JRS UK is excited to join Together With Refugees, a new coalition campaign of more than 100 national, local, refugee-led and grassroots groups which has launched today. The campaign carries a simple message, of showing compassion to people fleeing war, persecution or violence.
By joining the coalition, we declare our support for the following statement:
“How we treat refugees is about who we are. At our best, we are welcoming and kind to those facing difficult times. If any one of us feared for our lives or for our loved ones, we’d want to know that others would help us to safety. Together, we are calling for a better approach to supporting refugees that is more effective, fair and humane. This means standing up for people’s ability to seek safety in the UK no matter how they came here and ensuring people can live in dignity while they wait for a decision on their asylum application. It means empowering refugees to rebuild their lives and make valuable contributions to our communities. And it means the UK working with other countries to do our bit to help people who are forced to flee their homes. Be a part of our shared movement for change.”
What is the campaign calling for?
Together with over 100 other organisations and groups, we are calling for a better approach to supporting refugees that is kinder, fairer and more effective. This means:
- standing up for people’s ability to seek safety in the UK no matter how they came here.
- ensuring people can live in dignity while they wait to hear if they will be granted protection.
- empowering refugees to rebuild their lives and make valuable contributions to their communities.
- The UK working with other countries to do our bit to help people who are forced to flee their homes.
Together With Refugees aims to build on the power of our active movement to set the agenda together, inspire hope, and win deep change in the UK’s approach to refugees.
The coalition was founded by Asylum Matters, British Red Cross, Freedom from Torture, Refugee Action, Refugee Council and Scottish Refugee Council.
If you too believe in a kinder, more humane approach to supporting refugees please join the campaign!
JRS UK’s recent report ‘Being Human in the Asylum System’ calls for a culture that values human dignity and promotes welcome with genuine openness. By bringing refugee experience and policy analysis into conversation with Catholic Social Teaching, it presents core principles and recommendations which envisage a just and person-centred asylum system.
Download ‘Being Human in the Asylum System’
How can you get involved?
1. Join the campaign
Inspired by the refugee nation flag, and the colours of a lifebelt, the orange heart symbolises hope and compassion. With the campaign slogan #WhoWeAre, the heart is intended to be adopted widely to show support for refugees while underpinning a sense of unity. They represent that together, as a movement, we are larger than the sum of our parts.
You can share the campaign on social media, on your website, or with your networks.
Simply search the hashtags #TogetherWithRefugees and #WhoWeAre on social media and retweet, comment and repost your support. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook and share our posts!
2. Support the work of JRS, take action, and stand Together With Refugees
By supporting our work and taking part in our upcoming events you can help show compassion and welcome to those seeking sanctuary in the UK who are supported by JRS. These are some of the ways you will be able to take action and support our work over the next few weeks:
- JRS Being Human in the Asylum System report Launch event – Catch-up on the event
- Sign up to attend our next Accompaniment in Action event
- Buy our book of refugee creative writing launched during Refugee Week 2021.
- Autumn – when the Borders Bill is set to be debated in Parliament.
Find out what you can do today to support those seeking sanctuary in the UK
We’ll be updating this page regularly, so keep checking back here and our social media pages for more ways to get involved!
For more information on how you can join the coalition, get involved and contribute your ideas to future plans contact uk@jrs.net
