Barriers related to language and literacy Language was the most frequently cited barrier and several participants referred to language as the greatest barrier faced by asylum seekers and refugees: “English language would probably be the biggest and most significant barrier” (PB6); “[language] does remain a primary barrier” (CSO10); “I think the language barrier is definitely a major thing” (CSO12); “one of the major barriers is English” (CSO11). CSO7 noted that even where someone had some language skills communication with public services was challenging: “Even if English is their second or third language… they can’t necessarily read it as well… sometimes language can be quite technical… [or] there are just terms that don’t make sense to them when they translate it” (CSO7). W2 participants pointed out that some asylum seekers and refugees, especially women and children who may not have had access to education in their home country, would have communication needs in excess of simply needing translation and interpretation. W2 and W3 participants highlighted digital literacy skills gaps as exacerbating problems, as a lot of information about public services was available in an online only format and accessing some services might require having an email address or knowing how to use QR codes. Lack of knowledge of rights and what to expect from public services W1 and W3 participants pointed out that asylum seekers and refugees often lacked understanding of their rights. CSO3 noted: “… you don’t know your rights as an asylum seeker, what you’re entitled to, where to go…. especially those with families, to navigate the education system, the health system and all the other public services, it’s very difficult” (CSO3). CSO8 pointed out that the issue was not simply awareness of rights but awareness of the process for securing these: “… they might have a general idea that they’re coming to the UK, so the systems are there, but actually how do we break it down to let them know how they can access it?” (CSO8). Connected to the issue of low awareness of rights, PB5 commented on misinformation that existed within some communities which would lead to unrealistic expectations with regard to entitlements. Referring to expectations around securing admission to grammar schools they said: “… that kind of bias gets shared around the communities; and then unfortunately we see it exhibiting in this sometimes unrealistic expectations of admissions to those schools, and then quite a negative response if we are pointing out the obvious on how difficult that is” (PB5). Workshop 3 participants also pointed out that expectations could sometimes be very high as a result of a lack of understanding of the wider pressures on public services which affect everyone in Northern Ireland.
Cultural factors and previous experiences of government authority W1 participants said that fear of authority was an important barrier to asylum seekers and refugees accessing services. Fear got in the way of people learning how public services in Northern Ireland work: “None of us can learn when we are afraid” (W1). Some of the fears of asylum seekers and refugees were well grounded according to W2 participants, who pointed to the (now discontinued) practice of the Police Service for Northern Ireland referring victims of hate crime to the Home Office. CSO5 noted that fear of engaging with authority arose as a result of difficulties experienced with government in their home country: “… these are people who obviously don’t have a great personal experience of the legitimate use of state authority towards them… it just makes them feel less secure here” (CSO5). PB5 noted that asylum seekers and refugees would naturally not be able to make distinctions between different types of state authority: “… you could say on a generic basis families have a deep mistrust of government… It’s very hard for families to separate out what may be a different regime, and they don’t really understand the difference between, say, central government like Home Office, and then local administrations, devolved administrations” (PB5). CSO3 said that some cultural differences might make some people less aware of services and less willing to engage with them: “[In] most African countries, health is not as… free as like here, so you don’t know exactly how to access going to the GP, explaining your conditions, and some things people are not prepared to discuss in terms of mental health, you know, their type of sexual orientation and all this type of thing” (CSO3). PB2 and PB3 raised the issue of cultural taboos which meant people would not seek out services they might need: “… some cultures still don’t talk about mental health issues… there are issues that are taboo, domestic violence, violence against women and girls… they are barriers that we need to take into account” (PB2); “… there are the cultural issues… like FGM [Female Genital Mutilation] or so-called honour-based violence, or people’s fear around speaking… to professionals around what they’ve experienced” (PB3). PB5 noted that asylum seekers and refugees from male dominated societies could experience difficulties in engaging with expectations in Northern Ireland: “… we see it more in general again with male and fathers against female staff, there tends to be levels of verbal aggression… [that are] seen as being reasonable behaviours in some cultures that wouldn’t be acceptable here” (PB5). PB3 noted that cultural factors could also inhibit engagement with interpreters, with some people uncomfortable depending on the gender of the interpreter but also a fear that the interpreter might not exercise confidentiality within their broader community: “I suppose the fear in terms of cultural fear, [is] that it’s… maybe a male sitting in with a female and the cultural issues around that. Or just the fear that the information would be reported back to their home country” (PB3).
16 | Access to Public Services and Access to Justice for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Northern Ireland
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