Changing Our Heads: Failing to recognise the human rights violations of children and women from Albania

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Changing Our Heads: Failing to recognise the human rights violations of children and women from Albania

By Shpresa Programme & the Migrant and Refugee Children's Legal Unit (MiCLU), sponsored by the Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP

Date and time

Tue, 31 Jan 2017 17:00 - 20:00 GMT

Location

Portcullis House

Houses of Parliament London SW1A 2LW United Kingdom

Description

Despite an increasing focus on refugees and international protection in Europe recent reports of increased numbers of trafficking of Albanian children and women have made headlines. Albanian children form the third largest group of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the UK yet in 2015, out of 440 initial decisions, just one grant of asylum was made to an Albanian child, while only 4% of all Albanian nationals were granted refugee status or an alternative form of protection at initial decision in the year ending September 2016. This country and the protection needs of those who fear to return there remain little understood.

This event, sponsored by the Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP, aims to gather and give voice to practitioners across a range of disciplines who provide care, support and legal representation to Albanian children, young people and women, along with experts working in the field of anti-trafficking and international protection, to help understand the lives and circumstances of this forgotten group and fundamental issues of culture, and to help dispel the myths that perpetuate and act as a barrier to achieving protection and durable solutions for vulnerable members of this community.

Experts will speak on the following topics:

  • Cultural issues and barriers in identifying and addressing claims for asylum and trafficking
  • Child- and gender-specific claims for international protection
  • Working in partnership to address domestic violence and trafficking in the Albanian community
  • Challenges providing therapy to Albaninan victims of violence and exploitation

A short documentary film featuring the lived experiences of young Albanian asylum-seekers will be premiered and there will be an opportunity to speak to the film-makers and young ambassadors from the Shpresa Programme.

Who should attend?

Representatives from social care, education, healthcare, the legal system, the public sector, the voluntary sector, the police, and other government agencies.

The event will start at 5pm promptly, with a 20 minute break for refreshments. Please allow an additional 30-60 minutes to pass through security checks for Portcullis House. For the full programme, please click here.

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