Little Amal, Big Questions
The Walk is a travelling festival of art and hope. Little Amal’s epic journey will shine a light on the experiences of displaced children across the world creating joy and helping us to imagine a new future.
As she travels her presence will very likely raise questions.
We are keen to anticipate some of the queries, misunderstandings and, possibly, fears that may arise.
Little Amal will travel over 8000km. People ask why she doesn’t stay in ‘the first safe country' she reaches. It is sometimes believed that refugees have to seek asylum at the first opportunity, or that passing through ‘safe’countries means that arriving in the UK or elsewhere is ‘illegal’.
People have the legal right to claim asylum in any country that signed the 1951 UN Convention.
There is no obligation to claim asylum in the first ‘safe’ country someone enters. In whatever country a person claims asylum, it is legal to remain in that country while the claim is processed. In the UK, if the claim is accepted, the person is usually, as a first stage, granted five years leave to remain in the UK as a refugee.
We’re sometimes asked why our puppet is a little girl. There are many misconceptions about the typical age, cultural background or gender of those who seek asylum. Data from the UNHCR and international and national charities such as the Refugee Council make clear that there are people of all ages and backgrounds who seek asylum. Almost half the world’s refugees are children like Little Amal.
We are a British theatre company. We are working with partners across Turkey and Europe for The Walk, but much of our work involves refugee artists in the UK. We have therefore planned Little Amal’s journey to culminate in arrival here in England. She’ll have taken a route similar to that which many take across Europe when they are forced to flee their homes. This should not be taken to imply that all refugees head for the UK. In fact only 1% of the world’s refugees live in the UK. The vast majority are looked after in countries that neighbour their own. A very large number are displaced within their own country.
In the year ending September 2020 the UK received 31,752 applications for asylum. Germany received 155,295 and France 129,489. Turkey now hosts 3.6 million refugees. 1.4 million refugees live in Pakistan.
For answers to many other questions, please refer to this guide from the UNHCR: https://www.unhcr.org/uk/asylum-in-the-uk.html
Everyone is invited to join us in welcoming Little Amal online or in person during The Walk. We hope this epic journey will spread empathy, hope and joy in this time of unprecedented change.
