The refugee students making Northern Ireland home

Eighteen-year-old Najibullah came to Northern Ireland from Afghanistan completely alone.

When asked what is good and bad about Northern Ireland his English is halting but his answer is emphatic.

"I don't see the bad here," he told BBC News NI.

"All is very nice - all is very, very good."

"It's a very nice country, very friendly, so helping, very nice. I don't think here is bad, all is very nice."

That Najibullah can hold a conversation in English and answer my questions is in itself notable as he has only been formally learning the language for a few weeks.

He is one of 11 older teenagers in a special class in Conway Education Centre in west Belfast.

All are refugees and asylum seekers from age 16 to 18.

Many arrived alone as unaccompanied minors without their families - some don't know where their loved ones are - and all have been here only a matter of months.

According to Tina Koutsouki from Conway Education Centre, many have faced traumatic and difficult journeys to get here after fleeing conflict in their own countries.

"They've been through many countries, they've lived in camps in different countries, they've got traumatic experiences that of course have an impact in their lives, in their everyday lives," she said.

"But nonetheless their resilience and their motivation to learn is unbelievable."

Eighteen-year-old Ghasaq, who is originally from Iraq and fled the country on 2011 at the age of eight, is evidence of that.

"My country is very dangerous so we leave my country," she said.

But after years in transit, some in refugee camps, she already feels at home in Northern Ireland and in her class.

"I like it, it's very beautiful here and I feel safe here in Belfast," she said.

"We learn English and maths and I love the English class - it's very good."

The class at Conway Education Centre is a pilot project funded by the National Lottery.

Expert linguists from Ulster University are on hand to help accelerate how quickly the young people learn English, and workers from the Extern and Third Space organisations help them with other personal and social skills.

The aim, according to Ms Koutsouki, is to prepare them for lives and careers here.

But there is more demand than the centre can cope with, and the fear is that - as they're often too old for school - other older teenagers who arrive here as refugees or asylum seekers will get little or no education or help with language learning.

When the UK resettlement scheme for Afghan refugees begins, more young people are expected to arrive in Northern Ireland.

"We keep getting referrals for young people from different organisations," Ms Koutsouki said.

"We've got a long waiting list - we've got 10 young people on the waiting list and we have had enquiries for another 20.

"We are in contact with other agencies and organisations such as the Belfast Trust, Red Cross and Barnardos and what they always tell us is that young people of this age keep coming to Northern Ireland and have no access to education."

The pupils at Conway Mill are in class for 16 hours a week and Ms Koutsouki said she was struck by how enthusiastic they were to learn.

"They want to settle, they want to learn, they've got dreams for further education, they don't miss their classes," she said.

Ghasaq and her friend and fellow class member Yusra, who is from Ethiopia, certainly have dreams they want to realise in Northern Ireland.

"I want to find a job and I want to study more English because I want to be in the future an interior designer," Ghasaq said.

Yusra, meanwhile, has her sights on a medical career.

"My dream when I was a child was I want to be a specialist eye doctor," she said.

"I have been in Ethiopia for two years studying nursing, I want to study more.

"I like the city and all the people are friendly."