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An Aardman and Save the Children UK short film

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Home - A short film highlighting the experience of refugee children around the world

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Home - A short film highlighting the experience of refugee children around the world

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Home | an Aardman and Save the Children UK short film

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Simple Acts are everyday actions we can all do to stand with refugees and make new connections in our communities.

Click on each Simple Act image below for quick & easy ideas to help get you started. Whether you build your own event or activity around a Simple Act or simply take part during the week itself, you'll be part of a movement of people everywhere taking small steps to create a big change.

You can also print our Simple Acts pack here.

Don't forget to share what you do with us on social media using #SimpleActs #CompassionIntoAction #RefugeeWeek
Illustrations by Karin Åkesson

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Simple Acts are everyday actions we can all do to stand with refugees and make new connections in our communities. Click on each Simple Act image below for quick & easy ideas to help get you started. Whether you build your own event or activity around a Simple Act or

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Materials - The English Hub for Refugees

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Materials & ResourcesLevel A1-Level A1Level A2Level B1Other ResourcesIf you have a couple of minutes, we'd love to hear your feedback!Give Feedback

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Refugee Week 2022 - Pack - Theme - Healing

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Refugee Week 2022 - Pack - Theme - Healing

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Children and young people pack Refugee Week 2022

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Books 2 - Refugees and Asylum Seekers PADLET

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Books 2 - Refugees and Asylum Seekers PADLET

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The Bell Foundation - Welcoming Refugee and Asylum Seeking Learners

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The Bell Foundation - Welcoming Refugee and Asylum Seeking Learners

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Primary Supporting Refugee New Arrivals in the Inclusive Classroom

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Primary Supporting Refugee New Arrivals in the Inclusive Classroom

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Click on the Watch on YouTube link

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 An American Tail, Casablanca, Monsieur Lazhar, The Kite Runner, The Terminal

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Into Film - Refugee Week - Suggested Films & Activities

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Into Film - Refugee Week - Suggested Films & Activities

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Welcoming Refugee Children: Advice and Guidance for Schools (Webinar)

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Welcoming Refugee Children: Advice and Guidance for Schools (Webinar)

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Far from home, young refugees from Ukraine and other countries get a second chance in England's schools.

Fleeing war, violence and persecution abroad, young refugees from Ukraine and other countries restart their educations in England, finding a new life through new schools. We meet three refugee students who fled their homes to seek safety in the UK - and also meet the Britons who are welcoming them into their homes.

8-year-old Sofiia and her mother Hanna left their home in Kharkiv to make a new life in Farnham. They were sponsored by Kate and Charlie, a retired couple who became their hosts and helped to get Sofiia into a local school. We see Sofiia become the first Ukrainian to find a school placement in the area.

Also in Farnham is Ukrainian teenager Ivan. We follow Ivan on his first day at a new secondary school, trying to fit in with his English classmates who've grown up together. His new peers are confronted with the realities of war as they meet Ivan.

Salma fled war and violence in Afghanistan when she was 16. Despite learning English and passing all her exams, Salma couldn't secure a place at university - until she found help from a specialist charity that works with young refugees to help them rebuild their education. Now 23, Salma studies, and thrives, at Brunel University in bio-medical sciences.

At Refugee Education UK, we meet Moses, a young Jewish man who feels compelled to help displaced individuals because of his own people's history of persecution and expulsion. Moses' work helps refugees find their own place in British society through mentorship and practical support with getting their disrupted educations back on track.

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BBC One - We Are England, Education, From Conflict to Classroom

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Far from home, young refugees from Ukraine and other countries get a second chance in England's schools. Fleeing war, violence and persecution abroad, young refugees from Ukraine and other countries restart their educations in England, finding a new life through new schools.

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The Bell Foundation - How to Support New Supporting New Refugee Arrivals in the Inclusive Classroom (Secondary)

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The Bell Foundation - How to Support New Supporting New Refugee Arrivals in the Inclusive Classroom (Secondary)

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Click on the Watch on YouTube link

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Five real-life stories about young people fleeing their homelands to live in the UK, told by the children themselves. These films combine engaging testimony with rich animation and give a unique insight into the lives of young people who have sought asylum in the UK. Each of the films powerfully communicates the collective struggles and hopes of these young people and the issues they face adjusting to life in the UK.

The series explores themes including immigration, persecution, separation and alienation and aims to help educate students at Key Stage 2 and 3. However young people and adults of all ages can enjoy these films.

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BBC Two - Seeking Refuge, Seeking Refuge Promo

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Five real-life stories about young people fleeing their homelands to live in the UK, told by the children themselves. These films combine engaging testimony with rich animation and give a unique insight into the lives of young people who have sought asylum in the UK.

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Hwb - Refugee Children - Young Person's Mental Health Toolkit

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Hwb - Refugee Children - Young Person's Mental Health Toolkit

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HWB.GOV.WALES uses cookies which are essential for the site to work. Non-essential cookies are also used to tailor and improve services. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies.

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HWB.GOV.WALES uses cookies which are essential for the site to work. Non-essential cookies are also used to tailor and improve services. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies.

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Ages

5-16

Duration

Medium (5-11 activities)

Nation

England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales

Related calendar events

UK Refugee Week
20 June - 26 June

This resource is for teachers and Into Film club leaders to use to mark Refugee Week, and for stimulus to discuss the hardships and resilience of refugees around the globe raised in the curriculums in England,Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.This resource contains a guide to five films, which have been specially selected to be accessible to learners within the 5-19 age range. The guides include discussion questions and activity ideas to encourage learners to ask and answer questions and reflect on why people seek sanctuary in other countries.

This resource includes

This Resource Supports

Citizenship

PSHE Education

Personal

Got Some Feedback?

We love to hear how educators have used our resources.

Contact us

Updating our resources

We have developed a large catalogue of educational resources since launching in 2013, and some references and terminology will inevitably have dated as society and language evolves. We are aware of this and will be updating resources when our production schedule allows.

"I think that our work on 'The Girl and the Fox' has really benefitted our children. I would thoroughly recommend the Into Film approach to any school wanting to improve attainment in literacy."

- Tim Dadds, Deputy Headteacher, Cwmrhydyceirw Primary School, Wales

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5-16 Medium (5-11 activities) England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales UK Refugee Week20 June - 26 June This resource is for teachers and Into Film club leaders to use to mark Refugee Week, and for stimulus to discuss the hardships and resilience of refugees around the globe raised in the curriculums in England,Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.This resource contains a guide to five films, which have been specially selected to be accessible to learners within the 5-19 age range.

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Afghanistan Background Information pdf EN

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From Syria to Rio 2016 - The story of Yusra Mardini | Refugee Olympic Team

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The Box is based on the happy life of a child which alters after the outbreak of war. The war changes not only lives, but also the role of his box; first as a carefully built toy house, then as a place to take shelter in a refugee camp with full of dangers and finally as a boat that sails for a journey towards hope.

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An Award-Winning Animated Journey of a War Child: THE BOX - From Playhouse to Lifeboat

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Aberystwyth: Holocaust refugee meets woman who fled Syrian war

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Wales - Holocaust Refugee Meets Syrian Refugee

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Wales - Holocaust Refugee Meets Syrian Refugee

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Aberystwyth: Holocaust refugee meets woman who fled Syrian war

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Two women who fled to Wales in different centuries find common ground on loss and integration.

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Syrian refugee children embrace love of Welsh language - BBC News

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This very powerful 10 minute video produced by Save the Children can be used with older learners. You see this child’s life transform over a year of conflict.

“Just because it isn’t happening here doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.”

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Ruth's story: One child refugee's journey from Eritrea to England

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Ruth's story: One child refugee's journey from Eritrea to England

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Ruth was 14 when she left her home country of Eritrea in east Africa.

She didn't like the way she was being treated, so she embarked on a dangerous journey to the UK.

Ruth has been telling Newsround's Hayley her story...

Three-thousand children arrived in the UK alone last year.

Many of them are migrants or refugees escaping war or devastation in their home countries. They've travelled thousands of miles across deserts, mountains and seas.

When they get to the UK they are often tired and afraid.

They are taken by immigration officers or police to a safe place where they are asked lots of questions.

This is so that the people in charge can understand how old the child is, where they have come from and what they will need to keep them healthy and safe.

If the child is under 17, they are given leave to remain, which means they can stay in the UK and will be looked after until they are old enough to look after themselves.

This often means they are placed with a foster family who look after them as though they are part of their family. They can start going to a local school and they can start to make a life for themselves here in the UK.

Many of the children stay around Kent and Dover in the south of England because that is where they first arrive. In the past year Kent has placed nearly 1,000 children in homes in that area.

I have spoken to 12 children. All of them have come from various countries ranging from Eritrea and Sudan to Syria and Afghanistan.

One of them was Ruth. Like many of the child refugees here, she travelled thousands of miles alone and experienced many difficult things along the way.

Ruth told me about her life when she was 14. She lived in the countryside in Eritrea. She told me how she often helped her mum by chopping wood and getting water from the river.

But this was no easy task. The river was a three-hour walk away and carrying a heavy load was very tiring for Ruth.

Ruth's dad left home many years ago. He was taken to join the army of Eritrea - many poor people are forced to join up against their will.

Ruth has not seen her dad since and doesn't know where or how he is.

Talking to Ruth, I could tell she is a brave and strong girl and she didn't like the way she was treated in Eritrea. She loved going to school but was told she either had to marry someone she didn't know or join the military.

She told me she was very afraid of both options so she decided to leave Eritrea and search for a better life in another country.

She left her home in the middle of the night. She couldn't tell her family she was leaving because she was afraid they would be hurt if anyone from the military found out.

Also she knew they would be upset. So she left in secret with nothing more than the clothes she was wearing. She met up with two friends and they walked towards the border with Sudan.

Ruth told me that she was very scared. She was scared of getting caught or being put in prison and hurt.

One of the scariest parts was when she travelled through the forests of Ethiopia. She could hear hyenas and she had to hide behind trees and just hope that they wouldn't find her.

After that, she met many people in camps hidden in the forest. With these people she travelled over the desert to Sudan. It was so hot that many of the people she was walking with died beside her.

Ruth was mostly scared of the Sudanese people. She said they hated her because she was Christian; they would often hurt her and bully her.

In Sudan, Ruth was put into a small house with hundreds of other people. She wasn't allowed to speak or to go outside. She was beaten and hurt by the people in charge of this house.

After a month, Ruth was put in a lorry with about 250 other people and sent to Libya. The lorry was piled with people inside and out. There was no room for her to sleep or sit and she was not allowed out - not even to go to the toilet.

She was in the lorry for three weeks and some people died.

When she got to Libya she was put in a camp. She lost her friends and she said she was very lonely. Without any money, she had little hope of getting out of the camp and every night she cried.

In this camp, Ruth got one glass of water and one piece of bread to share with a group of people.

After three months, she finally managed to escape to the coast. She told me how amazed she was to see the sea - it was so big and black with huge fish that she had never seen before.

Ruth got on board a boat. It was only about four metres long but held 500 people. This, she said, was when she was most scared.

She thought she would die as she was crushed and had no water on a very long and dangerous journey. Many of the people in the boat did die on that journey.

Luckily, she was eventually rescued by an Italian rescue boat.

But when she got to Italy it was not much better. She was ill and had nowhere to go. She slept on the street in the rain and the cold.

She then managed to get on to a train to France. Here she was taken to a camp where every night she tried to board a lorry to get to the UK.

But most nights she was caught and taken back to the camp. Then one night she managed to get inside a box in a lorry that was headed to England.

When she arrived in England she told me she was nervous. It was raining and a police officer found her and asked her lots of questions. But soon after that, things started to look better and she was placed with a foster family, which is where she lives now.

Ruth now goes to college and church and has many friends. She told me that she still misses her family but she's glad she isn't in Eritrea. She now loves studying and wants to be a nurse when she's older.

It was very difficult for Ruth to tell me her story. But she's a strong girl and she wants people to know what thousands of kids like her go through every year to get to safety.

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Ruth's story: One child refugee's journey from Eritrea to England - CBBC Newsround

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Ruth was 14 when she left her home country of Eritrea in east Africa. She didn't like the way she was being treated, so she embarked on a dangerous journey to the UK. Ruth has been telling Newsround's Hayley her story... Three-thousand children arrived in the UK alone last year.

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Background Information - Ukraine Education System

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Background Information - Ukraine Education System

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British Red Cross teaching resources: Refugees welcome

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English, Art, Citizenship, Drama and PSHE teaching resource to encourage learners to consider the impact of welcoming refugees and asylum seekers.

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Positive Images - Migration and Development

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Positive Images - Migration and Development

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Teaching resource exploring positive images and videos about migration and development.

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Refuge / Noddfa background information and resources for Ukranian learners

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Refuge / Noddfa background information and resources for Ukranian learners

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How one Syrian refugee became a Welsh school's rugby star | ITV News

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British Red Cross - Sharing Stories - Primary and Secondary

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British Red Cross - Sharing Stories - Primary and Secondary

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Ukrainian belongs to východoslovanským languages, such as Russian or Belarusian. This group of languages evolved from Old East Slavic - language used in Kievan Rus. Ukrainian has many regional version, which flows into the Polish and Belarusian. Under Ukrainian dialect is considered by some linguists and Ruthenian, which, however, others consider a separate language. Like other East Slavic languages are Ukrainian Cyrillic writing. A typical example for her change of letters, letter oaev even monosyllabic words (for example: bis = rage, people = ice), and duplication of advance voice (vin = on). Missing Akan, which is the norm of standard Russian and Belarusian. Grammar is close to Belarusian vocabulary approaching západoslovanským languages.

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Ukrainian belongs to východoslovanským languages, such as Russian or Belarusian. This group of languages evolved from Old East Slavic - language used in Kievan Rus. Ukrainian has many regional version, which flows into the Polish and Belarusian. Under Ukrainian dialect is considered by some linguists and Ruthenian, which, however, others consider a separate language.

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At least 12 million people have fled their homes since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations (UN) says.

More than five million have left for neighbouring countries, while seven million people are still thought to be displaced inside Ukraine itself.

However, hundreds of thousands of refugees have returned to their home country - especially to cities like Kyiv.

Where are refugees going?

Russia: (estimated) 1,412,425 Ukrainian refugees recorded

Poland: 1,194,642

Moldova: 82,700

Romania: 83,321

Slovakia: 79,770

Hungary: 25,800

Belarus: 9,820

The UN says there are more than 867,000 Ukrainians in Germany, almost 382,768 in the Czech Republic and 141,562 in Italy.

Some Ukrainians travelled to Russia from the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, which are now mostly in the hands of pro-Russian separatist forces.

President Vladimir Putin said his forces evacuated 140,000 civilians from Mariupol and insisted none of them was forced to go to Russia. However, volunteer groups say they have helped thousands of Ukrainians leave Russia.

What help are countries offering refugees?

The EU has granted Ukrainians the automatic right to stay and work throughout its 27 member nations for up to three years.

Refugees are housed in reception centres if they can't stay with friends or relatives. They are given food and medical care, and information about onward travel.

They are entitled to social welfare payments and access to housing, medical treatment and schools.

Poland, one of the countries which has taken the highest number of refugees, and Moldova, which has the largest concentration of refugees by population, have asked for additional support.

How many people are returning to Ukraine?

Ukraine's border force had previously said people were crossing back into the country at a rate of about 30,000 a day.

Some are returning to areas of Ukraine such as the capital Kyiv, which were threatened by Russian army advances at the start of the war, but which are now considered safer.

Where are people fleeing inside Ukraine?

27% of refugees were from the Kharkiv region

16% from Kyiv

16% from the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine

24% indicated their homes had been damaged or attacked in the war

The IOM estimates that more than half of the people who are internally displaced are women. Many are particularly vulnerable because they are pregnant or have small children, have a disability or are a victim of violence.

The UN is working alongside other organisations to provide cash, food and other supplies.

What is the UK doing to help Ukrainian refugees?

After the government response was criticised, it launched the Homes for Ukraine scheme to allow those without relatives in the UK to settle.

People in the UK can nominate an individual or family to stay with them rent-free for at least six months.

Refugees who come via the scheme can live and work in the UK for up to three years, and get access to healthcare, welfare and schools.

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How many Ukrainian refugees are there and where have they gone?

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The UN says more than 12 million people have fled their homes since the Russian invasion.

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Throughout the day, women with neatly tied buns slip out of a green door on to a narrow pavement just outside Kraków's medieval market.

As young men in US army uniforms go by, trying to make sense of the maps on their phones, the women gather in a nook of a tall grey building to smoke hand-rolled cigarettes and chat.

Before the invasion of Ukraine, the building was a hostel offering cheap accommodation to young Europeans Interrailing during their gap year. Now it is home to 80 Romany refugees from Ukraine, nearly all mothers with children.

"I just wish landlords would meet with us before they reject us," says 42-year-old Nadia, who fled from her village near Donetsk when Russian bombs fell on her neighbour's house in March. She came to Poland with her son's wife, 22-year-old Raiia, her adult daughter, and with seven children between them.

While the women have found work in a meat processing factory making hotdog sausages, like other Romany refugees they have hit a wall in finding a home.

"They face discrimination," says Mariam Masudi a coordinator at the hostel, working for Salam Lab, an NGO. "Roma are not admitted to other reception points. No one wants to rent to them. I don't know anyone who has managed to settle in Poland. Those who have been able to move out of the hostel have moved abroad."

The official number puts Ukraine's Roma population at 400,000, though experts see that as a low estimate. No one knows how many Ukrainian Roma have arrived in Poland, says Poland's civil rights deputy ombudsman, Hanna Machińska.

"These are large intergenerational families, some of 30 people. Most don't have a precise plan when they arrive in Poland," she says. "This situation requires institutional help. Individuals are not able to organise support for such large groups of people."

Families are uncertain how long they will be able to remain at the hostel, with rumours they may have to move out in May. Photograph: Anna Liminowicz/The Guardian

However, institutional help has not been forthcoming. Most of the relief has been coordinated by self-organised individuals and NGOs, says Joanna Talewicz-Kwiatkowska an anthropologist at the University of Warsaw, who organised the Facebook group, Poland-Roma-Ukraine at the start of the war. "We wanted to gather information about people in need of help, communicate with central organs and find people ready to host Romany refugees," she says. "We didn't think that all responsibility for the situation would be shifted on to us."

Even Nadia's hostel has only been made possible by a private donor from the US who rented out the property until 15 May. That date can often be heard repeated with uncertainty among the women sitting in the hostel's lobby. "And then what, they throw us out?" one woman says, as she kicks an invisible ball towards the door.

Ukrainian women were let on the train with their pets, but they didn't want to let me on

Nadia, Romany refugee

This is a question that Karol Wilczyński, director of Salam Lab, cannot answer. "Without governmental support, we will not manage. There is no way," he says.

Romany refugees face not only a lack of support but outright discrimination, both from relief providers and fellow Ukrainian refugees. The fact that much of the relief effort is provided by self-organised volunteers rather than the government means equal treatment of minorities is difficult to assert.

"In the first days of the war, we saw Poles make beautiful gestures of solidarity towards refugees from Ukraine," says Talewicz-Kwiatkowska, who is a member of Poland's Roma. "I would have never imagined we would be here talking about discrimination or dehumanisation, but that is what we are seeing."

According to Talewicz-Kwiatkowska, Roma have been refused access to transport and resources offered by the volunteers welcoming refugees at the border. "Roma were chased away from reception points, where it was said they were stealing clothes to later sell. We also received information that Romany families and groups were turned away from cars and buses offering transport," she says.

"Finding accommodation was another challenge, because when someone does not want to have Roma in their car, you can imagine they will not want to invite them under their own roof."

'No one wants to rent to them': Mariam Masudi, a coordinator at the hostel, says Romany refugees face discrimination. Photograph: Anna Liminowicz/The Guardian

Masudi says that Roma fleeing Ukraine often face discrimination from other refugees. "When they see Roma at the reception point, the other refugees loudly tell each other to hide their belongings. Roma in Ukraine are used to facing discrimination, and what they experience in Poland is the continuation of this," she says.

When Nadia arrived in Lviv, she says train station staff would not allow her and her family into the boarding area reserved for women and children hoping to travel to Poland. "Ukrainian women were let in with their pets," she says. "But they didn't want to let me on. They didn't believe I was a refugee from Donetsk."

Only after she showed her papers, proving she had come from the east, was she allowed to board the train. "But still, they wouldn't give me any of the food they were giving out to refugees," she says.

Masudi assists women at the hostel. Photograph: Anna Liminowicz/The Guardian

The best option for the Roma in the hostel would be to go west, Masudi says, to countries that are "more diverse, where they would blend in". While Talewicz-Kwiatkowska has been able to coordinate with Roma organisations in Sweden and Germany to organise accommodation, many are reluctant to take up the offers. "They don't want to be far away from Ukraine - they hope they will be able to go back home soon," she says.

Others are afraid to trust foreign help. "After the war in Yugoslavia, many Roma fell victims to organ sellers. Some are afraid of the situation repeating itself."

Nadia is aware of the stereotypes that follow her, but hopes, as she settles in Poland, she will be able to prove them false. "When one Romany person steals something, or is fortune-telling, then people think we're all like that," she says. "But I don't know how to be a fortune-teller, so what can I do? All I know is how to work a job."
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'Meet us before you reject us': Ukraine's Roma refugees face closed doors in Poland

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A warm welcome has been given to most people fleeing Putin's war but Roma women and children are struggling to find homes

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CHISINAU, Moldova - Angelina Leonidovna Kovach decided to leave the Ukrainian city Kharkiv in the second week of March, emerging from her basement refuge into a country under fire. She crossed from Ukraine into neighboring Moldova with a group of her relatives - all members of Ukraine's Roma minority.

Now, in a university building turned temporary refugee center in Moldova's capital Chisinau, Kovach and other Roma are in limbo. Entire families live together in classrooms emptied of desks to make space for beds. Mothers find a quiet corner to feed their babies while older children fill time by playing card games in the hallway.

People who have travel documents can leave for other countries in Europe and beyond. People who don't cannot. Kovach, 35, doesn't have her passport - it got left back in Ukraine in the rush to evacuate.

When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in late February, she was visiting family in Kharkiv, in the north, and decided it was best to leave directly instead of traveling back to her home in Zaporizhzhia, in the southeast, to claim her documents. "For two weeks there was bombing," she says. "I was afraid to go [back]."

In the early days of Ukraine's war, undocumented people were able to pass through Moldova's borders easily, either via official crossing points or unfenced sections of the border. This made the country the most logical place for people to flee if they didn't have passports, and word of this option spread among communities where this was common.

Members of Ukraine's Roma minority, an estimated 400,000 people, are among the more than 6 million refugees who fled Ukraine since the war began. For many people from this ethnic group, crossing borders is complicated because they have no way to prove their nationality. "Most of the Roma are stateless," says Victorina Luca, a human rights lawyer and founder of Radio Patrin Moldova, a Chisinau radio program geared to the Roma community.

Stateless and stranded

Statelessness for Roma people is a multifaceted issue. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Roma communities in the region have been forcibly displaced by numerous conflicts. When new states were formed, people in the Roma minority lacked the required primary documentation to prove their birthplace and connection to the places where they were applying for nationality, which left them unable to claim citizenship there.

That statelessness is often inherited since undocumented parents face obstacles when registering their children in the country where they live. Some Roma have only birth certificates or passports left over from Soviet times. Others have no documents at all.

"It's partly systemic problems that plague people in poverty. It's partly the intricacies of Ukraine and [its] history," says Jonathan Lee, advocacy and communications manager at the European Roma Rights Centre, a human rights organization in Brussels. But on the ground, issues of statelessness are exacerbated by hostility toward Roma people at the registrar's office, he says. "That's the main obstacle day to day for getting IDs."

According to the United Nations refugee agency, the number of Roma people who are stateless or at risk of statelessness who remain in Ukraine is unknown. It's also unknown exactly how many have left Ukraine to seek protection elsewhere.

Efforts to help a uniquely vulnerable refugee community

In Moldova, the number of refugees before the war started was small. Last year, there were 405 refugees and 3,372 stateless people under protection from the U.N. refugee agency.

Roma people who managed to reach Moldova after fleeing Ukraine are staying in various official and makeshift shelters around this country of 2.6 million people. But since most don't have documentation to show they are Ukrainian, they are having trouble claiming aid, Roma advocates say, despite being one of the poorest segments of the refugee population.

Kovach is hoping to reunite with her daughter and mother, who fled to Romania. But without travel documents, she is stuck for now in Moldova. She says Moldova's border guards couldn't provide her with proof of entry, which she needs to leave the country.

Getting this group of refugees the information they need is especially difficult, Luca says, because many Roma are illiterate. Her radio program - broadcast in the Romani language - seeks to inform and empower Moldova's Roma population.

Official statistics from the most recent census, in 2014, record 9,323 Roma in Moldova, but Roma organizations say the true number is 10 times that. Since the war started, the radio program has supplemented its usual stories from Roma communities in Moldova with broadcasts sharing details about documentation, travel and rights of Roma asylum-seekers coming from Ukraine.

At a warehouse where volunteers organize and distribute bags of food and clothes, refugees must provide a Ukrainian identification number to claim supplies. Some Roma don't have ID numbers because they don't have passports or other identifying documents, but organizers say one is needed to make sure only refugees receive aid.

Luca personally delivers supplies to refugee centers and homes - things like flip-flops for people stuck in winter boots as the weather turned to spring.

"Right now, we transformed to [provide] humanitarian aid because there is a need," she says.

Roma refugees are kept segregated from others coming from Ukraine

The Roma minority has long been a marginalized group in Europe and the Ukraine war may only make things worse, says Marin Alla, the executive director of a coalition of Roma organizations based in the Moldovan capital. In Moldova, he says, limited funding from the state - one of the poorest in Europe - runs up against the personal biases of decision makers and average citizens, which leads to unequal treatment of Roma people.

In Chisinau, Roma, Azerbaijanis and people from other minorities are mostly housed separately from other refugees who arrived from Ukraine. "In this place, the condition is [worse]," Alla says of the official shelter where Roma stay. "This is discrimination."

Roma advocates say at certain points, unofficial shelters for Roma in Moldova lacked necessities like drinking water and mattresses. In other instances, they say, Roma communities were taken advantage of financially by people who offered them housing.

Ian Feldman, president of a council appointed by Moldova's parliament to protect against discrimination, says a segregated system for housing refugees in Chisinau was created so that Roma mediators could easily travel between government-supported shelters to help resolve disputes or documentation issues.

"If you look at what really lies behind this decision, you will see that it's basically logistics, optimization of resources and creating a culturally appropriate and friendly environment," he says.

Nonetheless, others insist segregation lends itself to unequal treatment. Elena Sirbu, a Roma mediator, says bias against her community in Moldova is widespread. Discrimination is apparent, she says, when institutions choose to ignore the specific challenges faced by this community. "They don't want to take this responsibility," she says. "No Roma, no problem."

The European Roma Rights Centre has documented cases of discrimination against Roma refugees in Moldova, Hungary and Ukraine. "In every sort of facet of how refugees are treated, there will be implicit racism and discrimination," says Lee, the group's advocacy director. "It's the sad reality of anti-gypsyism in Europe."

A history of persecution

When the war began, he says, members of some Roma communities in Ukraine fled because they feared there would be pogroms. Persecution against Roma people in Europe is well documented, especially during wartime.

In March, a group of 200 pro-Roma human rights organizations published a joint statement condemning the war in Ukraine and calling for humane treatment of Roma and other minority groups.

"From the Second World War to the Balkan Wars of the late 1990s, history has shown us that in times of war or conflict, the plight of Roma as well as other minorities is continuously ignored," the statement said. "Ethnic minorities are often rendered invisible and further victimised instead of being provided equal protection."

Hundreds of thousands of Roma were systematically exterminated by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. During the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s, Roma people were singled out, abused and killed during ethnic cleansing campaigns. Roma settlements have been damaged or destroyed by mob violence in numerous contexts in various countries in Europe since then.

For now, Roma staying in Chisinau say they're grateful. "We do not know what to do because of stress [but] at least we have someplace to sleep, and we thank them for that," says Raise Grigorievna Dreama, a Roma woman staying in one of the government-supported shelters in Chisinau with her daughters Malina, Madonna and Ramina, as well as her son Artem, his wife and their children.

Dreama's family of 12 do hold Ukrainian passports, but they lack the financial means and desire to continue to another country. Their Ukrainian village, near Odesa, is just a few hours' drive away from the shelter where they are staying.

They hope to find a house somewhere in Chisinau where they can live temporarily, with more privacy. Ideally, they'd like to return to Ukraine. "I want to go home," Dreama says.

Organizations assisting the Roma community are advising those without documents to apply for asylum in Moldova.

But for Roma like 29-year-old Peotr Romanovich Cherenovskii, formally becoming a refugee in Moldova would mean living apart from family members who've traveled on to other countries in Europe. That is a thought he can't stand.

Cherenovskii is from the Donetsk region of Ukraine, and says after conflict started there in 2014, he didn't get his passport renewed because he did not want to get conscripted to fight. He now has a new concern.

"My children, my wife, they are all in Romania," he says. "How can I get there?"

For now, the answer isn't clear.

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Roma refugees who fled from Ukraine to Moldova are now in limbo

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Many slipped across the border as the war began, but lack passports or other official forms of ID. They struggle to prove their eligibility for humanitarian aid - and to cross into other countries.

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Afghanistan Background Information pdf CY

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Refugee Week 2021 - Pack - Theme - We Cannot Walk Alone

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Refugee Week 2021 - Pack - Theme - We Cannot Walk Alone

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Two children, a decade of war in Syria - BBC News

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Young Refugees from Ukraine and other Countries in Schools in England - Available until August 2023

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Young Refugees from Ukraine and other Countries in Schools in England - Available until August 2023

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Far from home, young refugees from Ukraine and other countries get a second chance in England's schools.

Fleeing war, violence and persecution abroad, young refugees from Ukraine and other countries restart their educations in England, finding a new life through new schools. We meet three refugee students who fled their homes to seek safety in the UK - and also meet the Britons who are welcoming them into their homes.

8-year-old Sofiia and her mother Hanna left their home in Kharkiv to make a new life in Farnham. They were sponsored by Kate and Charlie, a retired couple who became their hosts and helped to get Sofiia into a local school. We see Sofiia become the first Ukrainian to find a school placement in the area.

Also in Farnham is Ukrainian teenager Ivan. We follow Ivan on his first day at a new secondary school, trying to fit in with his English classmates who've grown up together. His new peers are confronted with the realities of war as they meet Ivan.

Salma fled war and violence in Afghanistan when she was 16. Despite learning English and passing all her exams, Salma couldn't secure a place at university - until she found help from a specialist charity that works with young refugees to help them rebuild their education. Now 23, Salma studies, and thrives, at Brunel University in bio-medical sciences.

At Refugee Education UK, we meet Moses, a young Jewish man who feels compelled to help displaced individuals because of his own people's history of persecution and expulsion. Moses' work helps refugees find their own place in British society through mentorship and practical support with getting their disrupted educations back on track.

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BBC One - We Are England, Education, From Conflict to Classroom

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Far from home, young refugees from Ukraine and other countries get a second chance in England's schools. Fleeing war, violence and persecution abroad, young refugees from Ukraine and other countries restart their educations in England, finding a new life through new schools.

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The Syrian girl who fled civil war for a new life in the UK  - BBC News

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How to support Afghan refugee children in schools

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This post is a summary of a recent webinar, hosted by The Bell Foundation and presented by the charity Refugee Education UK, which gave guidance and practical strategies to teachers on how to support Afghan refugee children in schools.

Key sections in this article:

The webinar hosted by The Bell Foundation was presented by Katie Barringer, Head of Educational Progression at Refugee Education UK (REUK) and her colleagues, Hamid Khan, Education and Welcome Project Officer, and Ehsan Habibi, Further Education Project Co-ordinator.

REUK is a UK charity that equips young refugees to build positive futures by thriving in education. REUK has built up extensive Afghan-specific experience, including supporting Afghan refugees in the UK, monitoring and analysing outcomes for returned young people in Kabul, and doing research for the UN on the links between education and integration for young Afghan refugees.

Katie began with an overview of the displacement and educational experiences that Afghan children are likely to have had before reaching the UK. Next, she identified the most common wellbeing and educational challenges that Afghan children face in the UK. She outlined strategies that teachers can employ to welcome and support their new learners, and she provided information about additional support and resources that teachers can access.

What are Afghan children likely to have experienced before reaching the UK?

1. Displacement

Recent events in Afghanistan led to a very rapid, unprepared, and traumatic displacement experience for many Afghan families. For some, this displacement has come on top of decades of hardship. Their dramatic uprooting has caused some refugees to experience acute psychosocial and health challenges. Once in the UK, families have been housed in bridging hotels, where many still remain. Resettlement plans are uncertain, so teachers can expect a lot of movement of children between schools as their families are resettled or find alternative accommodation.

2. Education

Research has shown that school attendance and completion rates in Afghanistan are relatively low, particularly for girls, and particularly at secondary level. Schooling in Afghanistan has three key characteristics:

Afghan schools have single sex classrooms, so children may feel some discomfort in mixed classrooms.

Afghan schools have a shorter school day, so children might find long days here tiring.

Afghan schooling has a teacher-centred pedagogy, based on rote learning and memorising, so children may feel unprepared to participate in discussions or to express their ideas and opinions.

These features mean that adjustments to UK schooling are difficult, and to illustrate this, Katie shared a contribution from a young refugee, Salma, who came to the UK in Year 10 and is now at university. Salma urged her audience to give young Afghan refugees time to find their voice, to harness their thoughts, and to develop their many talents. Salma's success in education highlights the potential that refugee children have for high attainment.

What are the common challenges Afghan refugee children experience in UK schooling?

Katie identified two types of challenges - academic and wellbeing - and stressed that these overlap and interact with each other.

1. Wellbeing challenges

Four key experiences help to explain the behaviours that Afghan refugee children might exhibit:

Trauma and distress from the past, for some going back many years;

Trauma of the present: the destabilising effects of being in a new country and living in a hotel indefinitely with no sense of a settled future;

Grief for what they have lost and anxiety over those they have left behind;

Isolation and loneliness as they struggle to adapt to a new country and culture.

Teachers are likely to see the following behaviours at school:

The fight-or-flight response occurs when previous trauma and related triggers cause reactions that flood the body with adrenaline and shut off the thinking part of the brain, inhibiting the ability to learn. The fight reaction can cause children to lash out at others or to internalise their feelings and report that they feel pain.

The flight mechanism can lead to children becoming withdrawn and disconnected from what is going on around them.

Children can also struggle to concentrate and be distracted easily.

Children will struggle to sleep and be tired, or fall asleep at school, or come to school late.

Children may exhibit visible distress at school.

2. Academic challenges

Katie identified the following challenges that will be visible in the classroom:

Most obvious will be the language barriers and the lack of resources for English as an Additional Language (EAL) support.

Children will be adjusting to a new curriculum and different teaching and learning styles.

Some children will have special education needs and these may be difficult to diagnose and address.

There are challenges outside of the classroom that impact on academic success:

Home environments: Hotel accommodation (but also more permanent homes) may have limited or no internet and computer access, and limited space for completing homework.

Lack of parental support and engagement: Parents may not be able to support their children's learning because of language barriers or stress, for

Poverty: Limited financial resources may impact on nutrition, and the ability to buy uniforms and pay for extracurricular activities.

Despite these challenges, Katie stressed that she and her colleagues see resilience, determination, and a sense of hope as they work with young Afghan refugees.

How can teachers address the challenges Afghan refugee children face?

1. Guiding principles for working with Afghan refugee children in schools

Katie identified five key principles to guide work with Afghan refugee children:

Build trust and have patience. Taking time to do this will help children and their families feel welcome.

Look beyond the behaviour. Solutions to problem behaviour are best sought in collaboration with other staff.

Recognise that language ability is not an indicator of academic ability or talent. Katie stressed that teachers should guard against seeing the struggles a child may have with English as an indication of their academic potential. Many of the children will have academic gifts and other talents in music or art, for example.

Grow children's compassion and world view. Refugee children bring opportunities for building compassion and knowledge about the world among their classmates.

Recognise resilience and adopt an assets-based approach. Refugee children bring value to schools, for example by raising aspirations in the whole student body. In addition, they are multilingual and have linguistic resources in the languages they know that teachers can use as a foundation for their learning of English and learning through English.

With these principles in mind, Katie set out practical approaches, while stressing that teachers will need to tailor these approaches to fit their own context.

2. Practical approaches for supporting Afghan refugee children in schools

Strategies to cope with children in the fight-or-flight response:

Maintain calm, use a gentle voice, and move slowly.

Create a safe place, like a quiet room, where the child can recover.

Set simple manageable tasks that help to settle anxiety.

Strategies to help children adjust, by making sure they can be heard:

Move to a quiet space and listen carefully so that the child can feel they are heard.

If the demands on the teacher are too great, make use of referrals to other staff, such as the safeguarding officer or to outside services if a child has shared information that needs to be acted upon.

Katie advised teachers to be aware of topics that children might find too upsetting to talk about, that might trigger anxiety, such as their trip to the UK, or their family in Afghanistan, about whom they may be very worried, for example.

3. Practical interventions for supporting children

Peer support: As Katie explained, research has shown that peer support strategies, such as 'buddy systems', can help refugee children to settle in their new school environments. For Afghan children, buddies should ideally be of the same sex, speak a similar language, and most importantly be welcoming.

Period of adjustment: New children will need to know and understand the school and classroom rules, they will need information about key aspects of the school day, such as the timetable, the register, and what clothes or kit need to be worn at what times, and they will need to understand the school's expectations regarding behaviour. Teacher and classroom changes should be kept to a minimum and families should be informed of upcoming events and outings. Ehsan explained that older children who have had little or no schooling will need a period of grace as they learn to concentrate for longer periods. He suggested that teachers find out what their pupils are interested in to help connect them to learning and added a reminder that all children have background knowledge that teachers can draw on.

Pastoral care: Children should know who they can turn to if they need help and be linked to a school counsellor, or other support staff member, or to an external provider if necessary.

Welcome and inclusion: Creating an inclusive environment also means being aware of cultural and religious priorities, such as recognising Islamic holidays and providing halal food. Schools can enhance their messages of welcome by having signs and messages in Pashto and Dari, the two main languages of Afghanistan, and teachers should strive to pronounce children's names accurately. Photographs in the classroom of the previous Afghan flag, and of historical sites such as the Buddhas of Bamiyan and the Darul Aman Palace will help to comfort and welcome.

Language support: Language is a key pillar of refugee children's welcome and educational support. The Bell Foundation provides extensive support in the form of courses and other resources for teachers who work with children who use EAL (see the links below), as does NALDIC, the national subject association for EAL. Teachers can set up lunch or after-school groups for refugee children to participate in and draw on members of the local refugee community to support classroom work, including translating.

Extra academic support: REUK runs a mentorship programme in London, the West Midlands, East of England, and Oxford, with children aged 14-plus, who receive help with their homework. There are similar projects run by other organisations in other parts of the country.

4. Practical interventions for supporting parents

Language support: Pashto and Dari speakers, who speak good English, could be approached to assist at parents' evenings. Teachers can use Google Translate on a tablet during a meeting with parents and arrange for newsletters and messages to parents to be translated. This will help families to feel seen, included, and valued in the school community.

Helping families adjust: Organising a tour of the school for new families, with translation, and making sure that families understand the new and unfamiliar aspects of UK education, including its compulsory nature, will help to ease the difficulties of the transition. The Bell Foundation provides an 'About the English Education System' guidance document which is available in 22 languages including Dari and Pashto (see the links below). Schools could help families to fit in socially by connecting them with others in the community, and giving them information about helpful social groups, like mother and toddler groups.

Technology support: Refugee families are likely to struggle with the various digital platforms that schools use to communicate information, so sessions to offer basic skills such as how to log on will be necessary.

Signposting to further support: Teachers and schools are not alone in their efforts to welcome and support refugee children and their families, and schools can point families in the direction of other organisations who do work with refugees, for additional help and guidance.

A note on self-care

Katie reminded the audience that working with refugee children, especially those who have experienced trauma, can be emotionally draining. She urged teachers to look after their own wellbeing, to recognise the warning signs of the strain of experiencing vicarious trauma, and to take steps to access support from others.

What further information and training can teachers draw on?

REUK offers the following:

Training;

Resources in Pashto and Dari, and Ukrainian, for teachers and young people;

Hello apps, for general enquiries;

A welcome team for newly arrived Afghan and Ukrainian refugees.

Teachers can follow REUK on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to their newsletter. Access their website here: Refugee Education UK | Home | London (reuk.org).

The Bell Foundation offers the following:

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How to support Afghan refugee children in schools

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This post is a summary of a recent webinar, hosted by The Bell Foundation and presented by the charity Refugee Education UK, which gave guidance and practical strategies to teachers on how to support Afghan refugee children in schools.

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Supporting Afghan Refugee Children in Schools

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Supporting Afghan Refugee Children in Schools

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Refugees from Afghanistan finding hope and homes in Wales

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Deborah Taylor, from Leicestershire County Council, said: "He's a young man who has dealt with many hardships but, with the support of a kind and loving family, has flourished and achieved a life ambition."

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Afghan refugee found by motorway completes architecture degree

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Deborah Taylor, from Leicestershire County Council, said: "He's a young man who has dealt with many hardships but, with the support of a kind and loving family, has flourished and achieved a life ambition."

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Elementary - 4 weeks 4 hours pw - FutureLearn 

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Elementary - 4 weeks 4 hours pw - FutureLearn 

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Unable to play video. Please enable JavaScript or consider upgrading your browser.

Hello and welcome to this English language MOOC developed for elementary learners by King's College London. In this MOOC you will learn language for everyday situations. You'll become more confident in understanding and talking in English. Each week you will listen, read and write answers, fill in the gap, click a button, or listen and repeat what you hear. You can also reply to each other in the comments section. This course will help you use English in everyday situations and help you practice what you have learned. You will hear people describing each other's personalities, their jobs, where they live, what they do in their spare time, and how they are feeling. Some of the people you will meet are at university.

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

Identify language used in everyday situations, such as studying, communicating with classmates, and talking about work

Develop confidence in key language items useful in a range of different scenarios

Apply language skills for everyday conversations

Demonstrate understanding of relevant language that can help the learner progress along the path to studying at a university

Endorsers and supporters

supported by

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Basic English - Online Language Course - FutureLearn

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Start learning English online today with this free introductory course from King's College London created for refugees and displaced people.

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Pre-intermediate - 4 weeks 4 hours pw - FutureLearn 

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Pre-intermediate - 4 weeks 4 hours pw - FutureLearn 

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Develop your English for a range of everyday situations

On this course you will build your English skills. You will develop your use of English in a wider range of everyday situations and grow your listening ability.

You will develop your English skills by hearing people speak in a range of situations, and you will test your knowledge by writing short responses to simple discussion questions.

By the end of the course you will feel more confident in your ability to speak and understand basic English.

If you would prefer an easier course, please try Basic English: Elementary.

What topics will you cover?

Asking for directions

Describing your town and where you live

Talking about your daily routine and activities

Talking about technology

Language for shopping and other daily tasks

Language for preparing for University

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

Identify language associated with everyday situations, such as studying, shopping, and talking about time and schedules

Develop confidence in key language items useful in a range of different scenarios

Apply language skills for everyday conversations

Demonstrate understanding of relevant language that can help the learner progress along the path to studying at a university

By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for refugees, displaced people and the communities supporting them in the MENA (Middle East and Northern Africa) region who want to learn English for studying and for work. It has been created as part of the PADILEIA project.

However, it will also be of interest to anyone looking to develop their skills in basic English.

We recommend learners have a minimum of CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) A2 to get the most from this course.
Supported by UK aid - Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education, Innovation and Reform

Endorsers and supporters

supported by

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning

Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities

Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners

Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course

Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning

Whenever you're ready, mark each step as complete, you're in control

Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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Develop your English Skills - Online Course

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On this course you will build your English skills. You will develop your use of English in a wider range of everyday situations and grow your listening ability. You will develop your English skills by hearing people speak in a range of situations, and you will test your knowledge by writing short responses to simple discussion questions.

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British Red Cross Referral Pathway - Family Visa Application 

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British Red Cross Referral Pathway - Family Visa Application 

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Welsh Refugee Council - Ukrainiian Refugee Support Team

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Ukraine Crisis Support - Welsh Refugee Council

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We are funded by Welsh Government to deliver a specialist Ukraine support service. We work closely with local authorities and stakeholders across Wales to support Ukrainian refugees. How we can help you: Support applying for a bank account. Support applying for Universal Credit, Child Benefits and Pension Credit. ESOL classes.

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Голоси дітей

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Arseniy: Most of all I worry about my parents

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Teachers TV - 9 stories - International Refugee Trust

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Teachers TV - 9 stories - International Refugee Trust

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The boy who found refuge in 1930s Britain and stayed for good

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At the height of the Spanish Civil War, thousands of Basque children were evacuated from the north of Spain to safety in Britain.

In April 1937, General Franco asked the German Luftwaffe to carpet-bomb the historic Basque town of Guernica.

Hundreds of people died in an indiscriminate attack that caused international outrage and huge concern about civilians.

In Britain, volunteers raised money to send a ship to collect Basque child refugees. Herminio Martinez, then aged seven, was one of them.

He spoke to Witness about his memories of the evacuation and his life as a refugee.
Witness the stories of our times told by the people who were there.

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The boy who found refuge in 1930s Britain and stayed for good

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At the height of the Spanish Civil War, thousands of Basque children were evacuated from the north of Spain to safety in Britain. In April 1937, General Franco asked the German Luftwaffe to carpet-bomb the historic Basque town of Guernica. Hundreds of people died in an indiscriminate attack that caused international outrage and huge concern about civilians.

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I Am Not a Number: A Refugee's Tale | Nujeen Mustafa | TEDxExeter

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I Am Not a Number: A Refugee's Tale | Nujeen Mustafa | TEDxExeter

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Free online classes for Ukrainian students – grades 1-11

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ODILO is humbled to contribute its bit by offering Ukrainian children, their families and teachers an unlimited learning and entertainment platform. Users are able to learn new languages, cultures, history of the country of residence and many other subjects through virtual classes, book clubs and endless learning experiences. It is also an incredible source of entertainment as families can together enjoy unlimited resources of interest in a multi-format way.

Download the App to learn differently and enjoy family time!

- From now on you can use the app with the SplitView functionality of the iPads.
- We have added a setting to the book viewer allowing to replace reading percentage with page numbers.
- Some text settings can now be applied to books that previously did not allow settings to be changed.
- The option to keep the screen on while reading is now found within the book viewer settings.
- We have implemented a new design for app information messages.
- Some sections of the More menu have been renamed and reordered, but their functionality remain the same.
- Accessibility improvements.
- Bug fixes.

The developer, Odilo, indicated that the app's privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer's privacy policy.

Data Used to Track You

The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:

Data Linked to You

The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:

Data Not Linked to You

The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Information

Languages

English, Arabic, Basque, Catalan, Dutch, French, Galician, German, Hebrew, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Turkish, Ukrainian

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‎ODILO is humbled to contribute its bit by offering Ukrainian children, their families and teachers an unlimited learning and entertainment platform. Users are able to learn new languages, cultures, history of the country of residence and many other subjects through virtual classes, book clubs and en...

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ODILO For Android devices                                                Ukrainian students and teachers are able to learn new languages, cultures, history of the country of residence and many other subjects through virtual classes, book clubs and learning experiences. It is  a source of entertainment for families to enjoy      

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ODILO For Android devices                                                Ukrainian students and teachers are able to learn new languages, cultures, history of the country of residence and many other subjects through virtual classes, book clubs and learning experiences. It is  a source of entertainment for families to enjoy      

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General Secondary Education

School education is compulsory. Previously, it lasted 11 years, but with the start of the New Ukrainian School reform in 2018, school education will last 12 years.

School education is divided into 3 levels of education:

primary education (grades 1-4)

basic secondary education (grades 5-9)

specialized secondary education (grades 10-11 (12))

The content of school education shall be approved by the government in state standards separate for each level of school education. They define the competencies that should be formed at certain levels of school education, as well as the requirements for mandatory learning outcomes. To implement the requirements of state standards, each educational institution has an educational program and curricula - the schools can develop them independently or use those recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

The content of school education has 2 components:

invariant (mandatory);

variable (subjects/courses to choose from).

The subjects taught can be separated or integrated into certain courses - this is decided by educational institutions within the framework of academic autonomy.

School evaluation differs at different levels: in grades 1-4 a formative assessment is carried out, and in grades 5-11 a 12-point assessment system is used.

Based on the results of each level of education, students pass the state final examination in particular, after receiving a specialized secondary education, the state final examination takes place in the form of external independent assessment. On that basis, students are awarded certificates of a particular level of education.

The forms of school education: institutional and individual, for example, full-time, evening, extramural, remote, external, homeschooling, pedagogical patronage. Students/parents have the right to choose one of them and even combine several forms.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, teachers began to use distance learning tools. All-Ukrainian Online School was launched to provide students with access to education.

Even outside of Ukraine, with the help of All-Ukrainian Online School children can continue their studies remotely at their school or independently, for example, due to loss of contact with the school due to military operations or temporary occupation. MOES offers an all-Ukrainian lesson schedule to be used for self-education.

The instructions for using All-Ukrainian Online School are available here.

In 2018, Ukraine participated for the first time in the international study on the quality of education - PISA. To learn more about the results of the Ukrainian education system here.

Children with special educational needs can receive special education (in institutions or classes for children with separate nosologies) or inclusive education. In addition to training, students with special educational needs are provided with psychological, pedagogical and correctional development services, which can be provided directly by a special school or an inclusive resource center (in the case of inclusive education). There are 5 levels of support that can be provided to children with special educational needs - first of all, depending on their needs, and not on the diagnosis.

Download the file to find out more about inclusive education:

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Education System in Ukraine - Ukrainian education in emergency

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Everyone in Ukraine has the right to high-quality and affordable education. This includes the right to receive a lifelong education, the right to access education, and the right to free education. In Ukraine, no one can be restricted in the right to receive an education.

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"We are not just a burden on society," says Ghofran Hamza, who left her home in Syria at the start of the civil war in 2011.

She says refugees can play a role in societies that help them, and support others.

Ghofran met with Renate Collins, who fled Prague, in then Czechoslovakia, and the Holocaust at the launch of an exhibition tracing the lives of refugees in Wales from the 1930s to the present day.

Both agreed that they have been made to feel welcome in Wales.

"I went to a coffee morning [on] Tuesday and I've never had so many hugs in my life," says Renate. "It was lovely."

The exhibition at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Ceredigion, runs until 29 January.

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Refugees feel at home thanks to Welsh welcome

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"We are not just a burden on society," says Ghofran Hamza, who left her home in Syria at the start of the civil war in 2011. She says refugees can play a role in societies that help them, and support others.

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The Muha family have found happiness in Wales after fleeing the war in Syria.

Refugees Fatima and Khaled and their two children say they are happy in Wales after they spent five years in a refugee camp.

They now hope to rebuild their lives in their new home in rural Carmarthenshire.

The family had only lived in the house for a few months after Khaled had spent 15 years building it when it was destroyed by a missile.

He said: "We need to stay in Wales because Welsh people are very quiet and friendly."

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Syrian refugees find happiness in rural Wales

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The Muha family have found happiness in Wales after fleeing the war in Syria. Refugees Fatima and Khaled and their two children say they are happy in Wales after they spent five years in a refugee camp. They now hope to rebuild their lives in their new home in rural Carmarthenshire.

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‘I’d like to be a model for other refugees’

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A Syrian woman who arrived in UK as a refugee two years hopes to get back into teaching in Wales.

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Refugee Week Website - Refugee Week 15 - 21 June 2026

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Refugee Week Website - Refugee Week 15 - 21 June 2026

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Refugee Week 17-23 June 2024 Get Involved Hold an Event Simple Acts Children & Young People Social Media Thunderclap News & Blog Theme Discover Refugee Week 2023's theme

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Refugees - History of Refugees to the UK

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Refugees - History of Refugees to the UK

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Advertising

Lord Maurice Saatchi and Charles Saatchi - Founders of Saatchi and Saatchi advertising agency. Their father was an Iraqi Jewish refugee.

Architecture

Eva Jircicna - Designed the Faith Zone in the Millennium Dome. Refugee from Czechoslovakia.

Daniel Marot - Architect, furniture designer and engraver who designed Hampton Court Palace. Huguenot refugee.

Peter Moro - Born in Germany and moved to London, becoming one of the UK's most prominent post-war architects. Designed the Royal Festival Hall and the Nottingham Playhouse.

Richard Rogers - Designer of the Centre Pompidou and the Millennium Dome. His mother was a refugee from Trieste.

Art

Frank Auerbach - German-born British painter, considered one of the world's greatest living artists.

Marc Chagall - Russian-French artist of Belarusian Jewish origin.

Jacob Epstein - British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. Son of Polish-Jewish refugees.

Peter Carl Fabergé - Russian jeweller, fled Russia via Finland, Germany to Switzerland.

Lucien Freud - Well-known British painter, German-Jewish refugee.

Mona Hatoum - Well-known British painter, Palestinian-Lebanese refugee.

Anish Kapoor - Won the 1991 Turner Prize. His parents were refugees who fled Iraq.

Camille Pissarro - Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter, Danish-French-Jewish refugee.

Sir John Tenniel - Cartoonist and book illustrator, descended from Huguenot refugees.

Alfred Wolmark - Painter, Polish-Jewish refugee.

Business

Sir Montague Burton - Founded Burton retail, refugee from Lithuania.

Sir John Houblon - First Governor of the Bank of England, grandson of refugees.

Manubhai Madhvani - Expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin.

Michael Marks - One of the founders of Marks and Spencer, Russian refugee.

Sieng van Trang - Founder of the educational website www.iLearn.to, Vietnamese refugee.

George Weidenfeld - Publisher, Jewish refugee who fled the Nazis.

Fashion and Design

Sir Alec Issigonis - Designer of the Mini car, refugee.

Tanya Sarne - Fashion designer and creator of the Ghost label, father was a Russian refugee.

Lewis de Teissier - Founder of Tessier's jewellers, and the grandson of refugee Jaqcues de Teissier.

Alek Wek - Supermodel, fled Sudan with her family.

Manufacturing

Lakshmibhai Pathak - Founder of Patak's, was a Kenyan refugee.

Rashmi Thakrar - Founder of Tilda Rice, Ugandan refugee.

Music and Dance

Bob Marley - Famous musician, fled Jamaica to Miami after being shot during political violence.

Fritzi Massary - Austrian-Jewish operetta singer, refugee.

Norbert Brainin - Austrian-Jewish violinist, refugee.

Gloria Estefan - Cuban-American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman, father was a Cuban refugee.

Justine Frischmann - Lead singer of Elastica, father was a Hungarian refugee.

Wyclef Jean - Musician, former member of Fugees, Haitian refugee

K'Naan - Hip-hop artist, refugee from Somalia now living in Toronto, Canada.

M.I.A. - English-born singer/ hip-hop artist, part of a Tamil Sri Lankan refugee family.

Mika -Famous singer, fled from Lebanon.

Freddie Mercury - Lead singer of the band Queen, fled to England from Zanzibar in 1964.

Olivia Newton-John - Singer and actress, granddaughter of refugee Max Born.

Rita Ora - Singer, came to the UK as a refugee from Kosovo as baby.

Regina Spektor - Singer, songwriter and pianist. Originally fled Soviet Russia at the age of nine, now based in New York.

Shingai Shoniwa - Lead singer of the Noisettes. British-born daughter of Zimbabwean refugees.

Claude-Michel Schonberg - Composer whose works include Les Misérables and Miss Saigon, son of refugees.

Arnold Schoenberg - Austrian Composer, one of the most important composers in history, fled Europe due to increasing Nazi terror.

Gene Simmons - Member of Kiss, mother was a Holocaust survivor.

Sir Georg Solti - Conductor, refugee.

Robert Stolz - Austrian composer/conductor, refugee.

Oscar Straus - Austrian-Jewish composer, refugee.

Richard Tauber - Austrian-Jewish singer, composer and refugee.

Georg Ritter von Trapp - Father of the Trapp family, whose story inspired The Sound of Music after fleeing Nazi occupied Austria.

Politics

Madeleine Albright - Former U. S. Secretary of State, refugee From Prague.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Dutch politician, fled from Somalia.

Sitting Bull - Sioux chief, left America for Canada.

Lord Alf Dubs - Politician, refugee from Prague.

Margaret Hodge - Former British MP and Minister for Children, parents were refugees from Germany.

Michaëlle Jean - A refugee from Haiti- Governor-General of Canada from 2005 to 2010.

Henry Kissinger - American diplomat and political scientist, former US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, fled from Germany to USA in 1938.

Vladimir Lenin - Soviet leader, refugee who fled to Switzerland.

Friedrick Lessner - Founder member of the Independent Labour Party.

Karl Marx - Political theorist, German refugee.

David Miliband - British MP, son of a Belgian Jewish refugee.

Ed Miliband - Former leader of the Labour Party, son of a Belgian Jewish refugee.

Leon Trotsky - Marxist theorist.

Psychology and Philosophy

Michael Balint - Hungarian Jew, psychoanalyst, fled from Nazis.

Sigmund Freud - Austrian Jew, founded psychoanalysis, fled from Nazis in Austria.

Anna Freud - Psychoanalyst, daughter of Sigmund, fled with him.

Ernest Gellner - Czech-Jewish philosopher, fled from the Nazis.

Stephan Korner - Czech-Jewish philosopher, fled from the Nazis.

Claude Lévi-Strauss - French-Jewish philosopher and anthropologist, French refugee.

Karl Popper - Austrian-Jewish philosopher, fled from Nazis to New Zealand.

Religion

Isaac Abravanel - Rabbi and politician, fled from Portugal to Spain.

Rabbi Leo Baeck - Reform Rabbi, holocaust survivor.

Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits - Chief rabbi of Great Britain, fled from the Nazis to Britain.

Jesus - His family fled from the holy land because of King Herod.

Current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso - refugee, he fled Tibet when China invaded.

Rabbi Hugo Gryn - Reform rabbi and holocaust survivor.

Paul Kahle - Christian Hebraist, fled from the Nazis to Britain.

Mullah Krekar - Iraqi Kurdish mullah, lives in Norway.

Muhammad (PBUH) - Fled from Mecca to Medina in 622.

Science

Gustav Victor Rudolf Born - pharmacologist, German-Jewish refugee.

Max Born - Winner of Nobel prize for physics, German-Jewish refugee.

Edith Bulbring - Pharmacologist, German-Jewish refugee.

Carl Djerassi - The inventor of the first contraceptive pill, Austrian refugee.

John Dollond - Inventor of the achromatic lens, founder of Dollond and Aitchison, descended from Huguenot refugees.

Albert Einstein - One of the world's most famous scientists, German-Jewish refugee.

Alexander Grothendieck - Mathematician, German-Jewish refugee.

Robert Fano - Physicist, Italian-Jewish refugee.

Ugo Fano - Physicist, Italian-Jewish refugee.

Bernard Katz - Nobel Prize-winning biophysicist, German-Jewish refugee.

Sir Hans Krebs - Nobel Prize-winning scientist, German-Jewish refugee.

Sir John Krebs - Zoologist, son of Sir Hans Krebs.

Sir Harold Kroto - Nobel-winning chemist, son of German-Jewish refugees.

Liviu Librescu - Physicist, fled from Romania to Israel.

Lord (Claus) Moser - British professor of statistics and head of the Government Statistical Service, Austrian-Jewish refugee.

Sport

Alexander Alekhine - Chess World Champion, moved from Communist Russia to France.

Ossip Bernstein - Chess grandmaster, escaped from Communist Ukraine to France.

Efim Bogoljubow - Chess grandmaster, moved from the Soviet Union to Germany.

Fedor Bohatirchuk - Chess grandmaster, moved from Ukraine to Canada.

Jelena Dokic - Tennis player, Serbian refugee.

Mebrahtom Keflezighi - Olympic marathon silver medallist, Eritrean refugee to US

Lomana LuaLua - Football player who has played for Colchester United, Newcastle United and Portsmouth, was a refugee.

Mario Stanic - Former footballer with Chelsea. He used to play for Sarajevo F.C. who were targeted during the Bosnian War.

Christopher Wreh - Former Arsenal footballer, Liberian refugee.

TV and Film

Jackie Chan - Fled to the US from Hong Kong after being threatened with death by the Triads.

Zohra Daoud - Former Afghani actress and model, now settled in Malibu, California.

Marlene Dietrich - Actress and refugee from Nazi Germany.

Omid Djalili - Comedian and actor, he and his family are Iranian refugees.

Ben Elton - Comedian, grandson of a Czechoslovakian refugee.

Baron Lew Grade - Television mogul and uncle of Michael Grade, was a Russian refugee.

Fritz Lang - Film director, and a half-Jewish refugee.

Jerry Springer - Talk show host, parents were German refugees.

Rachel Weisz - Actress, both parents are Jewish refugees.

Billy Wilder - Film director and writer, Jewish refugee.

Writing and Publishing

Reinaldo Arenas - Cuban novelist, became a refugee in the USA after years of persecution for his sexuality and political ideas. His autobiography, Before Night Falls, was on the New York Times list of the ten best books of the year 1993 and was made into a film in 2000.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown - Journalist and author, Ugandan refugee.

Isabel Allende - Author of The House of Spirits, Chilean refugee who fled after receiving death threats following the overthrow of her father's cousin, Salvador Allende.

Hannah Arendt - one of the most influential political philosophers of the twentieth century. Born into a German-Jewish family, she was forced to leave Germany in 1933.

Elias Canetti - Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1981, Bulgarian refugee.

Joseph Conrad - Author of Heart of Darkness, refugee.

Anne Frank - German-born diarist, as a child she fled from Nazi Germany to the Netherlands.

Karen Gershon - A writer and poet, as a child she fled from Nazi Germany to Great Britain.

Michael Hamburger - A noted British Translator and Poet, as a child he fled from Nazi Germany to London.

Lord Paul Hamlyn CBE - The founder of Octopus Publishing Group, Jewish refugee from Germany.

Victor Hugo - Author of Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, due to his political beliefs, he was forced to flee France several times.

Ismail Kadare - A winner of the Booker prize who fled Albania in 1990 for political reasons.

Shaparak "Shappi" Khorsandi - A British comedian and author of Iranian origin. She is the daughter of the Iranian political satirist and poet Hadi Khorsandi. Her family left Iran when she was a child following the Islamic Revolution.

Marina Lewycka - Author whose first book, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, sold over a million copies worldwide.

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - Novelist and film screenwriter, German-Jewish refugee.

Judith Kerr - Children's writer, German-Jewish refugee.

Thomas Mann - Winner of the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature, moved from Germany to Switzerland and from there to the US.

Rigoberta Menchú - An author and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, Guatemalan refugee.

Vladimir Nabokov - Russian author and lepidopterist, escaped to Europe from the Russian Civil War and then to the US from the advance of Nazi Germany.

Ursula Owen - Editor of Index on Censorship, was a German refugee as a baby.

John O'Donnell-Rosales - Cuban author, poet and journalist, escaped from Cuba with the remnants of his family after years of persecution for their political and religious views.

Felix Salten - Author of Bambi, Hungarian-born Jewish refugee from Nazis.

Loung Ung - A survivor of the Killing Fields of Cambodia, activist and author of the books First They Killed My Father and Lucky Child.
See our Literature section for a comprehensive list of refugee authors
Miscellaneous

Ossip Bernstein - Chess player, fled from Russia to France.

Alina Fernandez - Daughter of Fidel Castro, fled Cuba to Spain , now lives in the United States. Former model, now hosts a talkshow.

Otto Kahn-Freund - Lawyer, German Jew who fled Nazi Germany to the UK.

Dalai Lama - His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso is the spiritual leader of Tibet. In 1959, following the Brutal suppression of the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa by Chinese troops, he was forced to escape into exile and has since been living in Dharamsala, northern India.

Christoph Meili - Whistleblower, fled from Switzerland to the US because an arrest warrant was issued against him.

Merhan Karimi Nasseri - An Iranian refugee who lived in the departure lounge of Terminal One in Charles de Gaulle Airport from 1988 to 2006. Subject of the Steven Spielburg film 'The Terminal'.

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Lord Maurice Saatchi and Charles Saatchi - Founders of Saatchi and Saatchi advertising agency. Their father was an Iraqi Jewish refugee. Eva Jircicna - Designed the Faith Zone in the Millennium Dome. Refugee from Czechoslovakia. Daniel Marot - Architect, furniture designer and engraver who designed Hampton Court Palace. Huguenot refugee.

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Arabic lessons: 'It's respectful, the Irish people learning my language'

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School - Pupils Learn some Arabic to show Welcome

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School - Pupils Learn some Arabic to show Welcome

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"I find it respectful that the Irish students are learning my language."

These are the words of Mohammad. He is 14 years old and moved from Syria to Northern Ireland in 2019.

In school, his Northern Irish friends come up to him and speak to him in Arabic, greeting him with "Marhaba (hello)", "Sabah alkhaer (good morning)," and "How are you (kifak)?"

English-speaking students in Sacred Heart College Omagh, County Tyrone, are learning his native language as part of a five-week online course.

Pauline McAnea, a language teacher, said the main motivation for wanting her students to take part in the course was due to an increase in Syrian students who have attended the school in recent years.

"It is important for us to show that we respect them and their language and culture," she said.

"They have made such an effort to learn our language so it is important that we reach out and make a bit of an effort to learn theirs."

The project is being run by a company based in London that is providing short courses to British schools, teaching more than 1,000 children about Arabic culture and the basics of speaking the language.

Sacred Heart College in Omagh is the only school in Northern Ireland taking part in the project.

Each week the students attend a free online live lesson with two Arabic teachers and also take part in e-learning with interactive games.

"Sometimes in class I would get the Syrian students to go up to the board and write their names in Arabic and the children are fascinated," Ms McAnea said.

"It really opens their mind to see that there is more to the world than just Omagh."

This is not the first time the school has taken part in a project to help students from different countries feel included in the school community.

Ms McAnea said there were 57 overseas pupils in the school from countries such as Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovakia and Romania.

"We have nine different languages spoken in the school so it's important that our children realise the wealth and richness that those children bring to our school," she said.

Bahaa, 16, moved to Northern Ireland in 2019 from Damascus in Syria.

He attends the Arabic classes to help English-speaking students with the language.

"It feels like society is open to learning new things from different cultures, different perspectives, which is really heart warming," he said.

Helping the other students with the language made him feel special and important, he said.

'Makes me feel good'

Rama, 14, moved to Northern Ireland from Lebanon in June 2019.

She loves when other students in her class greet her in her native language.

"It makes me feel really, really good because only my family speaks to me in Arabic.

"They would say 'hi', 'how are you?' and 'thank you'."

'It opens your mind'

Ciara, 13, said she enjoyed learning the language.

"It opens your mind and your perspective to the world," she said.

She is friends with Rama, with whom she speaks in Arabic.

"It's nice being able to chat to her," said Ciara.

"They have come here and learnt English for us so why should we not do the same?"

'I can understand'

Dawid, 14, is originally from Poland and said he found learning Arabic easy because he had to learn English when he moved to Northern Ireland.

"When I came here, nobody understood me, my parents didn't know how to speak it so I had to learn by sounds and that's when I started to understand everyone."

He said he would like to be a translator when he is older.

"I would like to translate from Polish to English or from Arabic to another language."

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Arabic lessons: 'It's respectful, the Irish people learning my language'

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"I find it respectful that the Irish students are learning my language." These are the words of Mohammad. He is 14 years old and moved from Syria to Northern Ireland in 2019. In school, his Northern Irish friends come up to him and speak to him in Arabic, greeting him with "Marhaba (hello)", "Sabah alkhaer (good morning)," and "How are you (kifak)?"

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Reading List for Young Adults - The Refugee Experience

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From being asked whether you arrived in the UK on a lorry, or whether you thought about going somewhere else, to the questions about what it's like to be... questioned. If you're a refugee, you'll be well-versed in answering these common queries.

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Things You'll Know As A Refugee - BBC Three

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From being asked whether you arrived in the UK on a lorry, or whether you thought about going somewhere else, to the questions about what it's like to be... questioned. If you're a refugee, you'll be well-versed in answering these common queries.

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In 1940, during the darkest days of World War Two, the evacuation of women, children, the elderly and infirm was ordered from Gibraltar, in order to fortify the Rock....

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"The future is here and it's Ncuti" is how returning Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies announced the casting of Ncuti Gatwa as the 14th Doctor.

Doctor Who is a drama centred on the renewal and regeneration of its main character and in many ways, 29-year-old Gatwa embodies that renewal.

He arrived in Scotland in 1994 as a refugee fleeing a genocide and is now preparing to take on the role of one of the most iconic characters in British TV.

Who is the new Doctor?

Gatwa was born in Kigali, Rwanda, in October 1992 when the country was already fully embroiled in a civil war. He and his family moved to Scotland when he was just two years old.

He spoke about his experience in 2019, as part of the BBC Scotland documentary Black and Scottish.

"We came to the UK because of the genocide that happened in Rwanda in 1994," he said.

"We were refugees, we were refugees coming to the UK and I definitely now view myself as a Rwandan-Scotsman. Yes there's such a term and I'm giving it a name today."

Gatwa was raised mostly in Dunfermline and Edinburgh. He attended Boroughmuir High School and Dunfermline High School before moving to Glasgow to study acting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

The 29-year-old said he didn't encounter many people like him as he grew up in Scotland.

"I definitely felt growing up that I wasn't seen as the same as anyone around me because no-one around me looked like me.

"I remember my mum being like, 'everyone looks the same'. She travelled all around Edinburgh... trying to find someone that was black and she couldn't see anyone.

"Role models? There were no black Scottish role models. I felt like I was the only black person in the world."

The idea that he might become an actor first came when he was 17, and after training at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland he moved to London.

Andrew Panton is the artistic director of Dundee Rep Theatre, where Gatwa used to perform. He told BBC Scotland the theatre was hugely proud of him.

"I think Ncuti always had something special about his work, he has always been really focused and there is a mischievousness to a lot of the work he does," he said.

"I will be excited to see what he brings to Doctor Who because every actor who plays that role can do something with it. I have no doubt that Ncuti is going to do something really special."

Gatwa's first TV acting role came with a brief appearance in Scottish sitcom Bob Servant, alongside Brian Cox and Jonathan Watson.

For a time in 2018 he ended up homeless and acting auditions weren't just potential opportunities, they were lifelines.

Breakthrough role

In 2019, Gatwa's career took off in a big way after landing a role in Netflix's Sex Education.

He plays Eric Effiong, a gay teenager from a British Nigerian family in the critically-acclaimed series.

His character is bursting with energy, sass and joyfully flamboyant - comfortable in his sexuality, but true to his African heritage.

This was the breakthrough that earned Gatwa a Scottish Bafta and many Bafta nominations as well.

It was also the role that shot him to stardom and eventually into the world of Doctor Who.

'You just are who you are'

Gatwa will be the fourth Scottish actor to take on the role of the Doctor. However, the actor has spoken of his struggle over how to show off his Scottish identity.

"I've always been a bit scared to say that I was Scottish because it was almost as if people wouldn't believe me, or people wouldn't buy that from me, or people wouldn't accept it," he said.

"Now, I think nobody's got the right to tell you who you are. You just are who you are."

Stewart Kyasimire, who made BBC Scotland's Black and Scottish documentary, said Gatwa taking on the role of the Doctor would create a new role model for black Scots.

"I think for the creative community in Scotland and throughout, seeing this young black Scot and seeing him as the next Doctor Who - I think it opens up a lot of conversations," he told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme.

"I have been speaking to a lot of people in the black community and they are like, 'I don't know much about Doctor Who but just know that I am 100% invested now.'

"Then you have your Sex Education fans who are a younger demographic as well. It's opened up a wide audience".

Davies, who is is returning as Dr Who's showrunner after leaving in 2009, praised Gatwa's "blazing" audition and said he was the future of Doctor Who.

"It was our last audition. It was our very last one," the writer and producer said. "We thought we had someone, and then in he came and stole it.

"I'm properly, properly thrilled. It's going to be a blazing future."

Doctor Who prides itself on being inclusive and a show which provides a safe space for individuality.

Gatwa is likely to open the show up to new audiences and give another generation of fans a new role model when he makes his debut as the Time Lord next year.

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Ncuti Gatwa: The Scottish-Rwandan roots of the 14th Doctor Who

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Ncuti Gatwa is preparing to take on the role of one of British TV's most iconic characters.

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Yulduz & Fraiba Hashimi - Escaping the Taliban

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Yulduz & Fraiba Hashimi - Escaping the Taliban

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It's a scorching hot June afternoon in the middle of an Italian heatwave. There hasn't been any rain for a month. But grey clouds are slowly rolling in and the humidity is rising fast. A storm is brewing. The kind that only happens once a summer here.

Two sisters are in the foothills of the Dolomites, about to start a 10km climb, weaving to the top of a small mountain. Three of their team-mates, and best friends, are by their side.

It's a beautiful route. There are few cars on the road up and a stunning view over a Veneto village awaits them as a reward.

They press on. There are 17 winding bends, numbered at each turn. They are elite cyclists - some of the best from their country. But they're not used to riding around bends, and they're certainly not used to cycling in pouring, driving rain.

It's far from the dusty landscape of northern Afghanistan where they come from, where often the rubbly roads are not even suitable to walk on.

At the top, they pause to admire the view of their new home. Fat droplets of rain run down off their helmets. It's time to go. They grin at each other as they take off on the descent: "See you at home!"

It had never been easy for the sisters to cycle, even before the return of the Taliban.

Fariba and Yulduz Hashimi were born in one of the most remote, conservative provinces in Afghanistan, where it was practically unheard of to see women cycling.

In 2017 a local cycle race was put on in their local Faryab province, in the north. The sisters - then aged 14 and 17 - decided they wanted to take part.

But there was one small problem. They didn't know how to ride a bike.

They borrowed a neighbour's to practice one afternoon. After a few hours, they finally got the hang of it.

They had to take part in the race secretly because they hadn't told their family. They covered themselves up, wearing big baggy clothing, large headscarves and sunglasses so people didn't recognise them. They even changed their names.

They ended up finishing first and second. "It felt amazing. I felt like a bird who could fly," Fariba, now 19, tells BBC Sport.

They carried on, entering as many small races as they could. It became harder to keep it from their family because they kept winning. Their parents soon found out from photos taken by local media.

"They were upset at first. They asked me to stop cycling," Fariba says. "But I didn't give up. I secretly continued," she smiles.

Their parents warned against the dangers, but eventually they were supportive.

The sisters faced regular harassment. "People were abusive. All I wanted to do was win races," Yulduz, 22, explains.

"There were lots of threats," Fariba adds. "People tried to hit us with their cars or rickshaws. They threw stones at us."

Even their female class-mates at school bullied them for riding bikes.

Soon though, they got noticed, and were called up for the national team.

"I will never forget the day," Yulduz says. "I felt on top of the world."

Their careers went steadily uphill from there, until the Taliban's return to power in August 2021.

It changed everything, and immediately put their lives in danger. The hard-line Islamist group bans women from playing any sport. But that's not all.

Since returning to power, the group have consistently cracked down on women's rights and freedoms.

They've banned all girls from going to school, and most recently from attending university - entirely cutting off female access to education.

They've banned women from most areas of employment - including humanitarian aid organisations.

Women don't have the freedom to dress how they want. The Taliban code of conduct says women must cover themselves entirely, but most women in big cities wear the headscarf.

They are not allowed to travel long distances without a male chaperone, and have been barred from going to parks and gyms. Without so many rights, many women have wondered what's left for them.

Fariba and Yulduz - and other female athletes like them - were representative of an Afghanistan which had been making some progress towards gender equality over the two decades since a US-led coalition's overthrow of the old regime. The new version of the country though was not one the Taliban recognised.

The sisters knew they had to leave if they had any chance of continuing their careers. So, they contacted Alessandra Cappellotto. The Italian, who won a world road title in 1997, now uses cycling to help women around the world.

Her charity Road to Equality had sponsored a race organised in Kabul for International Women's Day in March 2021. The Hashimi sisters had met Cappellotto then.

"They asked for help. Their lives were in danger. So it was natural to help them," Cappellotto says. She called every contact and organisation she could think of to get them out; from the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs to the United Nations.

With her influence, Fariba and Yulduz, as well as three of their team-mates - Nooria Mohammadi, Zahra Rezayee and Arezo Sarwari - got a seat on a flight from Kabul, organised by the Italian government.

Leaving Kabul airport was a chaotic, upsetting experience. They had to say goodbye to their families, not knowing when - or if - they'd see them again.

"I never thought I would be a refugee. I never imagined that I'd have to leave my country," Fariba says.

Cappellotto brought them to a small, hilly town in the Veneto region of northern Italy, close to where she lives.

It's no coincidence that it's a location that's hugely popular with cyclists, with countless picturesque cycling routes.

She helped the group settle in their new country, organised a house for them to live in, part-time jobs, and - most importantly - weekly private Italian lessons.

Alessandra also crucially set them up with brand-new bikes, a professional coach, and a training schedule.

"Alessandra is an Italian cycling hero," Fariba says. "She's helped us a lot. She's like a mother to us."

The group has formed a close bond with their coach, Maurizio. They affectionately call him the 'Capitano'.

Under his care, the team have had to work hard. "We never had a coach in Afghanistan. When I arrived, I felt there was a lot to learn," Yulduz says. "It was a shock. It was like I didn't know anything about cycling."

"They had a more basic technical level of cycling, yes," explains Alessandra. "But it's true that the level of cycling in Europe and Italy is the best in the world."

It was also an issue of safety. They weren't used to cycling on roads with cars. They had to take a cycling proficiency course - usually taken by children.

They joined the Italian cycling team Valcar, taking part in races around Italy such as the UCI World Gravel Championships in nearby Vicenza - where they came 33rd and 39th.

In October they took part in their first big race abroad since arriving in Italy. The 2022 Women's Road Championships of Afghanistan was hosted in Aigle, Switzerland, because of the situation in the country.

Fariba won the race after an exciting sprint-off against her sister, to become the new Afghan women's road champion. After they crossed the finish line, the sisters embraced in a long, tearful hug.

Fariba's win secured a contract with the Israel-Premier Tech-Roland team and she is set to step up to the Women's WorldTour level - the highest level in road cycling - later this year.

"I did not expect this in my wildest dreams. I will race for all Afghan women!" she told media after.

Her older sister Yulduz, who got silver, has also won a place on Israel-Premier Tech-Roland's Development team. Zahra Rezayee - their friend and flat-mate - secured the bronze.

"I am very happy for them," Fazli Ahmad Fazli, Afghan Cycling Federation President said. "These women are amazing riders and I'm sure that soon they will win in big races for Afghanistan."

Fifty riders took part in the race, many of whom fled Afghanistan in August 2021. They came from across different countries in Europe where they are claiming asylum, as well as Singapore and Canada.

The sisters have big dreams. They want to become the first cyclists ever - male or female - to represent Afghanistan at the Olympics.

It won't be easy - qualifying for the Olympics is hugely competitive. And Afghanistan may not be there at all.

In December, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) warned the Taliban government that the country could be banned from Paris 2024 unless women and young girls were allowed safe access to sport.

If that happens, Afghan refugees could have the option to compete under the IOC Refugee Olympic team instead - like Afghan cyclist Masomah Ali Zada did at Tokyo 2020.

But Fariba and Yulduz, who have won Olympic scholarships giving them financial and technical support for their careers, want to represent their homeland - and the flag of its toppled government specifically.

"I want to raise the flag of Afghanistan," Yulduz says. "I want my father and mother to see me and feel proud. That would be the biggest dream ever."

"Cycling is a sport where willpower, the desire to work hard and passion count for a lot. And these girls definitely have these things," Alessandra tells me.

They desperately miss home, and become instantly emotional when talking about their families. But too often they're reminded why they left.

They have had social media messages from relatives who are members of the Taliban - telling them to cover up in photos they've seen of them racing in international media.

"My friends can't go to school or leave their homes," Yulduz says. "I think, what would have happened to me if I stayed?"

The past year has been a huge culture shock. But Italy, and the community they have become a part of, has welcomed them with open arms. "When the Taliban came, my dream was dying. But Italy gave me another hope," smiles Yulduz.

It's a brutal decision to have had to make so young - choosing between your homeland and family, and your career and dreams. These sisters are thankful to have each other to share the highs and lows of such tremendous change.

While the Taliban is in charge, returning home as professional athletes isn't an option. In the meantime, the sisters want to prove to everyone, but most of all themselves, that the sacrifice of leaving everything behind was worth it. And they're throwing everything they can into their cycling to do so.

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How cycling carried two sisters out of the Taliban's reach

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When the Taliban seized power in 2021, Yulduz and Fariba Hashimi faced a choice; leave behind their family or leave behind their sporting dreams.

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BBC Learning English - Course: English My Way / Unit 1

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Has anyone in your Learning Circle ever been to a shopping centre? This time, Samina wants to buy a dress for Deeqa's daughter, but she can't find the right colour or size. We look at some useful phrases for talking about our favourite things and asking for different colours and sizes in shops.

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The NEU guide to welcoming refugee students