What can you do

September 23, 2022November 11, 2022

Fill the Skies with Hope

23 September 2022: Together with Refugees

orange paper aeroplane with message to PM

On Friday 23 September we launched a new campaign to urge the new Prime Minister (PM) to change course on the government’s policy to banish refugees to Rwanda. #FillTheSkiesWithHope runs until 9 November 2022.

The launch was timed for after the announcement of our new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, and ahead of the party conferences (Labour, 25 September and Conservative, 2 October) where we will host fringe meetings to engage both main parties on how we treat refugees.

#FillTheSkiesWithHope to stop the flights

Send orange heart-shaped paper planes

Up until 9 November, groups will join others across the country to Fill the Skies with Hope, making and sending orange heart-shaped paper planes, with your messages to the new Prime Minister. In stark contrast to the hostile plans from the government, we want to demonstrate broad support to end the cruel scheme to send refugees to Rwanda.

There’s not much time, so we want to make this as simple and powerful as possible, with different levels of action and timing, depending on your capacity.

The idea

Make origami heart shaped orange plane/s (see video) with a message to the PM and send them via your MP.

June 17, 2022October 22, 2022

Changing the Conversation on Asylum in the UK

Woodbrooke/QARN event: ‘Changing the Conversation on Asylum in the UK’ held by zoom on 16 June 2022

Below you will find a video of presentations: the speakers agreed to be recorded and you can see the video of presentations by Mariam Yusuf, Rogelio Braga, and Moses Mbano

Loraine Masiya Mponela’s poem and the transcript, which was written for this event.

and a toolkit which can be downloaded

Changing the Conversation on Asylum — CREDIT: ERFAN ALAEI – THE PAINTING ILLUSTRATES HIS FEARS, HOPES AND CONCERNS. HE HAS EXPERIENCE OF THE UK ASYLUM SYSTEM

This evening event, coming just before Refugee Week, offers a chance to hear from those in the asylum system working to change the conversation on asylum through art, poetry and activism.

Loraine Masiya Mponela pre-recorded her poem ‘There is plenty room for those wanting to do the right thing’ for this event, because she was speaking elsewhere.

You can watch her recording here

There is plenty room for those wanting to do the right thing

June 16, 2022June 16, 2022

Would Little Amal go to Rwanda this year?

Quakers in Britain: Fred Ashmore discusses the harshening hostile environment for refugees and asylum seekers and shares what a response rooted in love and justice could look like.

Last year, many British Quakers took part in or witnessed a series of events throughout Britain in which a 3m tall puppet, Little Amal, journeyed from the Syrian border via Dover to Manchester, joining in events and rallies during her journey. Amal symbolised the search for a new life of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers. The events were inspiring and full of hope.

Little Amal’s journey ended in late 2021. Since then, the UK government has passed the Nationality and Borders Act – legislation which changes the potential outcomes for those who come here full of hope. This year, 2022, Amal would be identified as a criminal because she didn’t travel by one of the government’s approved routes. A real life Amal could well be rejected from applying for asylum in the UK and could even be deported to Rwanda under the government’s scheme.

June 5, 2022June 5, 2022

Little Amal – The Walk: Hope. Too BIG to ignore.

Start with Hope, change will follow …

Updated 5 June 2022: Amal is back on the road in UK 19 – 27 June 2022

She will be visiting Manchester, Bradford, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham, Cheltenham, Bristol, Stonehenge, London, Canterbury, and ending on the beach at Folkestone where she arrived last year: https://www.walkwithamal.org/events/

May 25, 2022June 7, 2022

QARN at Yearly Meeting 2022

Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network: Unmasking and unmaking the hostile environment – let us see what love can do – 25 May 2022, 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM, on zoom

Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network talking with Friends about the current hostile environment and our plans going forward; current development (as best we can) and where members of our network are particularly engaged.

The hostile environment and its impact on everyone involved in or engaged in working against it are very challenging to consider. Not great for those with a strong empathy.

Comments, questions, ideas from the YM Faith In Action meeting on 25 May are below :

May 25, 2022May 25, 2022

Responses to the war in Ukraine

See comments also here: QARN members’ thoughts on Community Sponsorship https://qarn.org.uk/qarn-members-thoughts-on-community-sponsorship/

Updated 25 May 2022: LocalGov: MPs warn Ukrainian refugees are being forced into B&Bs

MPs have written to the Government to raise concerns about the Homes for Ukraine scheme in light of reports of Ukrainian refugees being forced into temporary accommodation.

Clive Betts, chair of the ‘Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee’, has written to Lord Harrington, minister for refugees, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, concerning recent reports of problems with the operation of the scheme.

These problems include delays in criminal records checks for UK hosts and of accounts of Ukrainian refugees being forced into temporary accommodation such as B&Bs.

Mr Betts said: ‘There continue to be concerns about how the Homes for Ukraine scheme is operating, about the speed in helping refugees arrive, around delays in DBS [Disclosure and Barring Service criminal record] and accommodation checks, and concerns that Ukrainians who have arrived in the UK are finding themselves homeless after their initial place fell through or family members could not host them.’

Mr Betts’ latest letter follows an earlier missive, sent 4 May, which expressed ‘significant concerns’ about support for Ukrainian refugees and for local authorities.

‘There is a glaring disconnect in the current matching process which means the hospitality being offered by sponsors is not being taken up,’ Mr Betts said today.

‘The Government needs to up its game and speed up data sharing with local authorities so they can match refugees to suitable sponsors as quickly as possible and so councils can line up the resources and services to support those fleeing from Ukraine.’

March 3, 2022March 13, 2022

Faith leaders letter on the Nationality and Borders Bill

3 March 2022: Quakers join more than 1,000 faith representatives ‘horrified’ by refugee bill

22 Quaker representatives have signed a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging him to reconsider the Nationality and Borders Bill.

Leaders from the six major faith groups in the UK said they are “horrified and appalled about the potential repercussions of the Bill” and called on the Prime Minister to make urgent changes.

We assert that the values that bind UK citizens together, especially those concerning human dignity and life, will be fundamentally damaged by this Bill.

These include abandoning plans to criminalise and restrict the rights of people arriving in the UK through irregular routes, such as by boat or lorry. The letter calls on the government to create safe routes to help people reach the UK.

Quaker signatories include: Paul Parker, Recording Clerk of Quakers in Britain; Elizabeth Allen, Clerk to General Meeting for Scotland; and Sheila Mosley on behalf of the Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network (QARN).

The letter was coordinated by the Joint Public Issues Team, made up of the Methodist Church in Britain, Baptist Union of Great Britain and United Reformed Church, working with the Church of Scotland.

Read the full text of the letter

January 24, 2022January 24, 2022

Impact of Covid-19 on migrants

Updated 19 January 2021: JCWI: “We also want to be safe” – undocumented migrants facing COVID in a Hostile Environment

Executive Summary

This report explores undocumented migrants’ experiences of the COVID pandemic. It focuses on financial security, work, housing and access to healthcare, and highlights how in all these areas, the Government’s Hostile Environment policies have exacerbated the effects of the COVID crisis for undocumented people.

Download the report

Take action to make sure the COVID inquiry includes migrants

You can sign the JCWI letter: ‘We also want to be safe’ – Sign our open letter

Faced with COVID, the Government should have done everything in its power to ensure everyone had support. Everyone needs a way to earn a living, access to the public safety net if they need it, safe accommodation, and access to vaccines and the NHS.

But Hostile Environment policies cut undocumented migrants off from these basic rights. Because they don’t have the right piece of paper in their passport, people without status have been left destitute, homeless, and afraid or unable to get help during the pandemic.

We need accountability, and change. The public inquiry into the Government handling of COVID is getting underway now. We are calling on the Chair to make sure the experiences of all migrants, including those without status, are part of her investigation.

Scroll down to add your name to our open letter today, to be part of the movement calling for change.

Read more and sign here: https://www.jcwi.org.uk/migrants-covid-inquiry

January 22, 2022January 22, 2022

Changing the Conversation on Asylum

Freedom From Torture: Changing the Conversation on Asylum: A Messaging Guide

Freedom from Torture is proud to launch ‘Changing the Conversation on Asylum: A Messaging Guide’, a new report based on research into the most persuasive narratives around refugee rights in the UK.

This messaging guide is a tool to help the refugee and migrant advocacy sector to think tactically, play to our strengths and win.

In this new guide, we take a look at the methodology and messages that can help us carve out a new approach that will be successful in persuading the public that seeking safety is a fundamental human right.

December 16, 2021December 16, 2021

“Shocking conditions” found in Kent holding facilities for asylum seekers: also RNLI

Updated 16 December 2021: HM Chief Inspector of Prisons: Report on an unannounced inspection of the detention of migrants at Dover and Folkestone Detention facilities: Tug Haven, Kent Intake Unit and Frontier House by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons 8 October and 1–3 November 2021

Introduction
This report covers inspections of the detention facilities at Tug Haven and Kent Intake Unit (KIU) in Dover, and Frontier House in Folkestone. The facilities mainly held people who had arrived from France on small boats after undertaking sea crossings from France. Several hundred people arrived at Tug Haven during the inspection and most went directly to immigration removal centres (IRCs) or hotel or hostel accommodation. The Home Office did not keep data on the length of time people spent at Tug Haven, but about 2,000 people, including over 700 unaccompanied children, had been held at KIU or Frontier House in the previous three months for an average of more than 26 hours. The longest detained person was held for over four days and the longest detained child had been held for over 90 hours.