Refugee's struggle to adapt to life in Blackburn

5:02pm Monday 25th March 2013 in News

By Sophia Rahman, Reporter

Marie Karim

A REFUGEE who was forced to flee her war-torn African country has spoken of her struggle to make a new life for herself in Blackburn.

Marie Karim, a volunteer at The Children’s Society who is set to study psychology at Blackburn College, left her home in Somalia in 2007 and has since been granted refugee status.

She is one of about 300 people living in Blackburn who have been granted indefinite leave to remain after fleeing troubled regions such as Kosovo, Iraq and Africa.

Marie said: “Being an asylum seeker was the worst experience of my life, worse than being in the war. When I came here, I spoke no English.

“I didn’t know whether the detention centre was my home or prison. I didn’t know what had happened.

“At first I was given a house in Bolton. I had never had a cooker or taps before. I didn’t know what they did or how to ask anyone.

“I became depressed, I started walking the streets at night. I sat in Witton Park in the evenings, hoping some-one would kill me. I was there one night when the police picked me up.

“I ended up being taken to Blackburn Young Refugees.

“They helped me start to learn English and now I’m going to start studying for my degree in psychology in September.”

Marie was helped by the refugee group and the Well-being Project, which is funded by the Department of Health. It has been helping people with mental health issues who have escaped trouble-stricken countries since 2010.

Mary-Louise Hatungimana, from Blackburn Young Refugees, in Wesley Street, said the centre offered families and adolescents moral support and advice.

Miss Hatungimana, who herself left Central Africa in 2001 and has since been awarded in the House of Commons for her work with people claiming asylum, said: “Being an asylum seeker or refugee is a devastating experience. Often, people are cut away from anyone they know and set adrift in a place which is completely alien to them.”

Comments(2)

Norma_scock

says...

5:12pm Mon 25 Mar 13

Poor woman, within hours of landing in Blackburn she was wishing she was back in Somalia.
The final straw came when she was offered a season ticket down at Bumwood Park as this action clearly breached the Geneva convention on human rights in relation to tourture.
Norma_scock

dagsballicks

says...

6:48pm Mon 25 Mar 13

Very witty, Normas_cock.
dagsballicks

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