UK Special Forces command rejected resettlement applications from more than 2,000 Afghan commandos who had shown credible evidence of service in units that fought alongside the SAS and SBS, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed for the first time.
UK Special Forces officers appear to have rejected every application from a former Afghan commando referred to them for sponsorship, despite the Afghan units having fought with the British on life-threatening missions against the Taliban.
Dear Friend, Greetings from the World Office of the Friends World Committee for Consultation. Grace and peace to you.
This is a sad time for FWCC with the recent passing of our clerk, Simon Lamb (Ireland Yearly Meeting). Esther Mombo (Highland Yearly Meeting) will now ably serve as clerk for the remainder of 2025.
This is also an anxious time for the world. Still I hold faith that the Light shines in the dark, and the darkness has not overcome it. This will be the case for as long as we each seek Godâs will for our lives, and seek to unite with it.
This year World Quaker Day (5 October) will have the theme âLove Your Neighbourâ, taking as its guiding scripture Galatians 5:14: âFor the whole law can be summed up in this one command: âLove your neighbour as yourselfââ.
Ginny Baumann from the Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network explores how to build better links between climate and migrant justice campaigns.
Across our Yearly Meeting, the issues of climate justice and migrant rights are live concerns. Although they are often carried forward by different groups of Friends, they are somehow held invisibly together within our Quaker meetings. But in our wider communities, efforts to tackle these two issues aren’t often unified, and it means that climate campaigning can sometimes feed into unintended harm on migrant issues.
The Home Office published updated guidance yesterday that seems to prevent anyone from being granted citizenship if they arrived in the UK through a dangerous journey. You can see more in this guidanceOpens in a new window and the reference, on page 51, to those arriving by small boat.
In response to this news, Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, said:
âThis change flies in the face of reason. The British public want refugees who have been given safety in our country to integrate into and contribute to their new communities, so it makes no sense for the Government to erect more barriers.
There have been some important additions to pages 50 and 51 of the Good Character guidance (a comparison of the new and old versions is here) that have the potential to block a large number of refugees from naturalising as British citizens, effective immediately. This is described in the changes section as a âclarificationâ rather than a change, although the fact that it is to be applied to applications made from 10 February 2025 seems to undermine this somewhat.
This has been added to page 50:
Any person applying for citizenship from 10 February 2025, who previously entered the UK illegally will normally be refused, regardless of the time that has passed since the illegal entry took place.
Any person applying for citizenship before 10 February 2025 where illegal entry is a factor, will continue to have their application reviewed to determine whether that immigration breach should be disregarded for the purpose of the character assessment.
Over the years, the Together With Refugees coalition has come together to show the love on Valentineâs Day.
The Government has just introduced new legislation on asylum. Thatâs why this Valentineâs Day is an important moment for us to show our strength and support for refugees.
Thereâs three ways your organisation or group can be part of this joint effort:Â
 Contact or meet with your MP  Engage your community  Make a statement on social media
From handwritten cards and getting crafty with orange hearts to meetings with MPs and taking over social media feeds, we can demonstrate that our communities are calling for a fair new plan for refugees.Â
7 February 2025: Remembering Janet Toye, stalwart member of Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network – QARN, and of the Steering Group when she died on 27 January 2025
Janet Toye – photo from Facebook
Janet was active in Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network – QARN from its early days, and a member of Oxford Meeting for many years.
She convened the Oxford Meeting’s Human Rights and Asylum group; a note from 2009 records that Janet will draft a statement summarising our reasons for opposition to the current detention regime. She saw immigration detention as a human rights issue at an early stage.
In 2011 she reported to QARN that a group of 9 or 10 people in Oxford and Headington Local Meetings keep in touch about asylum issues: most are involved in support, visiting, fundraising or campaigning in association with 5 different local organisations. We have face to face contact, an email group, and occasional business meetings. We take asylum and immigration matters to our local business meetings, organise our food collections for destitute asylum seekers, and from time to time hold other events to maintain awareness about asylum issues. Janet played a leading role.
At that time Janet represented QARN on Still Human, Still Here, a national campaign to end destitution among asylum seekers. She kept us up to date with the work of Asylum Matters and forwarded many emails from other relevant campaigning organisations
4 February 2025: The APPG on Refugees have today released the attached report following an inquiry into safe and legal routes.
The report has been endorsed by 16 members of the APPG from both Houses and most of the main parties. Taking evidence from experts, refugees and international best practice, the report recommends:
Improving refugee family reunion by:
Delivering the Home Officeâs Service Standard of processing family reunion cases in 60 days
Amending the Immigration Rules to allow refugee children in the UK to sponsor their close family to join them
Removing financial restrictions on UK-based sponsors so children outside the UK can join their close family here