Rhetta Moran
 Dr Rhetta Moran      | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1960 |
| Alma mater | University of Manchester |
| Founder of | RAPAR |
Rhetta Moran is an independent consultant in researching and learning,[1] and is a trustee of the Salford Refugee and Asylum Seeker Participatory Action Research (RAPAR),[2] that was based at Manchester University's Revans Institute, where her research into refugees gained worldwide recognition.[3]
Refugee accommodation
On 16 November 2022, following stories that refugees were living the life of luxury in five star hotels, Crispin Flintoff spoke to Rhetta Moran, co-founder of RAPAR (Refugee and Asylum Seeker Participatory Action Research).[4]
Schooling refugee children
On 28 March 2022, the Morning Star reported:
Child refugees in Manchester are receiving lessons in a car park because no places have been found for them in local schools, campaigners said today.
The Refugee and Asylum Seeker Participatory Action Research charity said volunteers are giving the children lessons in the car park of a hotel where they are living and called on Manchester City Council to deal with the problem.
Dr Rhetta Moran of RAPAR said: “The children and their families are claiming asylum in the UK after escaping war and persecution, but they are stuck in temporary hotel accommodation because of inhumane and lengthy delays in the UK asylum and immigration system.
“The city council is responsible for the education of children living in the Manchester hotels, but many of them have already spent months out of school.
“RAPAR is demanding that the city council introduce a systematic approach, with an accurate count of all the children of refugees living in hotels in the city, along with their ages, whether they have applied for schooling or not, and how long ago.
“This should be happening in Manchester — and everywhere else, too. It is a statutory responsibility, not an action to be undertaken by volunteers.
“They have even set up their own classroom in a hotel car park, chalking images of trees, flowers and freedom on the ground.”
RAPAR warned that the plight of refugees will worsen under the government’s forthcoming Nationality and Borders Bill.
Ms Moran said: “It is not criminal to seek safety. It is criminal to leave any child bereft of their schooling.
"Neither the government nor Manchester City Council can justify their failure to educate these children or their failure to publicly inform the people of both this country and this city that there are indigenous and refugee children waiting for school places in number.
“Parents became so concerned about the lack of help in finding schools for their children that they obtained and completed school admission forms with the assistance of supporters. These forms are now with the city council.”[5]
Wars and refugees
| Dr Rhetta Moran speaks on relationship between predatory wars, refugees and people seeking asylum |
On 8 October 2005, Dr Rhetta Moran spoke at a Convention of the Left workshop on refugees and people seeking asylum held in Manchester's Central Hall.
