news > news releases

Asylum seekers and refugees lobby parliament to save free English classes

Wednesday 28 February 2007

REFUGEES and asylum seekers from across the country are uniting outside Parliament today (Wednesday) in the fight to save free English classes.

The Learning and Skills Council has announced that from August funding of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) will be limited to refugees and migrants receiving income support, and not made available to asylum seekers, migrant workers or refugees in employment.

Refugee Action argues that this move will leave vulnerable people unable to communicate or understand basic information about life in the UK, as well as pushing up the cost of interpreters.

Today refugees will join campaigners from the University and College Union, Refugee Action, Refugee Council and other organisations at a mock ESOL lesson on Parliament Square at 10.15am. The lesson is part of a mass lobby, and coincides with an early day motion calling for ESOL funding to be restored.

Clementine Mwanzo, a midwife from the Democratic Republic of Congo, volunteers at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport through Refugee Action’s Horizons Project. She is one of many asylum seekers travelling from Manchester to London to take part in the ESOL lesson.

She said: “When I first came to the UK I could not speak English and faced many problems. I found it difficult to do simple things like buy things from the shop or use the bus.

“I can now speak English because of ESOL lessons and this means I can volunteer. To work in the hospital I need to be able to communicate with the patients. I have also learned about British practices and systems so that I can hopefully work in the NHS in the future. I have also made friends and get out and about now instead of just staying in the house.”

Sandy Buchan, chief executive of Refugee Action, said: “The loss of ESOL will be devastating for asylum seekers and refugees and will leave them even more isolated within their communities. Asylum seekers like Clementine have vital skills they can use in their communities, and as refugees that is translated into employment. All they need is to learn English to use those skills.

“There will also be an increased need for interpretation from primary services like the health service, and the burden of interpretation may fall on children within families.”

At 11.30am, following the lesson, Bill Rammell MP, Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, will speak in Committee Room 14. Throughout the day, people from across the UK will also be coming to Parliament to meet their MP to lobby them to restore free ESOL tuition.

Ends

If you would like to organise interviews and photographs, please contact Julia Ravenscroft, press officer, on 0161 233 1956, or Sue Wheat, communications officer, on 020 7654 7714.

Notes:

The BBC reported last month that local authorities spend £25m, NHS trusts £55m and the courts £31m on interpreting languages.

Refugees and migrant workers are often in the lowest paid jobs and have little or no knowledge of their rights. There is no obligation on employers to fund English classes for their workers.

Refugee Action is an independent, national charity working to enable refugees to build new lives in the UK. We provide practical advice and assistance for newly arrived asylum seekers and long-term commitment to their settlement through community development work, and received 30,000 visits from asylum seekers last year. As one of the country’s leading agencies in the field, Refugee Action has 25 years’ experience in pioneering innovative work in partnership with refugees.