Still Walking a Tightrope

Five years ago we first brought practitioners together at an event aimed at increasing understanding of the lives, circumstances and protection needs of Albanian young people and helping to dispel the myths that act as a barrier to finding them safety, support and durable solutions.

Now we meet with those young people again to share what has since been achieved and learned, what remains to be changed and what is new, and to dissect the present and future challenges that prevent young Albanians seeking asylum in the UK from finding protection.

Still Walking a Tightrope aims to bring together practitioners, legal specialists, policy makers and academics working in the field together with Albanian young people to share learning and stimulate further development of a research, action and policy agenda that grapples with the difficult realities and challenges to achieving durable solutions for unaccompanied children from Albania.

The format of the day will combine input from expert key speakers and a panel of young people, with two action-oriented workshops focused on key issues relevant to the circumstances of Albanian young people seeking asylum in the UK:

• Using learning to inform challenges to the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (aimed at lawyers and legal advisors)
• Working successfully with young people from Albania (aimed at social workers, foster carers and modern slavery key workers)

The afternoon workshops will begin after refreshments, at 4pm. Please note that these will run concurrently, so it will not be possible for individuals to attend both workshops and you should sign up for only one ticket type, although attendees are welcome to attend for either part or the whole of the programme.

Speakers and facilitators for the day will include the Rt Hon Baroness Butler-Sloss, GBE, Elaine Chase and other speakers from UCL and LSE, Garden Court Chambers, MiCLU, Croydon Drop In, and more. Please click here for the full programme.

This event is held in partnership with UCL, through Shpresa and the Migrant and Refugee Children's Legal Unit (based at Islington Law Centre)'s joint project Breaking the Chains, which is dedicated to improving outcomes for Albanian children and young people seeking asylum in the UK.

The project works with children and young people in the asylum system, providing them with high quality casework while listening to and amplifying their voices to share our learning about how best to protect this vulnerable group. The project also offers a chance to think strategically about the issues faced by Albanian children and young people, and to harness their energy and talent to provide peer support within and across communities of other asylum-seeking young people.

Tickets close on 15 June.

Please email deboraht@islingtonlaw.org.uk with any queries.