About the Project
Children and young people fleeing traffickers, blood feuds, honour-based violence and organised crime in Albania have a less than 0.5% chance of securing protection at first instance when seeking asylum in the UK.
Breaking the Chains is a partnership project developed by Shpresa Programme and MiCLU, the Migrant and Refugee Children’s Legal Unit at Islington Law Centre. Working closely with barristers at Garden Court Chambers and with Albanian children and young people seeking asylum, Breaking the Chains is founded on the principle that children and young people need to be listened to – and this should inform every aspect of the policy and practice issues that affect their lives.
At the heart of the Breaking the Chains project is a group of children and young people trained as Immigration Champions. They advocate for their peers, train lawyers and speak at high profile public events where they describe their lived experience of being trafficked and fleeing violence and abuse.
Breaking the Chains seeks to affect policy, practice and the law to bring about lasting changes in the way vulnerable children and young people are treated when they seek asylum by placing their voices and experiences front and centre in a system which so frequently silences them.
QUOTE
‘“Just say that we are human beings. We are just children, like other children.”
IMAGES
Reports and publications
The young people whom we work with have contributed or co-authored a number of reports and publications on migrant and refugee children and young people. They are regularly called upon for their lived experiences input or advice from different institutions. All of which you are able to download from here and on MICLU website here .
Our Partners
