Queen Rania of Jordan praise for west Belfast community group's help integrating refugees

The Queen of Jordan has praised a community-based education group in west Belfast for helping refugees to "overcome barriers" and "not just become productive citizens but also to become active participants in the community".

Her Majesty took time to speak to the group amid her trip to Belfast for the One Young World Summit.

She delivered a keynote speech to open the event which has brought thousands of future leaders to the city to discuss key global issues such as climate change.

Away from the conference, the vocal advocate for refugee and women's rights put her words into action.

On Tuesday, she spoke with adults and children at the Conway Education Centre who now call Northern Ireland home.

During her visit Queen Rania commented on "the sense of community because of the relationships which have been formed here".

The Queen spoke in Arabic to some older women in the group.

They discussed the "kindness and warmth" that the local community had shown, with one woman in her 60s claiming she felt like she had been "reborn here".

Meanwhile the children told Queen Rania how the education centre had helped them to learn English, while also giving them opportunities to make new friends.

Speaking to UTV, 13-year-old Batoul Elzohby, said she had told the Queen that she didn't speak any English before she came to the Conway Centre.

" I was starting from the alphabet and now from the alphabet up to this time, like, it's a big difference," she explained.

"She was amazed because like I came here with no English and then I started to talk and have a good accent - It's just so good."

Raghd Saif, another of the young people to speak to the Queen, said she was "amazed" to meet Queen Rania.

"I spoke with her about myself and my age, my school and how long I’ve been here and how much English I speak. It’s amazing, I’m so happy," she told UTV.

Twelve-year-old Abobakr Saif said he was "very nervous" about the royal meeting as he "didn't know what to say"

Those nerves quickly dissipated, according to Abdisalam Abdiaziz, 13, as: “She was listening a lot and responded a lot to what we were saying and she was very kind about it."

In an exclusive interview with UTV and PA, the Queen of Jordan praised the work of the west Belfast centre.

"Often times when refugees are coming to a country there are cultural and language barriers and community centres like this help them to overcome those barriers and not just become productive citizens but also to become active participants in the community.

"This is what's happening here," she added.

"They've all had different but similar experiences of trauma they are able to share those experiences together and provide almost like a support group for one another."

Queen Rania also said there was an opportunity for the exchange of ideas between Jordan and Northern Ireland in dealing with the global refugee crisis - a sentiment welcomed by Conway Education Centre Manager Pauline Kersten.

“It was such an honour to have her here," she told UTV.

"I know she’s here for the One World Conference but she had asked to visit a community project that supports refugees and Belfast City Council is one of our funders and recommended that she come to Conway Education Centre.

“What I was struck with is that I had to do a quick Google to find out about her work but all the refugees knew who she was, and they knew of her work and what she did.

"Many of the refugees lived in refugee camps in Jordan so they had their own experience of her country and what she did. It was an amazing opportunity to showcase our work.

“There is a lot of support work ongoing for refugees in Belfast but you don’t always see it.

“It’s not rocket science what we’re doing and it’s important to establish those links with other countries such as Jordan as it hosts around 3 million refugees, Jordan is not a rich country, so it would be great to establish those links and to learn from each other and to add to each other’s projects."

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