Ms Tahereh Fardin Tabrizi:

Through our experience, we have seen that the language barrier can sometimes add to the lack of data. Some of our clients will be illiterate as well, even in their home language. There is, therefore, a digital divide. We also see the fear of the immigration status and the fear of deportation. There is a fear that any information that will be given to the individual will go to the authorities. It is an active war zone for them. To add to that, there are the long waiting times for family reunification; fear of intention; general waiting times for IP applications, visas and travel documents; restrictive labour market access - we are seeing that labour market access has now been increased to, I think, 130 days and that is having an impact on their mental state; and restrictions to education. We have to target the delays and be able to address the cultural but also the language barriers. Language is a huge part for many of the migrants we work with.