one planet leeds summer 2013

Printed by PrintStudio HMP Leeds Edited by Press Gang Media Collective

IN THIS ISSUEReview : To walk in your shoes [p3] Football - A shared sense of belonging? [p4]Refugee Boy podcast interview [p6] RASA on refugees and asylum seekers [p7]

The kindness of strangers [p8] United Voices [p10] Womens Reugee Group [p11]

Abigail Housing [p12]

ONEPLANET

2 ONE PLANET SUMMER 2013

SUMMER 2013LEEDSONE PLANET

One Planet Leeds Summer 2013Welcome to ONE PLANET LEEDS MAGAZINEand our second issue of the year SUMMER2013. The magazine aims to work inpartnership to support refugees and asylumseekers in Leeds. ONE PLANET Leeds isdeveloped alongside Press Gang. Press Gangis an organisation that works with exiledjournalist and activists to encourage positiverepresentation of asylum and refugee issues inthe media.Find out more at:[email protected]@pressgangleedsFacebook search: Press Gang LeedsSpecial thanks to all that have been involvedin writing or helping with this edition; thanks toeverybody at LASSN and Press Gangmembers past and presentWith contributions from; Abigail Housing,Manuel Bravo Project, LASSN, SteveMcVeagh, Jennifer Gibson, Rebecca Shapiro,Charlie Duffield, Zewdu MengisteEdited by Charlie DuffieldDesigned by PrintStudio HMP LeedsPrinted by PrintStudio HMP LeedsIf you would like to contribute to the nextAutumn Issue or the Press Gang online Blog,please get in contact by [email protected] advertise in this magazine, please contactRichie on 0113 (3731) 759 or [email protected]

LASSNSponsored Walk

andAnnual Picnic

Saturday 29th June3pm onwards

Meet in Park Square(or at LASSN office

if wet weather!)For more details

Befriend a Refuge…Be a Friend of

please visit our website:www.lassn.org.uk/sponsored-walk-and-picnic/

or call (0113) 373 1759

Come and Join us!

1) Each food parcels weights between 3.5 and 4kg

2) All figures for 2006-present. We started distributing food in 2005 but figures for that year aremissing.

3) More than 2,500 individuals have attended.

4) In 2012 PAFRAS provided 6,740 meals and 4,013 food parcels to 8,128 visitors to its drop-in.We have 261 first time visits by destitute asylum seekers.

5) In 2012 an average of 124 people attended PAFRAS drop-in sessions each week.

ONE PLANET SUMMER 2013 3

Review: To walk in your shoes

What if you were given one hour to fleeyour country? I doubt many of us haveever entertained such a premise, yet

for many of those not as privileged asourselves, the reality of such a situation is farfrom an absurdity. This was the tag-line for theRed Bobble Theatre Company’s production of‘To Walk in your shoes’; a piece of verbatimtheatre, performed at the bustling creative hubof Seven Arts Café in Chapel Allerton on the10th May, which explored and exposed the realstories and testimonies of asylum seekers inLeeds.Prior to the start of the play, audiencemembers could peruse Rachael Munro-Fawcett’s documentary photography exhibitionin which 20 different individuals werephotographed; in spite of the importance ofanonymity for the subjects in ensuring theirright to remain in the UK, Munro-Fawcett’swork was intimate and thought-provoking andoffered an insight into the daily plight ofasylum seekers. One photograph of a destituteasylum seeker was captioned ‘what do you doeach day?’ to which the poignant responsewas ‘every day I look for somewhere to sleepthat night.’ Another photograph depicted aman wistfully watching the birds fly away atRoundhay Park. A dilapidated building provedto be the substandard home for 21 femaleasylum seekers in 2010, before the buildingwas condemned and closed two years later.Munro-Fawcett’s photographs succeeded inbeing understated yet impactful. They not onlyforeshadowed Red Bobble’s performance, butwere a memorable work of art in their ownright.

‘To Walk in your shoes’ was divided intoscenes depicting a different scenario andrevealing home truths and a foreign insight; in‘let’s talk about love’ asylum seekers at asupport group tossed a velveteen heartcushion between each other whilst declaringwhat they love about England. The monologistin ‘Leg’s out’ discussed her quest for freedomand the lack of women's rights in her homecountry. Another woman explained how shecame to England with the intention to study.She fell ill and authorities attempted to send herhome where there was no job for her orprospect of treatment. Moreover, anadministrative assistant within the asylumsystem bitterly revealed how asylum claim wasa dispassionate search for evidence. Theharrowing tales of women subjected to femalegenital mutilation impressed the desperation ofso many who flee to escape barbaricconditions. Red Bobble’s expert actingsucceeded in relaying the testimonies of Leeds’refugees with great empathy; the play provedhumbling, captivating and hugely insightful.Almost a decade ago the Press ComplaintsCommission issued guidance to address thepervasive inaccurate reporting on the issue ofasylum, yet the media still propels a biased andnegative view of the subject. Red bobble’s playcast aside statistics and presumptions in favourof human stories, and revealed the absurdity ofthe legal system. Red Bobble’s play cast asidestatistics and presumptions in favour of humanstories, revealing the absurdity of the legalsystem and increasing the public’s awarenessof the side without a voice.

Charlie Duffield


Football - A shared sense of belonging?

After all, they are the ones who discovered Kyle Walker – once of Sheffield United, now ofTottenham, and in Roy Hodgson’s squads for England’s most recent World Cup qualifiers.But even off the pitch, FURD are not far from the forefront of some of the biggest stories thatEngland fans have digested in the last year or so.

When last year’s European Championships in Poland and Ukraine were preceded by concernsabout ugly racism, FURD were busy travelling around the countries with Streetkick – an inflatablepitch that can be set up anywhere and has provided opportunities for different groups to cometogether and get to know each other.

They did this in conjunction with Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE), with whom they areclosely connected. FARE’s most recent spell in the sporting headlines came in April whenEngland fans were accused of racist chants yet this was just a momentary glimpse into their vaststore of work done by an organisation who have been backed by European football’s governingbody, UEFA, for the last decade or more. FURD have also maintained close links with the ‘Kick ItOut’ campaign which has been going for twenty years, in various guises, and is well known byregulars at matches across all the divisions in the English league.

This year though, there is anotherevent that will share centre stage in mydiary that week - ‘Football – A sharedsense of belonging?’ - a conference inSheffield on “the role of football in thelives of refugees and asylumseekers”. There I will hear the findingsfrom three years of research byFootball Unites Racism Divides(FURD), lead by Chris Stone, andfocusing on three areas: recreationalfootball, structured leagues, and theprofessional game incorporating fans’perspectives.

The name FURD does not crop uptoo frequently in the vast quantity ofcolumn inches that the mainstreammedia devotes to the England footballteam, but perhaps it should.

My favourite part of Refugee Week is undoubtedly the Refugee World Cup, particularly ina year when there is no Euro or World Cup to dominate football in the summer.


Away from supporter issues, as part of their research project, FURDarranged sessions for refugees and asylum seekers to come and playfootball. On morning I went to see this, and afterward spoke to Leon,who hails from Sudan but is currently based in Sheffield. He has beenattending the sessions for over six months, from the days when therewere “just three or four people”, until now when they have a full andvery competitive game. Leon enjoys this competitive side of it – achance to “put worries aside for an hour or so, a stress release” - buthe also appreciates “the social side, the chance to meet new people,especially from different backgrounds”.

Other endeavours include providing opportunities for people to gainuseful skills through volunteering in their office, working with localyouths who are Not In Education or Employment (NEETs), andpromoting diversity in schools. FURD also run football teams, putmembers of their community through County Coaching Schemes andrun their own courses, some of which take place at their ownheadquarters, others at neighbouring Bramall Lane. This engagementwith the football club has seen other benefits – tickets for games formarginalised groups, Community Day at Bramall Lane, and, mostnotably of all, when they find true talent in their midst, they referplayers to the club’s own academy.

Of course, not all of these players will go on to play for glamour clubsin the top flight and represent their country, but Kyle Walker is theposter boy for an organisation that serves its community in anextensive variety of work. That it does so through the medium offootball makes it ideally suited to connect with a huge range of peoplefrom all backgrounds. My excitement at learning more at theirconference is akin to that I feel in the run up to a big match.

Steve McVeagh


Extract from the radio podcast with playwright LemnSissay and author of ‘Refugee Boy’ Benjamin Zephaniah

Press Gang: Could you introduce a little bit aboutyourself for our readers?Lemn: Yes! My name is Lemn Sissay I am originallyfrom Ethiopia. My family had to flee Ethiopia in 1975. InEthiopia my father was a pilot for an Ethiopian airline; hewould have been working around the time that Alem's[Alem is the main character in Refugee Boy] father wouldhave been there. A lot of my family had to leave and a lotof my family had to stay. My step father was a minsterunder Haile Selassi. I write poetry and books, and I amhere because I’ve had the privilege to adapt ‘RefugeeBoy’, a novel written by Benjamin Zephaniah that soldmore copies than all of my books put together!

Press Gang:: Why did you want to change the ‘RefugeBoy’ book in to a play?Lemn: I wanted to do ‘Refuge Boy’ primarily because ofBenjamin and the subject matter of the book.Press Gang: Did you read the book before Benjamin wastalking with you about it?Lemn: Yes I did!Press Gang: Benjamin can you introduce yourself?Benjamin: My Name is Benjamin Zephaniah. My motheris from Jamaica and my father is from Barbados. I wasborn in England, but I have an African heart so I’m aninternationalist. I speak English, and I speak a little ofBurudo and Chinese. I speak love, compassion andfriendship to those who reach out to me. When I wrotethe book ‘Refuge Boy’ I was living in East London. I cameacross refugees all the time, and realised that lots ofrefugees are taken for granted. It was then that I heard astory of a boy who had a horrific story; he watched hismother and father being killed in front of him, and Ithought I had to write something about it. The reason whyI chose the Ethiopian Eritrean War was the situation – Ididn’t want to write about the war itself, just theconsequences.Press Gang: If you wrote about ‘Refugee Boy’ in 2013what themes do you think will come up?Benjamin: Pretty much the same themes because people’sattitudes haven’t changed that much. All war is wrong;“peace” is the only way to get peace. Unless you have realpeace you will only have the absence of war for a shorttime. We are one people. If you believe in God we are onepeople and if you don’t believe in God then you mustbelieve in humanity.Press Gang: Did you get feedback from the Ethiopian andEritrean government officials about this book?

Refugee Boy

Press gang: Did you know about Ethiopian life andculture?Benjamin: This book is not only about Ethiopia andEretria. It could be about Bosnia, and it could have beenabout Christian Muslims in Nigeria or Hindu Muslims inthe Indian human story.Press gang: At the moment Ethiopian and Eritreancommunity groups here in the UK are living together withno problems. However there are many problems withpolitical leaders and parties – what are your opinions tostop this conflict?Benjamin: The problem with political leaders everywhereis that they are political leaders; they have power andsometimes we feel like we don’t have power. The Eritreanand Ethiopian government and leaders should gettogether and have more love. In the 70s and 80s therewere lots of racist politicians in this country, with stressflowing in rivers of blood.

Press gang: You remember the previous problems - doyou think the UK attitude towards immigrants andrefugees has changed?Lemn: I think that when I was born there were suchsayings as ‘the world is your oyster’, ‘fly the nest, growyour wings and fly!’ Immigration is part of who we are.It’s within human nature and therefore it will alwayscause problems. It’s not a racism problem; immigrationis part of what it is to be human.Press gang: Benjamin, do you want to add something?Benjamin: People have always moved. Human beings arethe only animals that can live anywhere on the planet. Weare one people – that’s the kind of thing you need to keepgoing.Press gang: Ok thank you so much for your time

Zewdu Mengiste

Benjamin: Well I don’t know what you call official, but Iknow that my book went to Ethiopia and was read. Irespect that people over there haven’t been here, andwhat happened to their children in Ethiopia was a longtime ago.


Media MisperceptionsThrough her volunteering work at RASA,Rebecca Shapiro helps to dispel popularmyths and assumptions about refugee andasylum seekers

Article 14(1) of the Universal Declarationof Human Rights claims that ‘everyonehas the right to seek and enjoy in other

countries asylum from persecution’. Based onthis, it would be natural to assume that thosefleeing from persecution would be met withcourtesy, at the very least. One look at themainstream media, however, illustrates thatthis is not the case.

The Daily Mail regularly publishesscaremongering articles on immigration thatportray refugees and asylum seekers asalmost subhuman. These vulnerable peopleare viewed as too dumb to speak English, toolazy to work and on a one track mission tosteal all our benefits. Peter Hitchens’s DailyMail feature on the immigration ‘invasion’epitomized these stereotypes by claiming that‘they have the jobs, live in the houses, use theNHS’. Unfortunately, this view of refugees andasylum seekers as always taking from thestate, and never giving back, is all toocommon. Even the more reputablepublications have begun to follow thecoalition’s lead in blaming immigration for themultitude of ills plaguing the country. This isboth dangerous and misleading.To clear up a common misconception, asylumseekers are not allowed to work. It is not thatthey have no interest in contributing to Britishsociety. It is not that they are unskilled orunmotivated. It is not that they have gainedsome bizarre pleasure from filling out the fiftypage long income support forms. Thegovernment does not let them earn an incomefor themselves. They are helpless anddestitute; the state’s meagre hand-out is theironly option.

This leads onto a second misconception aboutrefugees and asylum seekers that must becleared up. They do not receive thousandsupon thousands in terms of governmentsupport. If the newspapers were correct inclaiming that asylum seekers are stealing allthe taxpayer’s money, then the real concernshould be how little money that is. The supportavailable to asylum seekers is minute. Addingup to just £5 per day, it is a mere half of fullincome support.

I am in a position to clear up thesemisconceptions with authority after spendingthe last six months volunteering two days aweek at RASA, a small charity in Wakefield thatgives advice and information to refugees andasylum seekers. Coming from a shelteredmiddle class suburb of London, the onlypreconceptions I had of refugees were theunforgiving ones I had learnt from the media.Thankfully, my experiences could not havefound them further from the truth.

Every refugee or asylum seeker I have comeinto contact with has been a pleasure to talkto. With no qualification in immigration law, mywork has been confined to helping withpractical tasks such as calling up the borderagency on behalf of clients and helping themfill out forms. I have found that everyone Ihave tried to help has been extremely polite,appreciative and proactive in trying to bettertheir situation. It seems to me that if the peopledrawing up immigration legislation actually gotto know these refugees and asylum seekers,then attitudes could, would and should changefor the better.


“If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walkcrawl, but by all means keep moving.”

The words of Martin Luther King Junior arewhat motivate, Isa, the brown-eyed, sixfoot something Azerbaijni, whom has a

glint in his eye as he talks about change and hishomeland. Despite his impressive stature, Isais bashful and self-deprecating, constantlyapologising for what he calls ‘terrible English’. IfI was anywhere near as accurate as he is inEnglish, I would be far from apologetic. Hestumbles over a few words but largely hispronunciation is clear and charmingly touchedwith his native accent. His efforts to learn theEnglish language have certainly beensuccessful.

Isa is a refugee. Originally from Azerbaijan, hefled prison where he was sent for teaching hismother tongue, Azerbaijani Turkish, to hiscommunity. Whilst in prison he was tortured.However, it was on a visit to hospital for thewounds he sustained that he seized theopportunity to escape. Isa said;

“A young boy helped me. He gave me Kurdishclothes and took me across the border in hislorry’. I had no intention to leave Turkey, but Iwas given some drugs, sleeping tablets, andthe next thing I woke up in the back of a lorry onthe English motorway.”

The long feud between Armenians andAzerbaijanis in 1988, in which some 30,000people died, reached a ceasefire in 1994. Thebloody massacre saw thousands of nativeAzerbaijanis displaced. Today the teaching ofanti-government material is still prohibited andlead to Isa’s arrest. Isa said , ‘I was teachingculture, dance, and mother tongue to mypeople, but the government didn’t like it.’ Theconstitutional rules in Iran are frequentlymisinterpreted and harshly enforced, resultingin severe penalties for those considered to begoing against government ruling.

“The Iranian regime presented many chargesagainst me, including being a spy. I was sent toprison and would have probably been killed if Ihadn’t escaped. The Home Office gave meleave to remain in the UK, without having to goto immigration court, as it would be toodangerous to send me back home.”

Being in the presence of someone with such ashocking background makes you feel in awe ofhis modesty and desire to positively impactpeoples’ lives. In spite of the sensational detailof his life so far, he does not come across asangry, but instead is respectful, charming andeven shy.

His past makes his present accomplishmentsall the more humbling.

The kindness ofstrangers


The man behind the glinting brown eyes andteddy bear smile has quite a résumé. Sincearriving in Leeds in 2007, Isa has set up acommunity support group for asylum seekers,helping them with their own transition intoEnglish culture. He also teaches AzerbaijaniTurkish to those who, like him, have fledAzerbaijan. He has organised communitymeetings with the Mayor of Leeds Judith Elliot,and president of the world Azerbijani CongressProfessor Tabrizi, and is an active campaigner.Isa explains;

“I am a political activist I believe change canonly come through education…giving peoplethe knowledge to make their own minds.”

His ambition to see equality not just politicallybut for women, children, and religion createsthe feeling I can only imagine being surroundedby the likes of Martin Luther King Junior, andNelson Mandela. Isa single-handedly isdetermined to stop the impact of the Iranianregime for his country escalating. As he talkshis hands animate his biography.

“Together with Amnesty International Leeds welaunched a petition and organised ademonstration to stop the Iranian regimestoning women in Iran. Any society that doesnot recognise women’s rights…is doomed” hesays.

Soon we came to the sensitive topic of family.Much like a conductor in a calm section ofmusic his gesticulating stills as he strokes hisbeard thoughtfully. Isa’s family and friends arein danger for merely being acquainted with him,and his brother is in jail. Isa said “I feel terriblebecause I know after my experience in prisonhe will also be experiencing the same…mymother and father tell me not to come back. Ihope one day, in a few years, I can bring themall over to England”.

But he is hopeful that Azerbaijan will one daybe free.

‘When the Mullahs are toppled, hopefully bymy kind contribution,[and] a democratic regimeis installed…when it becomes safe for me to goback, I would love to go back and help build thecountry further.’

For now he must continue in the UK, somethingthat hasn’t been without its challenges. Duringthe home office interviews there was no one tointerpret Isa, which he described as analienating and vulnerable feeling; ‘I was worriedbecause I wasn’t understood’. A short whileafter moving into his home, the BNP also senta ‘disturbing’ leaflet through his door defamingTurks.However, he dealt with such challenges thanksto his inner strength, and those working inasylum and refugee organisations.Isa said how he ‘also had the support ofLASSN’. Leeds’ Asylum Seekers SupportNetwork (LASSN) offer a range of supportincluding hosting and befriending the destituteand homeless, teaching English, and rectifyingthe many misconceptions surrounding asylumseeking. Indeed, research suggests 72 per centof people overestimate numbers of asylumseekers entering the UK. In reality, Britainreceives only two per cent of the overallpopulation of those fleeing their country, asfour-fifths escape to their neighbouring state.With the help of LASSN, Isa has enrolled oncollege courses for community development,English, and IT. Isa helps out as an AzerbaijaniTurkish interpreter for fellow asylum seekers atthe Home Office in Croydon, and is hoping toprogress to university to study culturaldevelopment.Isa’s gesticulations start up again and the broadteddy bear grin spreads once more across hisface. When I ask if he is enjoying life here, hisreply is suitable eloquent and apt; ‘In my owncountry I feel suffocated. Here I feel I canbreathe’.

By Jennifer Gibbon


Members of Asmarina Voices have faced difficult times yet have fantastic uplifting attitudes andshow that through their smiles and singing their hearts out every Friday. Asmarina means “united” inEritrean and that’s exactly what you will get from the women, even after only spending such a shortamount of time with them you can immediately see the beautiful souls these strong women possess.Asmarina Voices Women’s singing Group was part of the Welcoming the World programme forWest Yorkshire Playhouse’s production of RefugeeBoy and received funding from the Home Office topromote wider engagement with the region’srefugees and asylum seekers. The singing grouphas continued to flourish with women from all overthe world coming together, forgetting their troublesand belting out songs.

The group comes together every Friday from 1pm2pm and runs until the 19th July. They are currently inpreparation for their performance for the WonderfulWomen of the World at the West YorkshirePlayhouse on Friday 21st June at 10.30am-2.30pmas part of 2013’s Refugee Week. Asmarina Voiceswill be performing Taylor Swift’s Safe & Sound andWe Are Family by Sister Sledge.

West Yorkshire Playhouse, alongside with the Refugee’sCouncil’s Health Befriending Network and the women’s group inLeeds, offer weekly singing sessions for refugee and asylumseeking women with professional artist and musician SophieJennings who leads the choir.

Sophie says “My idea is to have fun on a Friday and I alwaysfeel happy when I leave. Some of these women only come tothis during their free time, so I want to continue encouragingthem to come and have some time for themselves. The songswe sing have not got too many words so there is no languagebarrier and it makes the sessions relaxing.

”Shreena Gobey a Youth and Community work student atLeeds Metropolitan University did her placement at WestYorkshire Playhouse and currently helps with the voices singinggroup. Shreena says ‘The group is open to everyone; it doesn’tmatter if you can’t sing it’s all about enjoying music and havinga bit of a social”.

Kadija Ollow

United Voices


In preparation for Refugee Week, the Refugee Council’s women’s groupdesigned and painted a poster for the 6th Annual Leeds Refugee World Cup! TheLeeds Refugee Council Women’s group aims to provide a warm, safe, and funenvironment where women can feel free and relaxed. The women’s group offersEnglish lessons and fun activities; during Refugee Week they are making riceflowers and having stories from around the world. Women can also learn newskills, such as first aid, which are empowering and help build their self-confidence. The Women’s group runs every morning between 10 and 12 at theRefugee Council, and all refugee women and their young children are welcomeso come along!


All at Abigail Housing are enjoying the summer sun – well, the little flashes of it that we getevery now and again. As regular OPL readers will know, Abigail provides supportedhousing for 2 groups of people - new homeless refugees and refused asylum seekers. We

do the refugee work in Leeds and the asylum seeker work in Bradford.We plan to recruit a new Housing Support Worker over the summer, so watch out for that on ourweb site – www.abigailhousing.org.uk We’ll be looking for a car driver / owner with someexperience of doing housing support.

Our refugee project is looking forward to taking on 2 new 4 bed houses over the summer. Thiswill take us up to 60 bed spaces in Leeds.The project could really do with a volunteer to look after our bedding / household stores. We havestores in our Leeds office and in a basement of one of our houses in LS6. Please contact us viathe web site if you want more info. The job would only require a couple of hours a week.Welfare reform continues to be a challenge to us – in particular the ending of the Social Fund inMarch. We’re slowly getting use to the new Leeds City Council Local Welfare Support Scheme(difficult to make into an easy acronym). For those who have applied and been successful, thishas proved a great help, but the scheme doesn’t recognise new refugees as vulnerable per se,which we regret.

John Hebden

Do you speak another language fluently and want to work with asylum seekers in Leeds? If soyou would be most welcome at the Manuel Bravo Project! You would be interpreting for asylumseekers at their appeal or fresh claim-related meetings with legal advisors and in order to do

this you would work alongside office staff, legal advisors, clients and other volunteers.In order to carry out the role Interpreters would need to speak at least one language from the listbelow fluently, in addition to fluent English. You must be able to maintain client and Projectconfidentiality and observe appropriate boundaries at all times. You may also be called upon at shortnotice to attend a client meeting. These meetings usually take place on a Tuesday evening from 6pm in Leeds city centre but Interpreters are sometimes required at other times in the week.Languages required: Lingala, Tigrinya, Amharic, Arabic, French, Farsi, Kurdish, Urdu, Dari, Pashto,Somali, Swahili, Chinese*, Ndebele*, Shona*, Korean** Infrequently requiredIf this sounds like something you’d like to get involved with, please download an applicationform via the website at www.manuelbravo.org.uk by clicking through to the Volunteers’page and send it to [email protected] Full training and support will beprovided and agreed travel expenses will be covered.

Jacinta Kent

David Skivington has just written his first book. Scar Tissue is a crime thrillerwhich raises awareness of human trafficking and also the caste system inIndia. David was an English at Home tutor for LASSN and managed theproject until going to India to teach in an orphanage school. His book hasjust been published and is available on amazon.co.uk and kindle and can bepurchased through our website http://lassn.org.uk/ giving us a donation ofup to 5% of the sale price

Volunteer Interpreters Needed!

one planet leeds summer 2013

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