Asylum seekers and refugees’ access to justice: complaints and the role of ombudspersons Conclusion 4: Asylum seekers face significant barriers in raising complaints A key barrier to raising complaints is a fear of repercussions, particularly for asylum seekers, who fear that it will affect their asylum application, but also for others who fear losing access to public services, such as GPs. There is a perception among asylum seekers and refugees that they won’t be listened to if they do complain and some have had poor experiences when they have raised concerns, which further erodes trust. Complaining is not a priority for asylum seekers who are focused only on their asylum claim nor for newly recognised refugees who simply want to work and start building their new lives. Differences in culture around complaining also make it less likely that some groups will complain. In terms of complaining to NIPSO, asylum seekers and refugees lack awareness of the organisation and their right to complain. There is a need to raise the profile of the organisation both directly with asylum seekers and refugees and through civil society organisations. Given the difficulties in raising complaints, NIPSO and civil society organisations need to provide very intensive support not just to access a complaint process, but throughout the process. Requiring people to have exhausted a public body’s complaints procedure is also a barrier to reaching NIPSO. Conclusion 5: There is significant potential for NIPSO to play a role in this area, but some uncertainty regarding what that might involve Perceptions of NIPSO’s work are generally positive and its interest in the issues facing asylum seekers and refugees has been welcomed. Its approach is seen as being constructive and both public bodies and civil society organisations see the potential benefits of NIPSO’s work in terms of issues of concern being addressed and prioritised. There is some uncertainty however around NIPSO’s role, particularly when it comes to taking a more systemic approach rather than investigating individual complaints, and around what NIPSO plans to do next. The power of own initiative investigation is important in a context where individuals face significant barriers to accessing public services in the first place and subsequently in complaining. The role of NIPSO in supporting and empowering vulnerable groups is therefore potentially important. Various suggestions have been made for areas in which NIPSO could take systemic action in future, reflecting the areas discussed above. Areas proposed include: the inconsistent availability of interpretation services; the inadequate provision for asylum seekers arriving in Northern Ireland between the ages of 14 and 15; and the approach being taken to safeguarding asylum seeking children.
Conclusion 6: There are opportunities for NIPSO to learn from the practice of ombudspersons in other jurisdictions Responses to the survey of International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) members show that ombudspersons in many jurisdictions are actively involved in supporting asylum seekers and refugees. These ombudspersons have generally been more successful in attracting complaints from asylum seekers and refugees. While it is unclear why that is the case, a likely reason is the broader remit of many international ombudsperson institutions, which include a human rights jurisdiction as well as other functions that provide the ombudsperson with a specific locus in terms of issues facing asylum seekers and refugees. Ombudspersons internationally also use a range of methods to address issues facing asylum seekers and refugees, not limited to the use of formal own initiative powers of investigation. Holding events, bringing stakeholders together for discussions, commissioning or conducting research, issuing thematic reports, and making public statements are all used as potential intervention strategies. Despite the difficulties in encouraging asylum seekers and refugees to complain, NIPSO’s practice around outreach and engagement compares favourably to approaches used internationally, with some international ombudspersons not prioritising these kinds of actions and/ or being ambivalent about their effectiveness. There is potential for NIPSO to engage with international organisations working in the asylum and refugee field to further develop its profile and role in this area. Conclusion 7: Internationally, there are opportunities for ombudspersons to exchange experiences and develop their practice Internationally, ombudspersons are making a significant contribution to addressing injustices faced by asylum seekers and refugees, dealing with individual complaints and taking systemic action to address known areas of concern. There is scope for ombudspersons to learn more from each other in this area and to come together to share experiences and develop best practice. Some ombudspersons are particularly proactive in this space and there is likely to be much good practice that can be captured and shared, building on the initial insights provided by the present research. There is also a need for additional guidance to be produced in areas such as working with vulnerable groups and communicating with and responding effectively to the needs of asylum seekers and refugees. There is potential for better data collection by ombudspersons internationally, identifying who does and does not make complaints, to allow more targeted action and identify where there remain gaps in access to justice. Along with other UK ombudspersons, NIPSO is already collecting this kind of demographic data.
Final report of the of Ombudspersons and the Protection of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (OPRAS) project | 61
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