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SPEAKING UP
The Global Refugee Youth Consultations in Australia Report
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REPORT LAUNCH - Canberra, 23 November 2016
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L-R: Tim O'Connor (Refugee Council of Australia), Prudence Melom, Thomas Albrecht (UNHCR), Arash Bordbar, Nadine Liddy (MYAN)
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Young people from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds have enormous potential to be active participants in and contributors to Australian society but commonly face a range of barriers that results in their voices being marginalised in policy and practice.
As part of a global project that aims to amplify refugee youth voices in decisions that affect them, earlier this year more than 500 young people from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds (aged 15-24) participated in consultations across Australia.
Participants spoke about the challenges young people seeking asylum and who are recognised refugees face, both prior to and after arriving in Australia. They shared their issues of concern and identified a range of solutions and recommendations for addressing these.
Yesterday in Canberra UNHCR's Regional Representative, Thomas Albrecht, launched Speaking Up: The Global Refugee Youth Consultations in Australia Report. This report presents the voices and recommendations of those young people from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds who took part in these consultations and contributes to national and international advocacy on issues for refugee and asylum seeking young people.
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At the launch, Nadine Liddy, MYAN Australia National Coordinator, said the report's publication was timely given the focus on young people in the recent announcement of a review into settlement outcomes of migrants and refugees in Australia.
“In this report we hear directly from young people about their experiences of forced migration and the challenges of beginning a new life in Australia, and we have young people telling us what they need to overcome these challenges" Ms Liddy said.
“Young people from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds want to contribute and be active members in the communities in which they settle. We need to listen to their recommendations and support them to see these implemented.”
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“When organisations show signs they’ve heard what we said it makes us engage with them better.”
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Australian representative to the GRYC Global Youth Workshop in Geneva, Arash Bordbar, spoke at the launch about the committment young people made at the global workshop in June to 7 Core Actions for Refugee Youth. Arash acknowledged that the preliminary findings of the Speaking Up report were important for helping determine the core actions and informing next steps.
The MYAN and RCOA highlighted the 32 recommendations made by young people in the Speaking Up report, noting it was important for those working with young people to take these on board and work with young people to see them implemented. The organisations confirmed that exploring how these recommendations could be implemented would be a focus in the coming year.
Download the SPEAKING UP report here
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Share the report
#GRYC #speakingup
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