improving government service delivery to minority ethnic ... - NCCRI
improving government service delivery to minority ethnic ... - NCCRI
improving government service delivery to minority ethnic ... - NCCRI
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<strong>improving</strong><br />
<strong>government</strong><br />
<strong>service</strong><br />
<strong>delivery</strong><br />
<strong>to</strong> <strong>minority</strong><br />
<strong>ethnic</strong> groups<br />
Chapter 2: Northern Ireland Research Findings 66_67<br />
Service Provision<br />
In terms of <strong>service</strong> provision <strong>to</strong> various <strong>minority</strong> communities respondents were asked <strong>to</strong> indicate how difficult<br />
or easy it was <strong>to</strong> provide <strong>service</strong>s and <strong>to</strong> see if provision differed between various groups such as longstanding<br />
<strong>minority</strong> <strong>ethnic</strong> groups and more recent migrant workers (Table 5).<br />
One respondent made a general statement indicating that the main problem was ‘language and cultural<br />
difficulties’. Another respondent highlighted that:<br />
“ Minority <strong>ethnic</strong> groups continue <strong>to</strong> highlight <strong>to</strong> public authorities the difficulties they<br />
experience in accessing <strong>service</strong>s, especially if the first language is not English.”<br />
For longstanding <strong>minority</strong> <strong>ethnic</strong> groups, <strong>service</strong> providers responded that providing <strong>service</strong>s was either quite<br />
difficult (26 people, 44%) or quite easy (20 people, 34%). However for provision for migrant workers more<br />
indicated that it was difficult <strong>to</strong> provide a <strong>service</strong>, 38 respondents in <strong>to</strong>tal (65%), with 27 respondents (46%)<br />
stating quite difficult and 11 (19%) very difficult. One respondent stated in their response that:<br />
“ The migrant population is fragmented, although many are from the same country, they<br />
are from different areas and there is no sense of community within their own nationality,<br />
as they do not know each other.”<br />
Again provision of <strong>service</strong>s for asylum seekers and refugees was also viewed as more difficult with 31<br />
respondents (53%) indicating either very or quite difficult (15 (25%) and 16 (27%) respectively). One<br />
respondent did however highlight that:<br />
“ In dealing with our organisation I would see it is quite difficult for refugees but very<br />
difficult for asylum seekers, as refugees are entitled <strong>to</strong> help from us whilst asylum<br />
seekers are not.”<br />
Service provision for Travellers was seen <strong>to</strong> be either quite difficult (19, 32%) or quite easy (21, 36%) but no<br />
specific reasons for these responses were supplied. However in one focus group some participants stated<br />
that they experienced more difficulties in providing <strong>service</strong>s <strong>to</strong> Travellers than any other group and suggested<br />
that Travellers’ demands and expectations of what could be offered were higher and were perceived by <strong>service</strong><br />
providers as unrealistic at times.<br />
Table 5: Ease of Providing Service for Minority Communities<br />
Minority Community<br />
Very<br />
Difficult<br />
Quite<br />
Difficult<br />
Quite<br />
Easy<br />
Very<br />
Easy<br />
Don’t<br />
Know<br />
Missing<br />
Longstanding <strong>minority</strong> <strong>ethnic</strong><br />
community<br />
4 26<br />
20<br />
5 3 1<br />
Migrant Workers 11 27 13 2 4 2<br />
Refugees and Asylum Seekers 15 16 9 2 11 6<br />
Travellers 6 19 21 7 4 2