RACHEL:
Life in my country was quite distressing. I didn’t attend school because my mother was of a particular religion that my country doesn’t favour. I could see other children around me experiencing a normal childhood going to school, playing outside with their friends. I just felt very different.
Because in the UK, being a Christian isn’t a problem but in my county, which is a predominantly Muslim country, it wasn’t a favoured religion or tradition but my mum kept on going secretly to church on Sundays and when the police invaded the secret services they were having, the whole atmosphere was full of, kind of, flames.
It felt like everything was going to burst out and my mum was treated very bad from the local citizens and she felt like she wanted to escape somewhere. We secretly decided to leave. We didn’t let anyone know. I think my father found someone to take us at the back of a lorry I think it was.
We were clutched together, we slept and slept and slept, and it was very dark so we couldn’t really see whether daylight had come. We lost track of time, it was a kind of journey that we didn’t know where it would lead to
We just travelled and we got to the UK. I had began to experience the childhood I’d been dreaming about. I had friends, I played outside very comfortably and safe. I had a kind of normal family life but then the decision letter came that we’d been rejected leave to remain in this country.
It was the letter that changed everything. This one piece of paper just changed my whole life once again. At 6 o’clock in the morning, these huge men, like huge monsters, they came to our house and put us in a van and took us to a detention centre. So there’s a lot of closed doors banging all the time, huge walls that you can’t see from. I always used to look up at the wall and think I wish I could fly and just escape.
I can remember once I held the bars in my hands and I couldn’t believe that I was just stuck in a prison in, in the UK for doing nothing, for being a child, for escaping to safety and I was very angry.
We had received good news that we would be let out. And, um, I started living normally once again but with fear that this would happen again, and it did happen again. They had taken us straight to the airport and then we were sent back to our country.
They didn’t welcome us at all. They looked at us with real hostility and hatred. They just thought, ‘Why did you go to the UK?’ And then my mum fainted because they had hit her across the head.
And then we travelled from place to place searching out some help but it was obvious that we wouldn’t get any help so it was then that my mum had decided we had to leave once again. And then she found an agent and then we were brought back to the UK.
We were taken to our new home. The people were very, very kind to us, very welcoming. I felt very safe. I just lived normally but there was also that fear within me that it could happen once again, it could happen anytime.
We had just a phone call, I thought it was bad news, but when she said I have good news for you, you’ve been granted leave to remain. I thought ‘oh gosh, yes, finally!’
That was the decision that saved my whole life. Now I’m living a normal life. I’ve learnt from my experiences of course. And I want to become a lawyer so I can help people who also experience the same thing because I know this problem will never end. So hopefully I want to become an international lawyer to save everyone.
This short animated film explores the story of 17-year-old Rachel and her journey to getting residency in the UK.
Rachel talks of how her family initially escaped their country, following years of religious persecution, and settled in the UK. She describes this as her first experience of a normal childhood.
However, her family were soon sent to a detention centre and deported. Having escaped for a second time and travelled back to the UK, Rachel finally received news confirming her residency.
She now intends to study law, so that she can help others who have suffered or are suffering in a similar way.
This short film is part of BBC Teach's Seeking Refuge series. Click or tap here for the main page, with support notes for teachers.
Teacher Notes
This short film could be used as an illustration of why some people have to flee their country, and therefore, help raise questions about persecution and war.
It could also be used to start a discussion around what it’s like for children adapting to life in the UK, identity and the effects of alienation and displacement they may experience.
In addition, in an English lesson this film could generate discussion for the different genres of writing, providing an example of narrative and describing personal experiences.
Questions to support discussion
What kind of persecution were Rachel’s family facing?
What kind of dangers might they have faced during their escape journey?
Even once they were in the UK, what were the difficulties for Rachel’s family?
How do you think living in this way impacted their lives and health?
What do you think Rachel means by living a ‘normal life’? How did her life in her country compare with this?
How have Rachel’s experiences shaped her?
Curriculum Notes
Relationships, sex and health education
Links to: The benefits of healthy relationships to mental wellbeing; how families contribute to human happiness; the characteristics of positive and healthy friendships; that happiness is being linked to being connected to others.
PSHE education (non-statutory)
Links to:
Core theme 1: Health and wellbeing/self-concept
Core theme 2: Relationships/Relationship values/Positive relationships
Core theme 3: Living in the Wider World/Communities
RE
Links will depend on the RE syllabus that a local authority, faith school or academy follows.
More from Seeking Refuge
Ali's journey from Afghanistan. video
Ali - a ten-year-old boy - fled to the UK with his grandmother during the war in Afghanistan. Ali describes the pain of separation from his family as well as his experiences adjusting to life in the UK.
Hamid's journey from Eritrea. video
Following the journey of ten-year-old Hamid from Eritrea, who was forced to leave his home country. Hamid candidly describes the struggles of settling into life in a new and unfamiliar country.
Juliane's journey from Zimbabwe. video
The story of Juliane from Zimbabwe, who spent years living away from her mother in an orphanage before reuniting and escaping the country together.
Navid's journey from Iran. video
With his father's life in danger, Navid - aged just five - was forced to flee his home in Iran with his mother and make the long journey to the UK.
