What Should We Be Aware Of When Looking to Engage with Refugee Communities?

What is this advice about?

This advice is for heritage organisations looking to work with refugees and asylum seekers.

It suggests ways to connect with refugees in your area and guides you on what to consider when engaging with these communities. The advice is based on extensive experience of working with refugees and asylum seekers in a museum/heritage context, but it should always be used alongside local community expertise.

What are the key points?

What is a refugee?

Refugees and asylum seekers are subtly different.

Refugees are those who have been officially recognised and granted asylum. They are no one thing, and could be a doctor, school child, bus driver, actor, or something else entirely.

Asylum seekers are those still seeking international protection.

This guide will use 'refugee' as a catch-all term for simplicity's sake, as the advice is broadly the same.

How can we connect with refugee communities?

There are several places you can look to when trying to connect with local refugee communities:

• Community-led organisations. If you know refugees in your area are mainly from a single country, start by talking directly to a community-led group. They will probably support new arrivals and will understand the barriers their community are facing
• Local charities that work specifically with refugees and asylum seekers
• ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) providers such as further education colleges, sixth form colleges and training providers. Though learners will often be a mix of refugees and other migrants, this is an effective and underused way of connecting with large numbers of very diverse refugees. (Note: these are different to EFL (English as Foreign Language) providers who cater for foreign language students)
• Housing associations. Some work specifically with refugees and sometimes have an enrichment programme in which they do day trips and other activities
• Local councils. Your council may have a community learning programme that supports refugees through language and skills development, or they may even have a Refugee Resettlement Programme

What are some of the barriers or challenges to be mindful of when doing heritage work with refugees?

Always bear in mind the specific needs of the group you are working with; a group of women from rural Somalia will have very different needs compared to a group of teenage boys from urban Ukraine. While many refugees are highly skilled and qualified, many have inevitably faced considerable disruptions to their education.

Below are some of the key barriers that may arise when working with refugees, particularly those who have missed significant parts of their education:

• Language. It is perhaps an obvious first point, but most refugees will have learnt (or be learning) English as an additional language. Use simple language when speaking, and try to avoid unnecessary filler language such as "kind of" and "if you know what I mean." Use hand gestures, speak slowly, and repeat and check comprehension where needed
• Literacy is a big issue in some communities. If someone's education was disrupted at a young age or school was hard to access, they may be unable to read and write in their own language, let alone English. Think about how this impacts digital engagement. Written translation into a community language may not always help, so use pictures where you can
• Getting around. Using public transport, using maps, and moving into unfamiliar spaces can create barriers. Public transport involves complex literacy: reading timetables, bus numbers and understanding maps. For these reasons, leaving a neighbourhood and community can sometimes feel daunting for refugees. Think about budgeting for minibuses. Better still, meet people in the community and make getting to your site via public transport part of your engagement
• Maps. Heritage sites often use maps, but they are not as universally understood as you might think. Not only are they a form of literacy, but they are not always a cultural norm, so don’t overly rely on them
• History and historical language. Don’t assume people will know words that may seem second nature to you: the Victorians, the Romans, and the Second World War are all terms that may need explaining. Dates can also be hard to conceptualise if you are not used to talking in historical terms in English. For example, try saying "200 years ago" instead of "the 19th Century" or "in 1825"
• The very concept of heritage. We tend to assume that the practice of storing old things in glass cases and carefully preserving crumbling old buildings is universal, but it isn’t. In some places, visiting heritage sites is considered a specialist activity, and sites may be inaccessible to general visitors.
  
  Depending on where they are from, many refugees in the UK may never have visited one before. It’s often worth pointing out that things in museums are real and not replicas, or that the building they’re looking at is genuinely 600 years old. Some refugees may be heritage experts or fluent in understanding and appreciating heritage. In addition to bringing new and different perspectives, these experts can help build confidence with those less familiar with heritage
• Cultural difference. Cultural differences are an excellent opportunity to build further engaging heritage projects, even though they are often seen as something of a barrier. Don’t second-guess what people might be interested in or assume what they might be offended by.
  
  For example, just because someone is a Muslim, it does not mean that they won’t be fascinated to visit your Methodist chapel or see your Old Masters paintings. The opposite is often true. Work with the group to find out what interests them and whether they are concerned about what they will see. The things you may worry about sharing are often the things that spark the richest conversations and deepest engagements
• Trauma. Refugees will inevitably have experienced recent trauma. While it is not the job of the heritage sector to tackle this, it is our role to make heritage a safe and empathetic space.
  
  Make sure you do not exploit the trauma of your refugee participants. Some heritage projects rely on refugees to tell or retell their stories of escape or arrival. While these may be essential to the narratives we want to tell as a sector, we must always consider the impact on those telling their stories. Rather than thinking of your participants as subjects, empower them as co-creators and active participants. Your heritage project should be shaped and led by their needs and wellbeing. Remember that refugees are more than their immigration status or escape from persecution.
  
  If your project does involve asking refugee participants about their personal stories, consider the following questions:
  • Have you partnered with appropriate organisations or support groups who are qualified in dealing with trauma? Have the heritage team undertaken training for trauma-informed practice?
  • Are the participants enthusiastically consenting to sharing their story? Have you clearly explained what their stories will be used for and who will have access to them?
  • What benefits will the participants get out of sharing their stories?
  • Are you going to use their story in a meaningful way?

• Discussing challenging histories. While you should always check that people are happy to engage with difficult histories and challenging topics, don’t assume refugees won’t want to discuss them. Like many of us, refugee audiences are often particularly interested in understanding the darker parts of history
• Costs. Refugees will often be facing financial hardships. Always bear this in mind when planning and budget for expenses

Will our refugee participants be volunteers or employees?

It is a good idea to check the GOV.UK website for the latest advice if you want to engage refugees as volunteers or employees. However, as general advice:

Payment

If you want to pay participants as part of your engagement, keep in mind that while refugees are legally able to work and be paid, asylum seekers are (generally) not.

Participants who receive benefits may not be able to be paid for their time and may wish to be recognised for their contributions in different ways. You can learn more on The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) website. Basic expenses should always be covered, though.

Volunteering

Both refugees and asylum seekers can volunteer and be reimbursed for expenses incurred whilst volunteering.

Keep in mind that volunteering is not always a cultural norm. While helping out in your community is common in most countries, it may be a more unusual concept for others.