Advocate

[to uphold, to defend, to intercede for]

ADVOCACY AT JRS UK

JRS UK advocates for the rights of refugees. Advocacy in JRS starts by listening to refugees’ concerns and then working with them to find solutions. Our advocacy involves:

Raising awareness of policy issues that shape refugees’ lives and experience. We conduct and publish policy research and contribute to public policy consultations and advocacy campaigns, working with other organisations, faith-based and secular, to bring about a more just world;
Trying to create space where people can encounter refugees as whole people with hopes and dreams, interests and gifts, just like any other; and seek to encourage authentic human relationships to grow;
Helping to transform the public conversation about refugees, exposing the real stories about their lives, including the hardships that they face in the UK, especially during the period they are seeking asylum. We believe it is vital that refugees’ own voices are at the heart of this conversation.

POLICY AT JRS UK

We advocate on behalf of those we accompany and serve, and we do so with their participation. For this reason, our advocacy at JRS UK focuses on issues relating to detention and destitution, as these are the focus of our services.

JRS UK advocate for policies that protect refugees and allow them to flourish. Much of our current policy and advocacy work focuses around challenging the ‘hostile environment agenda’.