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Young refugees and asylum seekers will call on MPs and the Children’s Commissioner to help them tackle the problems they face on a daily basis. The young people of Save the Children’s Brighter Futures project will be running workshops and chairing question-time discussions at the conference in Westminster on 19 April. This is a rare opportunity for young people to influence the asylum debate at its grass roots. In talks with practitioners, including social workers, immigration officers and the police, they will focus on: The Brighter Futures groups are made up of young people aged 15 - 21. They come from a range of unstable and war-torn countries including Angola, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. They meet in Manchester, Middlesbrough and London and work together to change perceptions of young refugees and asylum-seekers. The MP event in parliament is run jointly by Hansard Society and Save the Children. The Hansard Society is an educational charity that exists to promote effective parliamentary democracy. Building on their success in facilitation dialogue between young people and parliament they are supporting the Brighter Futures groups as they present their views to MPs. Nassra, 17, Brighter Futures member said: ‘As a young refugee in this country life can be very difficult - from suffering racist bullying at school to struggling to get into college and university. We want the MPs to help us to change the issues facing us. We are in a strange country and need to feel safe and protected.’ Ramatolai, 16, Brighter Futures member said: ‘We would like people to acknowledge our role in society and to change perceptions of young asylum seekers and refugees. We want to show that young asylum seekers and refugees are human beings like other people.’ Jessica Nott, Save the Children’s co-ordinator for Brighter Futures said: ‘This conference gives these young people an opportunity to voice concerns about the hurdles they face in their everyday lives and express their hopes for the future. Many of the young people from Brighter Futures came to the UK alone, with very little English and very little confidence. It is rare for young refugees and asylum seekers to be able to speak directly to those making decisions on their lives - the MPs, civil servants and practitioners.’