40-year-old Newcastle local Smajo reflects on his own family’s journey to the UK, where he moved as a refugee, as he aims to dispel some of the ‘myths’ surrounding immigration
As over 110,000 people took part in anti-immigration protests in London earlier this month, one Newcastle man, who moved to the country as a child and is a refugee himself, shares his own powerful story.
Smajo Beso, 40, was brought to the UK in 1993 when he was just nine. He was unable to speak a word of English and already desperate to return back to his home in Bosnia. He and his family moved to the country due to the armed conflict between Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 up until 1995.
When the conflict began, Smajo’s father, Dzemal Beso, was sent to what he described as a ‘concentration camp’ run by Croatians. This left him, his siblings and his mother behind as they were forced out of their home and into a collection centre, driven from the area and forced to find a short stay with a relative.
In the first nine months of war, the Beso family moved an eye-watering 14 times in a constant battle to find safety. When the camp in which his father was being held was uncovered months later, they released 500 men in the worst of conditions.
Dzemal was one of those so-called ‘lucky’ men who was sent to receive some much-needed medical treatment. When they arrived on the island, they were given the choice of being sent to a number of countries, as part of a signed agreement with various governments, in a bid to prevent these men from returning to Bosnia.
“My dad was one of those so-called ‘fighting age’ men who came here six months before we did,” Smajo explained. Dzemal came to the UK on the 19th of January, 1994, as part of a UK government resettlement programme known as the Bosnia Project. Up until this point, there was no safe route for Bosnians arriving in the UK.
Smajo explained: “He had the option of choosing where to go, essentially. And my dad chose the UK because he was told, as an encouragement, that within 48 hours, his family would be reunited with him in the UK. Awful things were happening in Bosnia, and he was just desperate to get us out.
“He was told we’d be in the UK for about two and a half to three years. And he thought, ‘actually, if my kids are there, they’ll learn English, they’ll start school – because we obviously missed so much school – and then we can go back to Bosnia and rebuild our lives.’” Although it wasn’t quite the quick reunion he was promised, as it was an six months before he would see his wife and children again.
What Smajo can’t help but notice is the positive comments he has received online when sharing his story in comparison to those that refugees are receiving now. “People say, ‘But you’re different; you were a genuine refugee; you came here with your family,'” he said.
“And for me, what this shows is how this whole conversation around refugees has been hijacked by the far right; it’s been driven by lies and misinformation. These people are exactly like we were in the 90s – the only difference is, we had a safe route, whereas the people coming here now, they have no safe route and so no other choice but to come here on a boat.”
For those reaching the British borders via boat, it is only deemed illegal if they do not choose to claim asylum. However, in order to be granted refugee status, the Home Office states this process usually takes around six months, although due to significant backlogs and more complex cases, this can now take 18-24 months.
When his dad arrived in the UK, he was taken to Newcastle, where a refugee centre had been set up. He was given refugee status immediately, thanks to the programme, but was not able to work, start any form of education, or even begin to learn English.
Despite finally being able to be together as a family, when they reunited in the UK six months on, Smajo’s first night in Newcastle was one he’ll never forget. As a frightened nine-year-old boy, he woke up screaming after suffering from a nightmare, something that became a regular occurrence for him for years to come.
After living in a refugee centre for months, they were able to leave and create a new but temporary life for themselves in the city. Although Smajo made it clear that this was no easier of a transition for him, saying: “Once we moved, we didn’t have that community there of people who had experienced the same things that we experienced.”
“We started school; I couldn’t speak a word of English. I missed my grandparents so much. I was depressed. I didn’t want to be here. And on top of all that, we kept getting short visa extensions, you know, like a month, two months, or three months – so there was that constant fear that we’d be sent back because the war was still ongoing.”
He added: “There was no government help and all this other stuff that people speak about now. My parents had to start working, we had to start paying rent, we had to start contributing, we started school, and the supposed ‘honeymoon period’ was over.”
Now 40, working as both an architect and a lecturer, with a strong involvement in the Bosnian Genocide Educational Trust, Smajo can see the divide the country’s views on immigration have created. While it was no easy feat for him and his family in the 90s, he expressed that he can’t begin to imagine what it’s like for those escaping war-torn countries in this current climate.
He said: “I’d be lying if I said we didn’t experience some discrimination, but we were white, so a lot of people couldn’t tell that we were foreign. There were times when kids would call you a refugee as though it was this dirty word, but we were lucky that we had these incredible teachers that helped the other kids understand what we had experienced.
“That is why our experience has been overall positive, thanks to them. That’s what’s needed now – this honest discussion about refugees and what these things mean – and it’s just not happening.
“These things are just being so openly discussed, the lies online and on national TV. There was that conversation with Rylan… It just shows how effective the misinformation machine has become. And this is why it’s not enough to respond with facts and figures.
“They’re using doubt. They’re using fear. They’re using lies effectively and playing to people’s emotions. And that’s dangerous because once a society accepts the dehumanisation of one group, it’ll never stop there.”
As Smajo continues to share his story, he hopes to help others understand the processes that take place for both refugees and asylum seekers, as well as the often traumatising experiences that these people carry with them. He also dedicates his time to educating the public on the Bosnian Genocide that changed him and his family’s life forever.
“History has shown time and time again that there’ll be someone else tomorrow,” he said. “And that’s what I fear, because the UK is my home. And the reason I share my story hundreds of times up and down the country is because I love the UK.
“And I want to use my experience from Bosnia, my experience of being a refugee, to do something positive with it. And that’s my fear, because we have such a wonderful society here in the UK. We have such a wonderful country. And my fear is that we are headed towards something that will be very difficult to reverse.”