In this context, civil society groups could play a key role as intermediaries, taking on some of the administrative burden of complaining. CSO8 argued that practically NIPSO would need to rely on CSOs to promote the right to complain: “… realistically, in my head I’m, like, the families and the ombudsman, they’re… you know, the ombudsman aren’t going to be doing the direct work with the families. Maybe I’m wrong and maybe that’s something that could be considered around information sessions or drop-in days or evenings so that people can hear directly from that service what they do. But I think more likely than not, a lot of the time it’s going to be the middleman of professionals who are saying, ‘I’m not sure if you know about the service but here’s who they are and what they can do’” (CSO8). CSO4 commented, however, that relying on CSOs was not a panacea, as asylum seekers and refugees would need to build up trust: “I think it might be challenging initially, but we have support to make complaints…, and we just need to have a few cases that are successful with no repercussions for people afterwards… it would be a slow process of engagement first of all and for people to tread… but some people are cross enough as well and fed up enough that they go over the top as well” (CSO4). Some CSOs were also focused on particular issues or areas work which would make referrals to NIPSO less likely; CSO2 noted: “when people come to us… our focus is on resolving the immigration status. So, in some ways this health, housing, education those are, kind of, peripheral issues for us because, you know, our focus is their status and therefore our relationship is with The Home Office” (CSO2). Interestingly, even though the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman could deal with immigration complaints, CSO2 noted that they would not normally consider that route for making referrals: “I would normally refer them either to, maybe, the human rights commission or their children’s legal centre if there is scope for legal work. But I don’t normally think of going to the ombudsman” (CSO2). CSO8 said that there was a need for people to be supported through complaints by a trusted person, which would involve more than simply signposting: “… you need to be willing as a practitioner to walk through that process with them. Because if someone gets to the point of being okay to do it [complain], they might be okay to do it if they have someone that they trust going through it with them. so, there could be something around that, around like a supportive role… to make sure that they have one trusted person who’s taking them through that process to explain it and give the context. Because, yeah, it could feel quite isolating I guess to be encouraged to do it and then just left alone to take it forward” (CSO8).
CSO3 agreed and suggested that NIPSO had a role in supporting people to complain in the first place and then provide support through the process: “… they are the ones who need to make themselves available and go into asylum accommodations, drop leaflets, meet people, explain to them and then let people know what you can do, even if you can do it yourself, get someone the asylum seeker will talk to, or try to contact them throughout the journey” (CSO3). CSO11 suggested that NIPSO could be more proactive in seeking out and supporting complains so that “the weight will be left off our shoulders” (CSO11). CSO8 noted that a key challenge in seeking to encourage more complaints and promoting the work of NIPSO was to manage expectations and avoid the risk of “over-promising”: “… when I talk to families, I’m really conscious about not overpromising what’s going to happen. So, if it takes a family, which it will for an asylum seeking family, a lot of courage, a lot of strength to get to the point of doing the complaint, of taking that forward, you want to be really honest with them about what the outcome’s going to be and what might change and what might not change… there would be something around really managing those expectations and still conveying and communicating that it’s a beneficial thing to do” (CSO8).
Final report of the of Ombudspersons and the Protection of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (OPRAS) project | 47
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