ONeill - Asylum, migration and community

This edition published in Great Britain in 2010 by

Policy Press University of Bristol 1-9 Old Park Hill Bristol BS2 8BB UK Tel +44 (0)117 954 5940 e-mail

North American office: Policy Press c/o The University of Chicago Press 1427 East 60th Street Chicago, IL 60637, USA t: +1 773 702 7700 f: +1 773-702-9756 e:

The Policy Press 2010

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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A catalog record for this book has been requested.

ISBN 978-1-4473-2995-4 ePub
ISBN 978-1-4473-2996-1 Kindle

The right of Maggie ONeill to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.

All rights reserved: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of The Policy Press.

The statements and opinions contained within this publication are solely those of the author and not of the University of Bristol or The Policy Press. The University of Bristol and The Policy Press disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any material published in this publication.

The Policy Press works to counter discrimination on grounds of gender, race, disability, age and sexuality.

Cover design by The Policy Press.
Front cover: image kindly supplied by Jeffer M.-Garib.

Readers Guide
This book has been optimised for PDA.
Tables may have been presented to accommodate this devices limitations.
Image presentation is limited by this devices limitations.

Many people have helped and influenced the development of this book. My first thanks must go to the artists and community arts organisations with whom I have had the privilege of working with and learning from. Charnwood Arts, Soft Touch, City Arts Nottingham, Long Journey Home, B Arts, NIACE and Exiled Writers Ink. Maggy Milner, Jennifer Langer, Misha Myers, Bea Tobolewska, Paul and Miriam Gent, Stuart Brown, Gaylan Nazhad, Aria Ahmed, Jasim Ghafur, Obediar Madziva, Emmanuel Changunda, Jeffer M.-Garib, John Perivolaris, Nick Clements, Tove Dalenius, Sally Norman, Gill Gill, Hilary Hughes, Amy Edwards, Sarah Bailey, Gerry Flanagan, Heather Connelly, Rosie Hobbs, Kate Duncan, Alma Cunliffe, Kevin Ryan, Chris Sabanda, Coco Kalenga, Les Elus, Bruno Ngumbwe, Karina Martin, Senkal Yaami, Jamie Bird, Ljaja Sterland, Jane Watts, Lawrence Chester, Alex Kamanga, Faith Gakanje, Franois Matarasso, Mariwan Dara Aeziz, and Nabil Musa it is such a pleasure working with you.

Jeffer M.-Garibs painting Stone Age was adapted for the cover design. Jeffer can be contacted at

Readers will see Aria Ahmeds photographs throughout this text. More of Arias work can be found at

Heather Connellys photographs of the creative work conducted with City Arts Nottingham and a womens group supported by Refugee Action can be found on pages 155-9. More of Heathers work can be found at: www-staff.lboro.ac.uk/~achc/pages/homepage.html

Paul Gents work with the Dreamers youth group on page ii is inspirational, blending stories, storytelling and art making. Paul is based at Charnwood Arts in Loughborough; he can be contacted on

Heartfelt thanks to the people who took part in the various projects as participants and researchers, people who are living in the asylum-migration-community nexus. Thanks for your generosity and warmth in telling your stories and making art. And to Steve, Patrick and James for putting up with my absences and the long periods at the computer!

Thanks to my colleagues for stimulating conversations, support and the opportunity to present work at various symposia, conferences and research seminars, Brian Roberts, Laurie Cohen, Ruth Lister, Jenny Pearce, Roger Bromley, Gen Doy, Martin Brown, Marsha Meskimmon, Iris Wigger, Sarah Pink, Karen OReilly, Steve Brown, Phil Hubbard, John Arnold, Mark Webster, Christine Gledhill, Barbara Kennedy, Helmut Kuzmics, Heaven Crawley, Rodanthi Tzanelli, Alice Bloch, Eugene McLaughlin, Jan Haaken, Robert Miller, John Given, Jo Phoenix, Olga Bailey, Ramaswami Harindranath; and colleagues at Durham University and colleagues in the ESA European Biographies Network and the HDHS global network, especially Evelin Lindner and Linda Hartling. Thanks to Kim Knott and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) for funding our various projects and to The Policy Press, anonymous reviewers, and Karen Bowler and Laura Greaves for excellent support.

My final thanks go to the very special youth organisation, Dreamers and my inspirational friends Andrew Lake and Kevin Ryan. This book is dedicated to the young people at Dreamers for following their dreams and hopes in the face of fear, destruction, loss, war and suffering.