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Ferid

“The centre is a focal point for the community. They come here when a child is born, when a family member dies and for everything else in between.”

Former Yugoslavian army officer Ferid Kevric was one of the first Bosnian refugees to arrive in the UK. Today he is the founder and manager of the Derby Bosnia-Herzegovina Community Association, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary.

Ferid explains: “I felt I had lost everything. I didn’t know where to turn. But I knew that the best way to help vulnerable people settle would be to establish a strong community.”

Refugee Action assisted the development of the Association, helping it to become a source of advice and support for the whole Bosnian community. Refugee Action's development workers gave advice on setting up and managing the organization, as well as training in book-keeping and capacity building.

With more than 50 people in full-time employment, 20 university graduates, a vibrant Bosnian dance
troupe and a trophy-winning basketball team, today the community has plenty to celebrate. The centre continues to provide advice, classes and social events and is now welcoming asylum seekers from other nationalities.

“Back then, there was a lot of publicity about the war and the plight of refugees,” says Ferid, “People felt proud to help. They donated money, furniture and toys. There isn’t the same understanding about asylum seekers today.”

Since 1981, Refugee Action’s work has included the reception and settlement of newly-arrived refugees from Vietnam, Bosnia, and Kosovo, including intensive in-hospital support for medical evacuees. We helped evacuees from the volcanic island of Montserrat to settle in the UK.We were also instrumental in setting up the Refugee Arrivals Project which, since 1987, has helped refugees
arriving at London's main airports.

Today, Refugee Action is participating in the Gateway Protection Programme, a UK Government scheme to resettle vulnerable refugees from camps in west Africa.