UK's Turks and Kurds 'invisible'

The academic achievement of those surveyed varied widely

Young Turkish-speaking people in the UK are often "invisible" to the authorities, a study suggests.

Their problems are often overlooked because they do not have a distinct place in white/ethnic minority groupings, researchers said.

The report for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation studied 280 Turks and Kurds in north London.

It reported they were worse off than many other ethnic groups and faced disadvantages at school and at work.

The study, Young Turks and Kurds, carried out by a team of Bristol University researchers, concluded young Turkish-speaking people were "largely inaudible and invisible within youth research".

Overall a third of the respondents - aged between 16 and 23 - said they had suffered harassment and discrimination because of their race or religion. This was reported to have come mainly from white people but sometimes from members of ethnic minority groups.

UK'S TURKISH COMMUNITIES 100,000 Turkish Cypriot 50,000 Turkish 50,000 Kurds

The report's authors called on schools, careers agencies and local government to address the group's need.

"We would urge them to employ specialist staff who can work with young people from these communities to help them steer their way through the educational and other disadvantages the research has identified," said Harriet Bradley, one of the researchers.

'Optimistic'

There are approximately 200,000 members of the UK's Turkish-speaking communities. About half are of Turkish Cypriot origin, 50,000 have their roots in Turkey and another 50,000 are ethnic Kurds from Turkey.

In north London, particular tension existed between mainland Turks and Turkish Kurds, researchers found, with many Kurds refusing to identify themselves as Turks.

The Kurds, as the newest migrant group, suffered the highest levels of disadvantage, partly linked to the asylum-seeking status of many of them.

Academic achievement levels varied widely, the report said, with nearly a quarter of respondents having been excluded from school.

Nearly two-thirds of the Kurds had no qualifications, but 37% had qualifications above GCSE level. And 40% of the Turkish youngsters were unqualified but more than half had at least one A level.

However, in spite of their lack of qualifications as a group, interviewees were optimistic about their employment prospects with most finding work within a close-knit circle of family and friends' businesses.