The closed youth centre in Everberg (Flemish Brabant) has launched a new campaign to help it find volunteers who speak Spanish, Arabic, Darija (Moroccan Arabic) or German. They can be a support for unaccompanied minor refugees who are not proficient in Dutch, French or English.
Everberg closed youth centre is looking for volunteers with good language skills for unaccompanied minor refugees
Colin Clapson
Published:
The Everberg centre is a closed institution where young people aged between 12 and 18 are temporarily housed. A juvenile judge entrusts them to this body when they have committed or are suspected of having committed a crime.
By making it easier for the minors to meet people in Belgium, the institution aims to make the youngsters' stay easier. The minors’ first contacts in Belgium are often difficult, especially when they are young refugees.
Last year, for example, 37 unaccompanied minors ended up at the centre. "It’s a number that is not particularly high, but the integration of these young people is often complicated by the language barrier," explains Niels Heselmans, spokesperson for Opgroeien, the Flemish government’s young people’s department.
"Especially for young people who have no or only poor understanding of Dutch, French or English, it is almost impossible to explain what to expect from their stay in Everberg," Mr Heselmans explains. "This leads to additional turmoil in their minds. We are unable to make it sufficiently clear to them that we want to be there for them."
Volunteers with language skills sought
Volunteers fluent in Spanish, Arabic, Darija (Moroccan Arabic) or German can now help facilitate the centre’s welcome. "We are looking for volunteers with a talent for languages who are willing to visit from time to time when unaccompanied minors arrive," explains Mr Heselmans.
"Of course, we already use translation computers and AI also offers a lot of possibilities to explain what they can expect, but we still see that the personal approach remains important."
"We want to give young people the chance to connect: in an ideal scenario, we should always be able to match a reception colleague with someone who speaks the language of any new young arrival. In that way we can tell them what to expect and we can also listen to the young person's story straight away."
"These are young people who have often been travelling from country to country for months or sometimes years and have experienced a lot of trauma," Mr Heselmans says. "They came into contact with the police because they are easy targets for criminal gangs or because they committed thefts to survive on the streets."
More information is available via the following link .