Young asylum seekers in Kent face uncertain future under UK changes

In a classroom at the Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN), young people who arrived in the UK alone – many fleeing conflicts in their home countries – are learning the skills they need to rebuild their lives in a new country.

They practise English and maths, prepare CVs and learn how to navigate their everyday life in Britain.

For Rishan, now an NHS nurse and a media ambassador for KRAN, these lessons mirror her own journey. Originally from Eritrea, she came to the UK when she was just 17.

"I always say that it is one journey to come to the UK and there is another journey to live in the UK," she says. "There is the trauma of the journey, mental health issues, the barrier of the language and then the culture as well."

Rishan says she was warmly welcomed by a foster family and her local community.

"I had the support enough to build myself, learn the language, adapt to a new culture," she says. "And then from there I took myself to recontribute to the society where I am part of the NHS as a nurse."

The path to becoming a nurse was long.

"Usually the nursing course is three years, however it took me nine years to get myself to where I am now," she explains.

Labour's sweeping changes

The UK Home Office is proposing sweeping changes that could make seeking asylum in the UK even more challenging. The government says these measures are needed to discourage people from entering the UK illegally.

It says the number of people coming to the UK to claim asylum is at a record high, which it argues is placing "considerable strain on the country and the taxpayer."

Under the new proposals, the standard waiting time to apply for permanent settlement would rise from five years to 20. 

The current five-year refugee status would be replaced with a "core protection status" where people would need to prove their home countries are still unsafe every two and a half years, or face deportation.

Family reunification rights would be significantly restricted, and government support, such as housing or welfare during asylum processing, would no longer be guaranteed.

The Labour government says it is also determined to close all hotel accommodation currently housing asylum seekers. These sites have become flash points for protests, sometimes turning violent, in the last year. Critics argue they are expensive and unsuitable.

They would be replaced with large-scale sites like military barracks, including one in Crowborough, East Sussex, which is being converted to house up to 540 men. Protests have followed in the town of 22,000 people, concerned the influx of people will lead to conflict with local residents.

Refugees 'hold so much pain'

With the proposals under consultation, Rishan says she fears changes risk condemning vulnerable people to decades of uncertainty.

"A refugee or an asylum seeker, they hold so much pain in them," she says. "There is a lot of hope that they want to give back to themselves and to the society, and that has been misunderstood in the negative narrative."

Rishan says making people wait 20 years for settled status will create difficulties for people wanting to integrate and contribute fully to society.

"I am part of the public, I am part of society," she says. "I do understand what is happening, what are the issues. I want to be part of the solution as well."

At KRAN, teacher Emily Thomas says the reality of the young people she teaches is often misunderstood.

"When I tell people what I do they are quite surprised that so many young people have come alone," she says. 

"They're such charming young people. I would personally love to have them as neighbors. They're thoughtful, they're kind, they look out for each other. They really want to make a life here and connect, and that's really great to have in your community."