'Asylum bill will increase racism'

The campaigners want the bill amended

By Tom Geoghegan BBC News Online, Westminster

Young refugees met peers at Westminster to outline their concerns about the government's controversial Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill and its proposal to teach children outside mainstream schools.

Gjovalin Perkola escaped the bullets and bombs in his native Kosovo four years ago to join his brother in the UK.

The 19-year-old is studying to become an accountant after a mainstream college education in west London.

And he believes the bill could mean refugees fleeing one form of persecution only to face another.

If I was in one of these camps, with people from my country, I would be pushed to speak my language and talk to them about my past

Gjovalin Perkola

Aged 15, he left his village in the war-torn region of Gjakova to live in the mountains.

He said: "Everyone was just running and there was shouting and bombing everywhere.

"I didn't even have the mind to think about what I was leaving behind.

"If you lived, you lived, and if you died, you died."

That was the last time Gjovalin saw his mother.

English friends

His father was already dead and one brother was missing, but he crossed the border to Macedonia, where an uncle gave him details about Gjovalin's brother in London.

The uncle paid a lorry driver to take him to Dover, a journey which Gjovalin estimates took about three days and nights.

"I didn't know if I was in England or not, even when I saw the police.

Charities want asylum children taught with other pupils

"I was afraid they could beat me up, but I was surprised because they were very helpful and gave me food and drink."

When Gjovalin was reunited with his brother, "it was like you're born again and you get a second life back."

He began attending West London College in Hammersmith, where he mixed with the rest of the students when not in a special class for non-English speakers.

He said: "I have lots of English friends, and they correct me when I say something wrong.

'Punishment'

"If I was in one of these camps, with people from my country, I would be pushed to speak my language and talk to them about my past.

"Outside the camp, people would be pointing their finger at me and it would lead to racism.

This is an unnecessary and pernicious measure which serves no purpose other than to stigmatise and marginalise vulnerable children

Bishop of Portsmouth

"Living and studying there is not good for you - it's like a punishment, not a free world."

Mustajab Malikzada, 19, runs the Young Refugees Rights Project, which supports the refugee community in west London.

He said: "In a mainstream college, asylum seekers can get to know the other students in the library, the canteen or the gym.

"They can also later have professional classes with other mainstream students.

Gjovalin has vowed to fight deportation

"The other pupils try to understand. It's difficult for them to know why we are here, but they are sensitive."

Other campaigners at Westminster included the Bishop of Portsmouth, Kenneth Stevenson, Save the Children and The Children's Society.

Gjovalin is staying in the UK on exceptional leave, after his asylum claim was rejected because Kosovo is classed as a "safe" country.

But he fears he will be persecuted for alleged collaboration offences if he is forced to return in January.

"I would rather die or go to prison than go back," he said.