Lack of cultural competency W3 participants emphasised the importance of training for staff about cultural norms and expectations. This could include being sensitive to and making adaptations for cultural preferences as well as appropriately challenging certain practices. Fo example, females being chaperoned and accompanied by males when seeking access to services might be very acceptable – but what if there was domestic abuse or coercive behavior? W3 participants made the point that cultural awareness and cultural competency were very different. Staff needed training and support – they also needed permission to accept that they couldn’t understand everyone’s experience and culture and that it was ok to ask. There were examples of good practice in relation to cultural competency training – the Southern Health and Social Care Trust had four training sessions (in person/online and booklet/pocket guide resources) tiered to appropriate levels on a ‘just ask’ premise around cultural differences. This encouraged staff to ask the following kinds of questions: Is it OK to make eye contact? Is it OK to shake your hand? Is it OK to speak with you on your own or would you prefer your husband with you? W3 participants noted that cultures were also not homogenous and the intersectionality of ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, geography, and language meant that people were multi-faceted. There was currently insufficient understanding and responsiveness to these issues within public services, although The Executive Office had previously funded the International Migration Organization to run cultural competence training and this would be offered again in early 2025. PB8 pointed to the difficulty of sourcing appropriate cultural competency training: “… there’s an awful lot of cultural competence training, you know, delivered by white British middle class people. So, you know, we’re trying to find, maybe, the most appropriate form for that, because… you know, the differences of two young people from Eritrea who are of different religions and different genders, are massive” (PB8). CSO3 made the point that what was needed was culture change rather than just cultural competency: “… civil servants are not prepared to change, you know? They’re not supportive. That’s what we’re talking about, some people talk about cultural competence, but for me I prefer cultural change, because you can be culturally competent, but if you don’t want to change the way [you do things], you aren’t going to do anything” (CS03). CSO6 gave a practical example of the way in which a lack of cultural competence could lead to asylum seekers and refugees disengaging from services: “… we have problems, especially with the older refugees, we cannot get them really to interact with the colleges or to take part in English language classes, which would help them to integrate more. So their attitude is basically like, ‘they’re not geared towards us’… I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with the teaching methods at all, but perhaps they need to have a little bit more cultural awareness about the groups they’re teaching” (CSO6). In addition to a lack of understanding of different cultures, W2 participants highlighted that public services were often blind to the needs of LGBTQIA+ individuals. They were described as being “unseen and unknown” to public services.
Racist approaches on the part of service providers As noted above, a number of participants discussed the impact which racism within Northern Irish society had on asylum seekers and refugees accessing public services. Some participants also discussed racist approaches within public services themselves. Some W1 participants noted that asylum seekers and refugees who were not perceived as white would face additional hurdles in accessing services. The example of the Ukrainian scheme was mentioned where the perception was that there was considerably more uptake from schools in a timely manner (with community and political support) in comparison with repeated refusals from the same schools to take in children from different ethnicities. Many W2 participants said that racism was systemic in Northern Ireland and that asylum seekers and refugees were particularly concerned about engaging with law enforcement. Some W1 participants said they had heard comments such as “ but our children need …. or what about ‘our’ children” being made by public bodies, including at senior policy level. CSO1 noted that while it was difficult to prove that public services were systemically racist, the example of the response to safeguarding issues in temporary accommodation indicated racism: “… there is inherent racism in relation to the delivery of services… If the children who were involved were indigenous children, they [issues in temporary accommodation] would not be tolerated in the way that they have been over this last, at least four years in this jurisdiction” (CSO1). CSO1 provided another example where a hotel had shut off access to a lift (required for the use of a disabled asylum seeker): “Can I just pick up on one thing, because I think it is very telling. [The hotel staff said] ‘The lifts are locked to prevent damage’. To me, that is inherent racism… I think the language they [hotel staff] used yesterday, as it was said to them is that, they want to ‘keep the lift good’” (CSO1). CSO11, commenting on their own experience of encountering racism, phrased it as follows: “That’s very, very funny, isn’t it. I cannot say that every system is racist. I cannot say that some things aren’t working. But the policies were not made to favour people from ethnic minority… I’m not blaming anybody, you know. But there are areas for improvement” (CSO11). PB2 noted that the response to accusations of racism could be defensiveness, but that this did not help to tackle the problem: “… we just need to start challenging this that Northern Ireland doesn’t have racists in it. It does, and it pervades throughout all of society; It’s not the Protestant Loyalist community who are racist, we all are, we all have our own prejudice. Everybody needs cultural competence training” (PB2).
26 | Access to Public Services and Access to Justice for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Northern Ireland
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