As will be clear in the data reported in sections two to six of this report, many of the issues identified above remain of concern today. In 2022, Belfast City Council in partnership with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the Public Health Agency Northern Ireland, commissioned a team directed by Lucy Michael, the African and Caribbean Support Organisation Northern Ireland (ACSONI), and Polish Language, Culture and Affairs (POLCA) to investigate inequalities experienced by Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic, and Traveller people residing in Belfast. 20 While this research did not focus specifically on the experiences of asylum seekers and refugees, it included asylum seekers and refugees as participants in the research and its findings are broadly relevant to the present study. The research included the following key findings: • Housing is a particularly critical issue for asylum seekers, including those living in hotels, with frequent housing moves working against integration. • Access to GPs and health services can be difficult, due to a lack of interpretation availability at the triage stage and sometimes during consultations, and access to mental support is inadequate. 21 • Issues in education relate to racism and discrimination particularly against the Roma, Irish Traveller, and Muslim community. • A number of barriers exist to taking up adult education classes, including long waiting lists, a lack of options, and language barriers, with English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes criticised for their lack of flexibility and variable quality. • Advice and support services are over-stretched and there is a need to combine the expertise of mainstream and community led organisations to achieve better outcomes.
In 2024, the British Red Cross conducted focus group research examining asylum seekers and refugees’ access to GPs in Northern Ireland. 22 The key issues identified in the research included: • Problems booking appointments (including language, the telephone booking system, and inconsistent support from reception staff). • Language barriers (interpreters are not always available, there is lack of awareness of the right to an interpreter, asylum seekers and refugees can feel disempowered due to a lack of language skills). • Lack of information about GP services and broader health services (support is often provided to register with a GP but not subsequently to access one, leading to barriers accessing secondary care). Also in 2024, The Executive Office commissioned the British Red Cross to conduct research into the lived experiences of asylum seekers and refugees in Northern Ireland, however, the outcomes of this research have yet to be published. The structure of the report This report is structured in two parts. Part I examines asylum seekers and refugees’ access to public services in Northern Ireland and reports the findings of the workshops and interviews. It includes four sections examining various access barriers facing asylum seekers and refugees. Part II examines asylum seekers and refugees’ access to justice (focusing on complaints and the role of ombudspersons) and reports on findings from the survey and the international expert roundtable, in addition to workshop and interview data. It includes two sections, one examining complaints and the role of NIPSO and one drawing on international data.
20 Michael, L, Reynolds, D, Kempny, M, Alsharabi, S, Borbely, C, Latcham, N, Logan, E, McDonagh, M, Pilkiewicz, M, Thabet, E, Teglas, M, Long, D, McCarry, P. Inequalities Experienced by Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic, and Traveller People Residing in Belfast. Available from: https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/documents/re- search-summary-report-inequalities-experienced-b [Accessed 9 March 2025] 21 Issues around lack of access to mental healthcare are commonly reported in research. See: Murphy F, Vieten UM. Asylum seekers and refugees in Northern Ireland: the impact of post-migration stressors on mental health. Ir J Psychol Med. 2022 Jun;39(2):163-172. Mental Health Foundation (2024). The Mental Health of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in the UK. The Mental Health Foundation, UK. 22 British Red Cross. 2024. Policy Brief: refugees and people seeking asylum’s access to GP services in Northern Ireland. Available from: https://www.redcross.org.uk/ about-us/what-we-do/we-speak-up-for-change/-/-/media/documents/about-us/we-speak-up-for-change/access-to-gp-services-in-ni-report.pdf [Accessed 9 March 2025]
Final report of the of Ombudspersons and the Protection of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (OPRAS) project | 13
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