GIVING VOICE TO UNTOLD STORIES

“Time is elastic. Sometimes it can go so fast – other times it stops dead.”

These words probably feel familiar to anyone who experienced the frustrations of coronavirus lockdowns. But for the young person who spoke them, they describe an experience which most of us will find hard to imagine.

The pandemic had a profound impact on the already difficult process of seeking asylum in the UK as an unaccompanied migrant child or young person. As well as adding delays at every stage, lockdowns left these young people isolated and struggling with their mental health. What do their experiences tell us about long-term changes that are needed in the asylum system? ‘Lives on Hold: Our Stories Told (LOHST)’, an ESRC-funded project involving researchers from the University of Southampton, set out to discover more via an innovative research method.

From subjects to researchers

Associate Professor in Governance and Policy Ingi lusmen and Professor of Developmental Psychology Jana Kreppner worked with an interdisciplinary team from Southampton, University College London, and University of Liverpool to hear and analyse young asylum seekers’ stories. They interviewed 70 young people aged 16-25 from 13 countries, capturing their experiences in the UK asylum system and the long-term legacies for their lives and well-being.

But the young people provided more than data. Partnering with refugee charity Shpresa Programme, which works with Albanian asylum seekers, the team trained and involved a group of 12 unaccompanied young asylum seekers as peer researchers.

“That was quite innovative, working directly with the key beneficiaries,” said Ingi. “They were not only the focus of our research, but they could also shift sides to become researchers themselves.”

As well as interviewing their peers, the young peer researchers co-produced a short animated video and a documentary about these conversations, with one talented young person providing artwork; they also gave feedback on research briefings and chapters for an upcoming book about the project’s findings.

Participatory methodologies like this are increasingly being embraced in social science – and are particularly key for marginalised communities. They can help challenge stereotypes, build partnerships with stakeholders, interrogate power structures embedded in the research process, and allow the voices of those with lived experience to set the research agenda.

As a result of the project, the LOHST team proposed a trauma-informed framework for researchers working with vulnerable communities, based around five core principles: working reflectively with those with lived experience; contextualising trauma; nurturing trust; showing care; and empowering those involved in and affected by the research.

Towards trauma-informed practice

The narratives which emerged from the LOHST interviews centred on trauma. Jana explained: “Coming from a country that might be riddled by war or violence, having gone through an incredibly traumatising and challenging journey – and then when you arrive in the place where you think you are safe, finally, you are still met with hostility. They experience uncertainty about their legal status in the country, they are anxious that they might be sent back – and so you’ve got an accumulation of stress.”

The researchers found that the young people’s traumatic experiences before and during their refugee journeys were compounded by their interactions with the UK asylum system, where professionals did not always respond with appropriate understanding or compassion. “That’s why we set out to review what sort of practice is in place in the asylum system in terms of being responsive and sensitive to trauma,” said Ingi.

This secondary project, funded by Research England Participatory Research Fund and further supported by Southampton researcher India Cook (via Public Policy Southampton), also involved young people seeking asylum as both researchers and participants.

Trauma-informed approaches have gained popularity across professional disciplines in the past decade. They entail an awareness of how trauma exposure can shape people’s lives and behavioural responses and set out guidance for supportive practice to better address the barriers trauma creates.

The study brought the young people together with stakeholders working in the asylum system, including charities, lawyers, social workers and clinicians. The participants shared lived experiences of the UK asylum process and co-produced new and improved recommendations for trauma-informed practice in the asylum system.

These guidelines will be shared with the Home Office, refugee charities and other stakeholders working with asylum seekers who experienced psychological trauma.

‘This research is our voice’

Ingi and Jana are particularly proud of the way in which LOHST empowered its young peer researchers.

“We learned so much from them, but we hopefully provided an opportunity for them to develop professional skills that are helping them in their future paths,” said Jana. One young person, because of her engagement with the project, has since received funding for a PhD; another was employed as a research assistant on the secondary project.

The LOHST team are keen to effect long-term change on a wider scale. They seek to show the impact of the current system on young asylum seekers, including headline-grabbing legislation such as the Nationality and Borders Act, the Illegal Migration Act, and the Rwanda bill. So far, they have given evidence to the Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights. They have also worked with Guardian journalist Amelia Gentleman to shine a light on the plight of young Albanian asylum seekers, who they say have been “particularly targeted, racialised and criminalised because their claims are perceived as being less deserving.”

They will share all their findings in an upcoming book, ‘Asylum as Violence’, which Ingi said is for an interdisciplinary readership. “We look at the legal, political and policy factors that make the whole asylum journey violent from a psychological point of view.”

According to the team, it is challenging to have a direct impact on policy in a political climate where the latest measures are aimed at making the asylum process more hostile. But, in the words of the young people who helped make the project happen: “This research is our voice … the change is coming from us. Our lives might be on hold, but we’re still changing the system for all the other young people coming up.”

You can find out more about the project and view the animation at livesonhold.org