Refugee Week 2013

Monday, 17th June - Sunday, 23rd June is Refugee Week.

Refugee Week provides a platform where positive images of refugees can be promoted in order to create a culture of welcome throughout the UK.

Bedford Central Library, in partnership with the University of Bedfordshire and other organisations is hosting a week of events to mark Refugee Week. These include:

Monday 17th June
11.00 am - 6.00 pm
Launch of Refugee Week Bedford
Harpur Square outside the library.
Pick up an information leaflet from our market stall.
Find out how you can get involved.

7.00 pm
An evening with Agnes Grunwald-Spier
Bedford Central Library
Juice bar and light refreshments from 6.00pm
Free tickets available from Bedford Central Library

Sunday 23rd June
1.30 - 4.00 pm
Family Football Fun Day
Alexander Sports Centre, Sidney Road, Bedford.
5 a side football tournament (adults only), plus a
range of activities for all the family, including a
bouncy castle, football competitions, children’s
play area, treasure hunt, refreshments, and
an ice-cream van. Bring a picnic!
Please contact:
Kimberley 07851803621,
Kerry 07926221995 or
Brian 01234 211381.

You can find out more about Refugee Week on the Bedfordshire Libraries website at: http://www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk/webingres/bedfordshire/vlib/0.books_reading/refugee_week.htm

including general information about immigration, nationality and asylum, useful websites and a booklist.

Professorial Lectures On Video

The Institute of Applied Social Research (IASR) at the University of Bedfordshire has made some of its professorial lecture series available on Youtube.You can find details of further lectures on the IASR Events page at: http://www.beds.ac.uk/research/iasr/iasr-events

Amongst those available to watch are:

Professor Ravi Kohli, Monday 16th April 2012

We make the journey and the journey makes us. Reflections on working with unacompanied asylum seeking children and young people.

Professor Jenny Pearce, 9th May 2012

Its all in a lable: new theories for understanding child sexual exploitation. Jenny's research focuses on the social construction of youth and studies of youth culture. In particular she focuses on young people, sexual exploitation, child protection and domestic violence. Jenny also teaches research methods that can be used to access and engage with socially excluded young people and is particularly interested in focusing on the marginalisation of categories of youth. In this, her professorial lecture, she discusses new ways of understanding the exploitation of children.

The Rights of Asylum Seeking Children In The UK

The rights of asylum seeking children in the UK have come under the spotlight recently with a report in The Guardian that 40 children held in adult detention centres had received a share of £1 million compensation from the Home Office. The children, thought to be as young as 14 began legal proceedings in 2005 for being wrongfully detained.

If you're looking for material on the rights and lives of unaccompanied asylum seeking children in the UK then a good place to start (hint!) is with the publications of our own Prof Ravi Kohli. Ravi has published numerous research articles on the lives of unaccompanied asylum seeking children including the following (you will need to use your network username and password to read the full text).

• Kohli, R.K.S. (2011) 'Working to ensure safety. Belonging and success for unaccompanied aylum-seeking children', Child Abuse Review 20(5), pp. 311-323.


• Kohli, R.K.S. (2006) 'The sound of silence. Listening to what unaccompanied asylum seeking children say and do not say', British Journal of Social Work 36(5), pp. 707-721.


• Kohli, R.K.S. (2006) 'The comfort of strangers. Social work practice with unaccompanied asylum seeking children and young people in the UK', Child & Family Social Work, 11(1), pp. 1-10.


• Kohli, R.K.S. and Mather, R. (2003) 'Promoting psychosocial wellbeing in unaccompanied asylum seeking young people in the United Kingdom', Child & Family Social Work, 8(3), pp. 201-213.

You can find a whole host of articles on this topic by other authors by searching Ebscohost Research Databases.

New Government Reports - Jan 20th

The following recently published Government reports may be of interest:

• Rules of engagement: changing the heart of youth justice
  Centre for Social Justice
  This report on the youth justice system in England and Wales calls for a drastic cut in the 5,000 children aged 10-17 given custodial sentences every year and recommends reforms in which child welfare services rather than youth justice teams and courts take the lead in preventing juvenile crime. It also advises that it is time to break the “taboo” surrounding raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) from ten to twelve. The report identifies four key shortcomings, which must be addressed if outcomes are to be improved: The youth justice system continues to function as a backstop: sweeping up the problem cases that other services have failed, or been unable, to address; The system is often operating in a way which promotes rather than reduces offending; There continues to be too much focus on functional process at the expense of lifechanging outcomes; and The importance of relationships to preventing offending and facilitating rehabilitation, emphasised consistently to the CSJ in its evidence hearings, continues to be overlooked.
  Published 16 January 2012
  http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/client/downloads/CSJ_Youth_Justice_Full_Report_WEB%20%282%29.pdf [PDF 2.6MB]
• Cutting them free: how is the UK progressing in protecting its children from sexual exploitation
  Barnardo's
  A report released to mark the first anniversary of the charity's campaign to stop child sexual exploitation, reveals that little is happening to protect victims of child sexual exploitation in many communities around the country and in some areas budget cuts are leading to the issue being downgraded.
  Published 17 January 2012
  http://www.barnardos.org.uk/cuttingthemfree.pdf [PDF 318KB]
• Landing in Dover: the immigration process undergone by unaccompanied children arriving in Kent
  Adrian Matthews for the Office of the Children's Commissioner
  This report focuses on immigration procedures to which unaccompanied children arriving in Kent are subject between their first encounter with the authorities and the time they are placed in the care of Kent County Council children's social care services. An investigation found that vulnerable unaccompanied children who arrived illegally at Dover docks or through the Channel tunnel were being sent straight back to France under a secret "gentleman's agreement". The practice has now been stopped by the UK Border Agency.
  Published 17 January 2012
  http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/publications/content_556
• Joint enterprise Commons Justice Committee. Eleventh Report of Session 2010-12. Volume I: Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence. Volume II: Additional written evidence.
  The Committee warns that efforts to tackle gang-related violence are being hampered because the law on joint enterprise is confusing for juries and courts alike. Over-zealous application of the principle, particularly with gang fights, can discourage witnesses from volunteering vital information that would solve killings for fear they end up on trial for murder. The report notes “The Prison Reform Trust is concerned that joint enterprise may be used disproportionately in cases involving children and young adults, and can act as a dragnet, bringing individuals and groups into the criminal justice system who do not necessarily need to be there”. The report advises that legislation is needed to ensure justice for both victims and defendants and end the high number of cases reaching the Court of Appeal.
  Published 17 January 2011
  Volume I:
  http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmjust/1597/1597.pdf [PDF 472KB]
  Volume II:
  http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmjust/1597/1597vw.pdf [PDF 400KB]
  
  

New Refugee Website

A new website: The Refugee Education Initiative (REI) has been launched by Laura-Ashley Wright and Robyn Plasterer. It aims to be an international forum to link together researchers, professionals and the general public on issues related to refugee studies, forced migration and international education development. The site contains information on:

• Current events & policy
• Relevant websites, blogs and mailing lists
• Non-academic resources: films, books, art and music
• Academic resources: journals, publications etc.
• Work and volunteer oportunities
• Academic programs and scholarship opportunities

Students can also publish their work, blog about international experiences and link to other student networks in the UK, Canada and abroad. Any questions please e-mail them at:mailto: info@refugeeeducation.com