful , I will have m y baby and he will be Spanish. H e will be Spanish in the documents and he will have to weigh u p the good and the bad o f Spain, but he will be o f Cuban and Peruvian roots, loving those roots " The practical advantages of acquiring citizenship are seen in relation to life in the host country and being able to return : a woman from S ir Lanka living in France says: Because we are in France it would be better to have citizenship, it is difficult for refugees for housing, for work.. it would be easier to find a f o b . We could also g o back to visit our family . M y father is old and he tells me he would like to see me.." Barriers to gaining citizenship, were mentioned by refugees. I n France employment is a prerequisite . A woman from Rwanda says she thinks she could only take citizenship if she was in stable employment, while a Kurdish man (ex pilot) living in France for about 8 years who could not be hired for a job at the airport in Amiens because of his nationality, says:
"The essential problem in France is how to acquire French nationality. Normally after 5 years o f residence one has the right , the problem is that it is necessary to prove you have employment. It is therefore a vicious circle. It is a system which ultimately blocks m y integration. " The other barrier is language. A woman from Sri Lanka, living in France, says she and her husband have already applied but been rejected because their knowledge of French was inadequate. Strong national identity. There are those refugees for whom national identity is a very sensitive issue o t the idea of acquiring the nationality of the host country: and who react negatively awoman from Montenegro in Luxembourg since 1992 initially reacts against the idea of seeking another nationality before acknowledging its possible practical advantages: No, why? l a m Yugoslavian, I speak my mother tongue. The Luxembourg nationality, perhaps to not have any problems and to g o anywhere in the world ... Whatever, not by my own will. I f ever I must do it I will, but:.." Others see their future in their country of origin and for this reason do not consider the nationality of the new country important - however they have other strategies for being integrated and acquiring rights i.e. marriage. This is the case of a man from Cameroon, living in France, he was married to a French woman and therefore he could have asked for naturalisation if he had wanted to but he says: I f I find myself in France it is because o f unforeseen circumstances and the bottom line is that I can not abandon m y dream o f advancing things by fighting politically in my country." Amanfrom Kosovo living in Luxembourg when asked whether he would like the right to vote says: // Yes.. No.. W h y? I do not know the political system. It is not because I am a foreigner in this country but because it does not interest me. I am above all interested by what happens at home. I n that case yes ." Citizenship and voting rights Some refugees expressed anger at living in the host country without the right to vote^ An Albanian woman spoke emotionally about being deprived of her voting rights saying that she felt like crying when she realised that she could neither vote in the host country nor in her country of origin . She feels that she loves the two countries and tells the story of her strong emotions when she was in Greece fetching her son and saw the Belgian flag in the embassy to which she was fleeing " to vote you need to be Belgian " she says "this is a paper that will change - not me as I already feel Belgian ". Arefugeeliving in Portugal says : "N owadays there are elections round the corner and i f I am given a right to vote I would be h a p p y to do so.............". Even if not interested in politics the RIGHT to vote is seen as an important sign of recognition by the host society and would ease fears related to insecurity of status. When asked about interest in politics an Angolan woman living in France says she is not really interested, (although she watches the news): /// am a refugee what am I going to d o with politics ." Then when asked about the right to vote she says: // Yes o f course I would like to be able to vote, it is to be recognised, but I don 't know what
that would bring me." An Iranian refugee in Belgium for 12 years, uninterested in politics but involved in sports and cultural associations and "world" organisations, says that he does not believe in politics or in borders, but nevertheless thinks that the right to vote for foreigners is the first right that everybody should have." He already has Belgian nationality because without this he would not be able to travel. ABurundianman living in France, recognised since 1996 also associates the right to vote with a recognition of his rights and responsibilities as a citizen : ".. i f I had the right to vote it would give me the feeling o f having civic rights like others and responsibilities o f course." An Iraqi man living in Luxembourg says he would like the right to vote: I would like very much to vote i f I was given the opportunity. What is a refugee? It is not a person apart and it would be good to know his opinion. I don 't see why I am not given that possibility " Refugees who have obtained security and integration through other means such as marriage to a national, may feel less urgency in securing their rights as individuals and see the issue of the right to vote as a question of their personal interests in politics A Romanian woman who is married to an Austrian but talks of discrimination in the labour market and who has a dislike of Austrian officials, says she is integrated, has contacts with Hungarian and other NGOs,' says: "'but I don 't have any interest in politics , I don 't even want the right to vote." Some make a distinction between the right to vote and nationality. A Bosnian living in Luxembourg when asked about the right to vote said: " No, because personally I do not deserve it. I am not interested in the politics o f this country. But on a general level, I think that people should have the right to vote." But when asked about having nationality he says: "Yes I would like to have it for practical reasons for me and my children. I know that m y children have a different name , that there will always be differences . I am conscious o f that." An Iraqi man makes a similar distinction between the right to vote and nationality, saying that he does not know how the political system works in Luxembourg so how could he vote, but he would like to obtain Luxembourg nationality because he envisages staying in Luxembourg which he sees as his second country Some are too preoccupied with personal circumstances to have the space to think . A Bosnian woman who has been in Luxembourg for 6 years says she is not interested in politics in Luxembourg and it does not concern her // I t is the Luxemburgers who vote for their President ...M e I have forgotten to live. I must live for my children and for m y husband." For some refugees the feeling of being accepted or not is an important condition before feeling that they would have an interest in voting : a woman from Iraq living in Denmark says : "If they accept me equally like Danish people , I would like to vote, otherwise I don't know."
Other refugees have the feeling that the politicians in the host society do not stand up for the rights of refugees and this makes them feel indifferent to the issue of voting : a woman from Somalia living in Denmark points out : I keep myself far from politics because I 'm very disappointed with the behaviourof Danish politicians. So I don 't want to vote because there is no one to vote for."
Conditions for eligibility for citizenship cause resentment especially when the length of time required relates to the granting of asylum and not arrival in the
Chapter 14. The Future The question that refugees were asked at the very end of their interview concerned their future expectations. The answers offered clear indications of the attitudes of individual refugees to integration. A number of factors influence attitudes but, as was suggested when discussing social relations between refugees and the host society, the individual character of refugees helped determine how they perceived their future. The answers varied from the more optimistic to the desperate, however in most answers the undoubted wish to return, at least to visit, their home country was a not surprising finding. For some the wish and plan to eventually return to their home country, represents the only future they are willing to contemplate. But perhaps for many there is a continuing ambivalence about their future expectations and what they would like for themselves and their family. This is summed up by one refugee who thought that deeds were the only solution: amarried Iranian refugee with one child in Belgium /// don 't think about the future because it is a promise . It is better to help people and to give the example instead o f giving promises ". Other refugees simply wish for what they see as the most valuable thing in life: a woman from Syria living in Greece says: "What I expect for the future is that all my family has a good health, and I also wish I had a better life ....fust like everyone wishes: a better l i f e ...nothing else, to live in peace ..." Return home For some the return home is desired so that they can take up the life that they lost and play a significant role in their society again. A Somali woman living in Denmark for over ten years with a baby says: "I don 't have any future here. I want to g o home. Especially now, when my country is at peace . I think I can have much more and much better opportunities to use m y education and to make a better life for m y child there. And besides that, Ican also be useful and help my country and my people . I want to make a pro j ect and get some support from some international organisations or to work in some o f them" .
An Indian refugee in Portugal tells us: "my aim is to g o home and be with m y family where I spent m y l i f e and where I grow u p and it will be good idea to look back and see how things change as time passes . I need to get m y document and have connection between my home(family ) and Europe. Once, I get this done I intend doing something for the poor children in m y country and do some kind o f work like Mother Teresa ". AGambianman explains that he was a politician in his home country and that when the political situation changes he hopes to go home but that this will cause problems for his children who will then be adapted to Spain. "Home is home. It was never my intention to come and stay here for good. I t will depend i f there is a change o f government, i f there is a change to democratic government But my children tell me :' I f you want to g o, you can g o back. But we are not going anywhere, we are staying in Spain. We've had enough at home and we don 't want to start life from zero."
Integration Anumberof refugees in their interviews make it clear that they have already decided to integrate in the host society and survive outside their society. However the loss of the home is discernible in this quotation from a Bosnian woman in Denmark "M y aim is to get a job and to get better social conditions. Money is everything here. The worst has passed . Even though it was hard I got what I wanted. I reached my aim, i f I can say the aim, in m y country was normal to have a house. Now I have it and I feel well I miss only a job . I f I would get it I think m y l i f e would look like the life I had in m y country. When I have a job I can take my purse and g o to the cinema and g o to buy a dress, travel to Italy to Spanish sea, or to our blue Adriatic coast I hope we would be able to do all these things again. That's how I see my future , I hope one d a y things would be better, it is not possible to g o on like this always. I think the worst is behind us, it was bad and God helped us and let's hope it will not happen again." An Iranian refugee married to a Danish woman says; "1 would like m y children to grow u p like all other Danes children. I would not be happy i f they will be called the second generation o f foreigners . They were born in Denmark, so they would be Danes. But I would also be h a p p y i f they would know who I am, that they know about the Iranian culture and tradition '. The troubles that this married Iraqi woman with two grown up children has been through in her life may explain her rather mixed feelings: /// wish that all my family stays here in Denmark for ever. Sometimes I think positive , but sometimes in negative way. And when I think in a negative way I pray to God." Integration through Children The traumas that some older refugees have faced makes them stress their future as seen through their children. A Bosnian widow with a daughter in Denmark: I don't think about the future anymore. There is only one thing, I really want it's m y daughter to have a normal life here, to be accepted well into this society, to feel well here, to have the possibility for a normal life here." Amarriedwoman from White Russia with one child in Belgium // 1 don 't see my future dark and I am optimistic for my child. I am not sure about me and my husband but I hope that m y child will be better o f f ." This married Kosovar man has not entirely given up his own plans, but priority is placed on his two children's futures in Belgium: // When you become a father your life seems to be finished . First I think about my children. Then I hope some day to be able to work for Albania, to find a link between Belgium and Albania . This can be done with different companies or even through governments, through local power. I hope and think that things will get better." For a Burundian refugee, his child is the main reason for his determination to survive in Greece: "The d a y I was going to leave m y country, the army was going to look for me. They met my father , m y sister, m y mummy, they asked where I was and family said that I l e f t. They asked them why I l e f t and they said that they didn 't know. So they killed them. I was still in m y country. They killed them because they were looking for me,..when I remember the story I feel bad, sometimes I remember. The child sees me and she asks: why I am like that, she
sees that her daddy is like that. I don 't like to remember. This story is past . We must prepare the future , we must prepare it for this child ...I thank you God because I am with my family ..." An educated Bosnian woman with two children living in Denmark says: "I hope that both o f us, my husband and me, will soon get a job . I also hope that we would be able to buy a house for our family . But m y biggest hope is that m y children would have a nice and h a p p y future in this country. We decided to stay here, so I hope that m y children would be able to feel here like at home ' Even though there may be dreams of one day returning home, in essence the presence of children will determine the rest of a refugee's life: as a Somali woman married with two children in Netherlands says: "M y dream is to have a stable l i f e here, to finish my studies and to have a good job later on. That my children will grow u p and finish their schools. When m y children are graduates and they don 't need me anymore maybe that d a y I will return to my country ' An Iraqi Kurdish educated woman with three children in Netherlands "I have no expectations. I live d a y by day. When I was in Iraq I used to be h a p p y with small things, for example, I could be satisfied when I bought a vase at the local market. Nowadays i f I would get a new car or a house it wouldn 't mean a thing for me. I don 't care anymore. I wonder why sometimes. Maybe it is because I have become a refugee? I don 't feel anything . I just hope for a better future for my children." Amarriedhousewife with two children from Syria. "I t 's hard to say what m y expectations for the future are. I don 't reall y have an expectation. It 's hard for me. Sometimes I think about it at home. I wish to get a good job here in the Netherlands. I hope that my children will study, so they can get a good job also and I hope I will speak Dutch well." Cosmopolitans and Individualists Anumberof refugees, particularly those with a higher education, have already been in touch with ideas and peoples from other cultures. They are often less bound up exclusively in their own culture and are more likely to see the world as a unity. The chance that they have arrived in one country is often just that; they may have studied there, may have family or friendship links, but in other cases they arrive in a host country because it is the first country of safe haven. The ability to perceive themselves as world citizens, as people with their own individual agendas, makes discussion of the term integration interesting. They may adapt extremely well to the host society but ultimately when asked about their future plans see it in terms of their careers, the ability to live their lives in the way they wish and to once again reassert their status in the new society. Many such examples exist in the narratives of refugees. AdivorcedEritrean woman in Sweden is very clear that : "I want to continue m y studies and I don 't think o f going back to m y country. I am planning to study computer beside m y post graduate studies. I f it is not possible to do both o f them I prefer to study computer because with computer qual ifications it is easy to find a job not only in Sweden but also other developed and in particular developing countries." A30year old Somali man in Sweden says: "I want to continue my education in theatre because I write good small stones and love to be an actor. I can not do that and I find no work I want to travel to other
countries to find a job . I f the situation changes in Somalia I want to g o back." AKurdishartist in the Netherlands is eloquent in his dreams for the future, not only for himself but for a multicultural Europe: "M y expectations for the future have to be positive .... Someday I want to g o back to m y homeland, I prefer to g o back, I like it. But I can not do it now. While I am here m y life is also going on. I am not going to sit back and wait, just to see whether things in m y homeland are going to change or not. Well, I am not. While Iam here for five ten, twenty years or for so long it will take, I am going to learn and teach others, women and men alike. Therefore, I must not miss the opportunity to know thousands like me, like you and others. It is hard to start, but in time it will grow. We are going to change things for the best o f all o f us. This is the way I look at the future o f the participation o f all cultures, it is going to grow. O f course, there will be some people, who will not allow me to d o it, but they are done and they can not ignore me anymore because I can use the laws, exercise our democratic rights, and because we master the language. We are becoming able to express our opinions and thoughts and thus have a participatory role. As a result slowly people are starting to be willing to listen to us. It will take some years, naturally .When I walk in Rotterdam, I see a lot o f mixed relationships and this gives me a very good positive feeling because it is a melting pot o f cultures, personalities , and everything else which means learning from one another. I n the future it will be a warm and huge race. You can not hide anymore differences, you just see that everybody is mixed with everybody and it is a positive thing and that 's my poin t o f view about the fu ture. " Some artists in particular are able to function wherever they find themselves and indeed may find democratic European countries with their freedom of expression, their larger markets and developed cultural industries, more congenial to their lives. A Congolese educated man in the Netherlands says what he wants is : "To be a celebrity. I am a poet, a writer. At the end o f this year I will publish a book with poetry. I also won prizes . This country has a lot o f possibilities and facilities , but you have to use them well. I have a talent, I can write. I am in a good place , compared to Zaire, I have taken advantage o f that." J ournalist woman from Bosnia with a daughter in Belgium says: "I hope to start work at the university and I believe that it is good to give knowledge to the young generation. It is also nice for me to present m y culture to them. You teach young people and then you stay young . I hope m y daughter finishes university here and I teach her to enjoy life . I hope that some day I will be able to look after my grandchildren " An Algerian in Italy for four years stated that he has assimilated and learned the language and was working but his main focus was on co-ordinating a group of Arabs of the Mediterranean and by writing his new book he . hoped to further such relations. "I think that the future will be the result o f what we are doing now". Changing the host society Anumberof refugees see their future in the host society on the premise that it will change. In particular the reduction or disappearance of racism, the development of a multicultural Europe, the respect for human rights and differences, are vital conditions for their permanent residency. As an Iranian educated man in the Netherlands tells us: "I hope that Dutch society stops stigmatising the refugees and stops calling them
all those names (minorities, refugees, foreigners etc....)...Being a refugee is something that happens once in your life, it 's not a quality o f character.. I hope they start to see us as human beings. The other day I had a discussion with a Dutch person . H e said to me :" you are so intelligent". The way he looked at me was very offensive. Everyone is able to learn, no matter where you are from or what colour your skin is ". An educated Sudanese man in Sweden: "First I want to continue my education. Secondly, I see no hope to stay in Sweden i f this trend o f separation between foreigners and Swedes continue to involve children. I prefer to g o to another country or to m y country i f things change for the better. Also I do not want to stay here without a job , as a foreigner and a Muslim, I feel discrimination." Another man in the Netherlands from Afghanistan, originally a doctor tells us: You always hear things like foreigners , refugees, minorities, fortune seekers. We are trying hard to integrate and to participate . M y dream is that one d a y I would not hear these names. M y dream is an equal society with one country and nationality." An Algerian man in Italy talked about the poor planning for refugees and suggested that: ... // refugees must be united, because i f we remain each one on his side we cannot do anything, even i f we stay here for 50 years . Unity is strength and the one who said this word was never wrong, because real union is strength. M a n with a woman, they make a baby and this baby creates a generation and union among men and women constitutes a real strength ..." The necessity for some of the southern European countries to develop better policies and support for refugees was commented on by several refugees: a Tunisian educated man in Italy hopes for clearer laws and rights " here you have to struggle almost for every thing, really have a lot o f patience to get to something, which is not the case in Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Britain, also i n France, a bit less than in the other countries, but it is better than in Italy. The situation o f refugees in Italy is such that there needs to be some laws for the help o f the refugee and, i f possible, to devise other methods to guarantee, look for, integrate the refugee in the society, and the first level o f integration is work and housing too, it 's very difficult . The two most important problems the refugee has to face in Italy are those o f employment and housing . The problem o f in formation : the refugee goes to many administrations, he has to look for the information, I think sometimes there are things that can help the refugee, but he doesn 't know them" . The same comments were made by another refugee, a disabled Albanian living in Italy: "The Italian government should make people understand that a refugee is completely different from an immigrant. A refugee is like an Italian. H e should even have more rights than an Italian as he has nothing when he arrives. .... The government should create an integration centre run by experienced refugees themselves, because they would know the problems o f other refugees/ asylum seekers / displaced persons . Refugees are the only one who could d o something for other refugees, but to do this, they should be helped by the government." Defining integration After the initial period of adjustment, refugees have a rather different perspective on integration. Several point to the fact that it must depend on the attitudes
of the receiving country including their orientation to multiculturalism . As a creative Kurdish man with 7 years experience of living in the Netherlands and Dutch citizenship says : 'According to me to become a part of a society it is not because you are living in it but because you live as a part of the system, you have to be accepted by the majority of the system as a part of it. If you are not you w i l l always be an outsider............. Many refugees are on the survival edge. Day by day they want to survive, f ust survival. To live on surviving it is not considered a life. But to lead a life you need to be part of acommunity, which it is the broad community we rely on when we are at home. Unfortunately here we don 't have this opportunity .......... My understanding of a multicultural society is that every culture has to contribute to the creation of a wider culture. But people are not talking in this context, in reality what they talk about is the westernisation of other cultures............ What I worry about is that in Rotterdam for instance, every policy and decision concerning multicultural matters are carried out by Dutch people, from the top politicians down to the civil servants is a Dutch one. "
The debate over what is multiculturalism and integration is implicitly an important one. Some refugees propose a view where integration depends on them alone and not on the receiving society. As a middle aged, skilled Peruvian man living in Luxembourg says: "lean s a y t h a t i'm well integrated into this society....... Speaking about adaptation, it 's up to us refugees to adapt and integrate. For this it's necessary to master a language and integrate in the social life. On one side i f s difficult to find work. However i f you get a job , you have to care about it." Ayoungeducated Cuban man agrees with this perspective on integration : " I believe integration depends on the person himself . It is easier for a foreigner to adapt himself to forty million Spanish people than the other way around. I think we have to do a lot ourselves." For some refugees the fact of being forced to leave their home country is till the burning issue leading them to expect the host country to understand their situation and support them. They believe that it is not their responsibility to integrate and there is a sense of anger and loss and feeling betrayed. A man from Burundi in his mid 30s with technical level education tells the interviewer: // Why did we leave our job and we came here? Because we like Greece? N o. Because there is a problem, there is war. I f today there is peace in m y country I will g o back because I might be poor but I was happy there. I know my country."
Chapter 18. Final Remarks Generalisations are extremely hard to make about refugee experiences of integration in Europe since they are both highly personal and context specific as this report has shown. The length of time of living in a Member State, the educational and professional experiences prior to arrival , all influence their recall of what is important in terms of integration. The examples given must not be interpreted as cumulative, but every case presents an experience and situation that is found in other host countries. In this sense each story has something to suggest to the reader about the elements that help integration - what we have termed the "bridges " to integration, and the obstacles or barriers to integration, here termed the "fences ". In studying the nearly 150 interviews the researchers inevitably gained certain impressions about integration which may be helpful in the realignment of policies and practices towards refugees. All the comments below arise out of the remarks made by refugees - though interpreted by the researchers. integration is affected by the experiences of the past and the expectations of the future with respect to the situation in the home country e.g. Kosovars in Europe at the moment see themselves in temporary need of asylum while those from Rwanda or Bosnia may see no foreseeable end to exile. An intervening variable is age; young people appear to adapt to a new country more easily and despite the future of their home country may feel it easier to integrate in the host country. social class affects integration; the disproportionate representation of the middle and educated amongst refugees in the Member States affects their expectations of integration. A few are willing to start a new life from the bottom but most feel they should not have to do this. On the other hand, many Europeans who deal with refugees as officials, neighbours, staff of services etc. perceive refugees as generally belonging to the lower classes and socially deprived , since most refugees are dependent on social benefits and all forms of support for their initial adaptation in the host country. Additionally they may not speak the language. They thus cannot communicate with the locals at their class and educational level. The situation is worsened by the prevailing ignorance and racism of many Europeans as described in the interviews. Refugees ask for the sensitization of people who have to deal with them so that they can understand the appropriate levels of information and communication needed. following on from the above, the provision of public housing for refugees (in those countries where this is the case) or the fact that refugees can only afford low rents, necessarily places them in neighbourhoods or settlements where marginal and socially excluded local people live. Thus the identification with these populations is enforced. It becomes difficult for refugees to make friends and have social relationships with people who share the same world outlook and experiences. by far the most significant problem lies in the lack of access to permanent employment in jobs which are to some extent commensurate with their abilities and training . The major problem here is that even the recognition of qualifications - a necessary prerequisite for employment - does not overcome the preferences of employers, including the state, for local people .
Racism (not just based on colour) and ignorance, leading to the arrogance of Europeans may be the cause for their exclusion from equal opportunities in the labour market. This can only change in the immediate future through better and more positive images of the so called Third World in public life i.e. media, schools, public authorities. the welfare states of some countries are so bureaucratic and inflexible, and sometimes so generous, that they act to inhibit initiatives by refugees to become independent. on the other hand the lack of support by the public authorities in southern Europe leads to tremendous problems initially; those who survive this have had to be particularly active in the local society, legally and illegally. Though they have developed integration strategies in the local societies they cannot easily be included in the labour market at the level of their education and professional qualifications . there are clearly differences within Member States in terms of their willingness to accept refugees. Belgium, Luxembourg stand out as countries which are more likely to make refugees feel socially accepted and able to adjust and integrate at different levels, though even here there are difficulties with the labour markets. regardless of the problems faced in integration the general impression was that refugees had in great part accepted that, for many reasons, they would never be able to go home to live permanently. Thus they knew they had to develop strategies for integration, however unwillingly. Readers of this report will be stimulated by the comments of refugees throughout the European Union. The fences put up by the host society and by refugees themselves against integration have to be replaced by more bridges, ways of making life in the host societies of Europe better , easier, pleasanter and more positive. Such bridges enrich the lives both of refugees and members of the host societies.
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Appendix 1 I Refugee Interviewers and Cooperating agencies n the 15 Member States AUSTRIA Agency: Integrationshaus, Engerthstr . 161-163, 1020 Wien. Tel: + 43/ 1/ 212 35 20-31/ Fax: +431 2123520-19 Interviewer: Zouhair Hassan Jalil al Much BELGIUM Agency: OCIV, Gaucheretstraat 164, B-1030, Brussel. Tel :+322 2740020/ Fax: + 322 2010376 Interviewer: Marie Christine Nyatanyi DENMARK Agency: Danish Refugee Council, Borgergade 10, P.O. 53, 1002 Copenhagen K. Tel: +453 3735000/ Fax: +453 3328448 Interviewer: Vildana Kapo FINLAND Interviewer: Alioune Malick Sene FRANCE Agency: France Terre D'Asile, 25 me Ganneron, 75018 Paris . Tel: + 331 53043999/ Fax: +331 53040240 InterviewersYaele Aferiat/ Ahmed Chtaibit GERMANY Agency: Diakonisches Werkbayern, Pirckheimerstrasse 6, 90408 Nurnberg. Tel: +499 119354395/ Fax: +499 119354469 Interviewer: Sugumar Kathirgamanayagi GREECE
Agency: Greek Council for Refugees, 25 Solomou Str, 10682 Athens. Tel: + 301 3802508 Fax: + 301 3803774 Interviewer: Anna Charapi IRELAND Agency: British Refugee Council, 3 Bondway SW8 1SJ Tel:+0171 820 3070/ Fax:+0171 582 9929 in co-operation with Access Ireland Refugee Social Integration Project, Richmond Business Campus, North Brunswick St, Dublin 7. Tel: +3531 8780589/ Fax: + 3531 8780591 Interviewer: Dr Luky Lubanziladio ITALY Agency: Consiglio Italiano per i Rifugiati (CIR), Via, del Velabro 5/A, 00186 Rome. TeL + 3906 69200114/ Fax: +3906 69200116 Interviewer: Arif Oryakhail
LUXEMBOURG Agency: Fondation Caritas Luxembourg , B.P 1721, L-1017 Luxembourg. Tel: + 352 402131530 Fax: + 352 402131409 Interviewer: Amar Bounaira NETHERLANDS Agency: VluchtelingenWerk Nederland, PO Box 2894, 1000 CW Amsterdam. Tel: + 312 03467200 Fax: + 312 06178155 Interviewer: Haimonot Salvatore PORTUGAL: Agency: Portuguese Refugee Council, B- Armador-Zn. M Chelas- LT 764 Loja D/E, 1900 Lisbon. Tel: + 3511 8375070 Fax: +351.1 8375072 Interviewer: Fancisco Xavier Fernandes SPAIN Agency: FEDORA, C/ Mar de Bering, 5- 1 D, 28033 Madrid. Interviewer: Bushra Abdul Razzak SWEDEN Interviewer: Abdalla Gasim Elseed UK Agency: World Univeristy Service, 14 Dufferin Street, EC1Y 8PD London. Tel:+441714265800/ Fax: +441712511314 Interviewer: Farida Stanikzai
Appendix S Refugee Perceptions on Integration Semi Structured Interview schedule The point of the open questions is to let each refugee respondent structure his / her answer as they like, stressing those elements that have been important to them . In this sense it is biographical though since we are stressing integration, we do not look at their past history i.e. how they came to be a refugee. This is what will make this report / book different from what is already produced in many countries on refugee experiences . The first question is of critical interest since it is entirely open - it lets the refugee being interviewed remember and prioritize his/ her responses concerning integration. How they will define this will also be discussed. There are problems since in every case everyone will be working in a foreign language and what will be understood by a term like "integration" needs to be discussed. Your experiences (especially those of you who are refugees) in the country in which you live, your local knowledge and the specificity of the refugee and societal context, has to be the basis that will help us get to the best solution for a cross cultural report in which the same information is generated within the very different contexts. Opening Question: . Could you tell us about your experiences, both when you first arrived in this country and up until now, about adapting to, living in and integrating into this society. We are interested in your experiences of education, employment, training, health, housing, social life, relations with your neighbours and so on . You can start with anything you like; I won 't interrupt you. When you have finished I may ask you some additional questions. Tell me anything you consider important . (we would expect responses ranging from a 5" response to 40 " but encouraged by prompts, we would expect longer answers which would also cover some of the specific areas of our interest.) Education 1. Can you tell us something about your own educational background both in your own country and here? 1.a. (prompt) Have your qualifications been recognised in this country? 2. How did you learn the language of this country? 2.a. (prompt) How do you learn about what is going on in this country and in the world? Can you follow the news? 3. Have you any experiences with the local educational system? (family and kin experiences are OK) Employment 1. Can you tell us about you experiences with jobs /employment in this country. (Covering issues such as unemployment, difficulties of finding work, non acceptance of qualifications/ prior experience , prejudice) la. Prompt question: How do you look for work? l.b. What has helped you most in finding work? (earlier, now)
1.e. (Prompt) Have you experienced discrimin ation in either finding work or in the workplace? 2. How do you manage economically here? (Prompt - if not in permanent /full-time / adequately paid employment , support network : kin, friends, odd jobs , philanthropy, etc.) 2.a. (If reliant on social security ) Do you see a way out of this situation? 3. What was your hope / expectations about employment when you came to this country, and what is it now?
Vocational Training 1. Have you ever tried to get vocational training in this country? (If yes) Tell us about it? (good, bad, met their needs) (If no) Why not? 2. How did you find out about the local system of vocational guidance and counselling, training and work placement experience ? Did you have access to it? 3. Did you find it helpful in getting a job ? (if not - explain why.) Housing 1. Tell us about your experiences concerning your housing, for example how you found accommodation, your relations with your neighbours, the adequacy of the housing . 1.a. (If no reference is made to discrimination) Do you think you experience more difficulties with accommodation than local people? 2. Do you live near other refugees from the same nationality? Was this your choice? •Health 1. Tell us about any experiences you may have had with the health system in this country? (this question will also include their experiences with family members) 1. a. (Prompt- if none. Check by asking - Is this because you have had no health problems? ) l.b. (Prompts ) Did you have information on where to go, and what services were available? 1.e. (Prompt) Can you identify any difficulties you encountered both in the past and now with getting health services? 2. How would you describe you general health (mental and physical) - both when you first came to this country and now? 3. Is there any health service that you particularly miss or would have liked to have access to as a refugee?
Culture and Community Integration 1. Can you tell us something about your social life in this country? (Prompt) activities and events, your friends , membership of local organisations, etc. 1.a. Do local people invite you out or to their houses, to weddings etc. 2. Are you a member or active in any refugee organisations? Has such membership helped you adapting to life in this country? 3. Are you interested in local political , religious or social movements? e.g . would you like to vote? NGOs (if not covered in the responses already given) 1. Have you had any experiences with the national NGOs for refugees? Tell us about you experiences .
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Supported by the European Commision
Coordinating Secretariat : OCIV, Flemish Refugee Council,contact Koen De Mesmaeker/Sara Gaunt/ Marie Christine Nyatanyi /Annemie Van Attenhoven (webmaster) Gaucheretstraat 164, B-1030 Brussel,Belgium • Tel.:+32 2 2740029/36 • fax:+32 2 201 03 76 e-mail:koen @refugeenet.org • website http ://www.refugeenet.org • http ://www.freevillage.org
