Lisa
"What
did they think of me in 1936 when I was in school?" I was
the Juden Mädchen, not Lisa."
"You
hear about asylum seekers. In my mind before doing this project,
there was no link. I just thought the Holocaust happened a long
time ago. Obviously antisemitism towards Jews took place and obviously
what happened was awful. I never thought anything like that could
happen nowadays in a civilised world as you would call it. Nothing
like that. You see it on the news. You just hear about it and
it never goes in. As a kid you just hear in the background and
never understand."
Ian Shaw, Magnus Comprehensive, Notts, UK
Loneliness
The train like a monster
Rattling through the strange fields
The steam swirls into the carriage
Nothing makes sense anymore.
Daniel Williamson (Year 10)
Dukeries Community College, Notts, UK
(Based on Lisa Vincent's story)
Loneliness
All you can see is the backs of people's heads
The blackboard is so far away
You can hear other people speak
Yet you sit in silence
You can see the look of disgust on your teacher's face
As he glances at you and looks away.
Rachel Lenihan (Year 10)
Dukeries Community College, Notts, UK
(Based
on Lisa Vincent's story)
Simon
"The
first thing they did was to segregate us; they put us in a small
part of the town, which they termed a ghetto. We had to wear identification.
At first it was a blue patch and later on it was a yellow star."
"I expected him to look a certain way because he was a refugee.
It is just the whole series of things that did it. I had changed.
Simon's story was really inspiring. It just taught us not to be
selfish, think about others. We are not the only people who have
got problems, there are other people in the world as well."
Elizabeth Dennison, Holgate Comprehensive, Notts, UK
Ben
"I was arrested, tortured, jailed and exiled because of
my belief. And my belief didn't include crime, crimes against
humanity or destruction of all human beings."
"I
was very surprised how clever he was. He is a very strong
person. He seems really sympathetic towards people. He was a really
nice, calm sort of person… Ben made me realise about family.
How you should respect people…"
Claire Buttrick, Tuxford Comprehensive School, Notts, UK
Fahira
"How can they separate people in my town? My first neighbour,
my best neighbour, was a Serb!"
"How
can you go to a country with nothing, no more money, possessions
or anything and be transported to another country and have nothing?
That would be really hard. You take everything around you for
granted. You just don't realise what you've got until it is all
gone. I think a lot of people are unaware of the situation They
need to be more aware and this is a good project to make people
understand."
Natalie Henstock, Magnus Church of England Comprehensive, Notts,
UK
"She's
a lovely woman. She taught myself and I presume the others have
benefited as much as I have now to be open-minded. It is not so
much like a conscious thing of what you think and what you say,
but when you are hanging out with your mates and you are laughing
and joking, and if you like brought a refugee into a conversation,
the remarks that you would get, they are just adolescent humour,
but even though it is just adolescent humour, the little snide
remarks, you can't after doing this, I wouldn't make the remarks
now. I've learnt from that which I think is good. The people that
make these remarks, they just don't know. It is often like a defence
mechanism, to just abuse or destroy what you don't know or don't
understand."
Ian Shaw, Magnus Church of England Comprehensive, Notts, UK
Nadja
"I was asked to go and see my director, and he showed
me a letter from the local government saying that I, as a Muslim
doctor, had to leave. There was a false accusation that I was
involved in some fundamentalist organisation."
"Nadja
is probably the most self-doubting person on the face of the planet
although she's been through so much. She could still provide us
with so much humour through her words, her actions, with her hand
movements and she provides us with comfort even though we should
provide her with comfort. She's just an outstanding person. She
can do anything. She's intelligent, witty and just amazingly calm
and strong and even though she shed a few tears, she was able
to pick herself up for the good of the group instead of falling
apart which really she deserves to do."
Jenny Morris, Bramcote Hills Comprehensive, Beeston, Notts,
UK
David
"Being a refugee is one thing, but being a refugee in
your own country is painful. It is very destructive."
"I have
become much more aware of the reasons why people are forced to
leave their country, I have learned a great deal from David about
Uganda (a country that I previously only knew by name) - its traditions
and values and about Idi Amin's terrible dictatorship. Most importantly
I have heard a remarkable personal story from an extraordinary
individual. I have become aware that every refugee is an individual
with his or her own unique story. I have come to see refugees
as very strong individuals, made so by having to cope with terrible
experiences and then having to rebuild their lives in a new land."
Ekaterina Krylova, Year 13, West Bridgford Comprehensive,
Notts, UK
Hiding Place
Under my feet wind oozes
Trees with feathery leaves from
shadows fringed with barbed wire
wide fangs snarl.
My father's eyes narrow,
scouring the snake-infested river bank.
Taint with fear, sucked by mosquitoes,
we wait for dawn.
Sounds of my past mix
With forest whispers.
I have grown used to the
tight knot of the stomach the
bursting lungs, of being hunted.
I cannot know if my mother is safe.
The sour night air leaves a bitter taste.
Jenny Knapton
Workshop Facilitator for Poem Writing on Refuge Project
West Bridgford Comprehensive School
Nottingham
(Based on David Luwum's story)
Lulzin
"If I had stayed there, I could have got killed. The Serbs
would have checked my ID and known that my father was a leader.
They would have killed us both."
My
knowledge of the Kosovan crisis and people was so limited before
the project, I had no idea what road we were going to enter….but
certainly I've been impressed… All I can say is that refugees
are real people. When they are forced out of their homes and country
by a single man or a group of men, it breaks down their lives
and they have nothing, and then they have to rebuild it. Just
imagine how hard it would be for you if you had lost your mother,
your brother, your sister, lost your father and you had to build
yourself a new life where you didn't know the country, the language
…how difficult it would be.
James Gelsthorpe, Nottingham High School For Boys, Notts,
UK
Jetmir
"I haven't ever spoken to my family since we got separated
- I haven't seen them."
"Very
scary ….he had to learn a whole new different language and
a lot of people admire him for the qualities like that…and
he found it easy to make friends which is good...He didn't even
have any pictures or personal things…."
Michelle Dante, Brunts Comprehensive School, Notts, UK
Jetmir's Dad
Worried, lost and looking around
Desperately searching - Jetmir can't be found
On the streets and around the corners still not found
Jetmir go to England
Over the sand
I travel to find.
Written by a student from Brunts Comprehensive School, Notts,
UK
(Based on Jetmir Gjeta's story)
Susanna
"My Mum and Dad were having their dinner with Essad, and
some soldiers came into the house and beat up my Dad, my Mum and
Essad. I was out with my other sisters... I can remember Sherif
and Amra were crying; they thought Mum and Dad would die."
Behind
Susanna's Smile
Behind Susanna's smile and quiet strength
Stands a frightened child grown old and serious through adult
cares
She does not allow herself more than a dream of what she could
be
Family ties and a selfless spirit contain her in her travel-less
life
Sometimes, her eyes are watered like a window of regret
Betraying the little girl too soon a little mother
Her loneliness requires a remedy of friendship
To breathe life back into the brave Gypsy heart, now
Heavy to the brim; like a water-jack full of sorrow
And secrets, which threaten to flood her defences
Scarred by the futility of hope; it is easier to just accept
Expect nothing.
Maintain a safe distance
Don't get too close to the truth.
Behind Susanna's smile, like the Gypsy fortune-teller
The eyes reveal the whole story, which we do not care to see
Reflections of our inhumanity
Too much for us to bear
How lucky it is that this Refugee Child will protect us
From her pain and our cowardice
With thank yous, and "England is so good"
Held together with a smile we know is shallow
We promised safety, hope and new life
Some of this she has
But can there ever be Refuge from the place which lies behind
Susanna's smile?
Sarah Lee, Refugee and Asylum Seeker Team, Nottinghamshire County
Council LEA, UK
"You only hear it in the news - their point of view. This
people should not be here. The government is cracking down on
asylum seekers…but you never see it from the point of view
of asylum seekers and what they have been through. They are looking
at it from the majority point of view. A project like this - it
should open up people's view…"
Marcus Hibbert, Christ The King RC Comprehensive, Arnold, Notts,
UK
This
section provides the criteria to assess/analyse news reports you
read about refugees and asylum seekers. Here are the first three
criteria:
1) Is the voice of the refugee or asylum seeker
heard?
2) What is the intention of the reporting?
3) Who is reporting the news?
Survey
the newspapers this week and find examples of positive media reports
on refugees or asylum seekers.
A
report written by Ceri Mollard analyses what newspapers told us
about refugees and asylum seekers in the year 2000 and finds the
following:
a) press coverage of refugees and asylum issues in 2000 was characterised
by negative imagery, hostility towards asylum seekers, and a 'culture
of disbelief'.
b) A poll carried out by MORI (Market Opinion Research International)
in the latter half of the year indicated that many Britons were
influenced by negative press coverage on asylum seekers - for
example, 80 per cent of adults polled believed that refugees came
to Britain because they thought it was a 'soft touch'.
c) Most respondents also overestimated the amount of financial
aid received by asylum seekers, believing that they receive on
average benefits worth £113 per week. In reality, a single
asylum seeker over the age of 25 receives £36.54 per week.
Extracts taken from Ceri Mollard's ASYLUM:THE TRUTH BEHIND THE
HEADLINES, Oxfam, 2001
"You hear about asylum seekers on the television, how scruffy
they are and all that, but you never realise how they have escaped
from such dangerous circumstances."
Tom Kelly, Nottingham High School for Boys, UK
Look
for the following in your news article:
a) Is the voice of refugees represented?
Yes
No
b) Whose opinion forms the basis of the article?
The author's opinion
The organisation's stand
The community
Political opinion
c) How does the article use the following elements? Do
you think they are used in context?
Use of statistics
Use of headlines
Use of names of politicians
Use of emotional appeal of the community
Use of pictures
d)
Is a photograph used in the article? If so, what do the caption
and picture show?
Positive picture of asylum seekers
Negative picture of asylum seekers
None of the above
e)
What is the aim of the article?
To inform
To stereotype
To grab attention
To present a viewpoint
f) What is the writer's attitude towards asylum seekers?
Are his/her views founded on
a) Lack of knowledge
b) Stereotyping
c) Past experience
d) Political belief
e) Sound research
f) What others say
