On Wednesday 28th October we held our online event ‘Asylum Explained’, as part of our monthly ‘Accompaniment in Action’ event series.
Panelists for the discussion which was held on Zoom, were Michael and Bernadette from the JRS UK Legal Project, who accompany our friends by offering support and providing legal advice with their often complex asylum cases. Michael is Senior Legal Officer at JRS UK, and was involved in setting up our legal project. He shared some of his experience of over 25 years working with refugees. Bernadette, who is currently working in the JRS legal project has been a barrister for the past 10 years specialising in asylum and immigration.
Throughout the evening, Michael and Bernadette touched on key aspects of seeking asylum in the UK, including how to claim aslyum, asylum interviews, how Home Office Decisions are made, and what it means when an application is refused. A refugee friend of JRS UK who remained anonymous, also shared her very moving story of the impact of the asylum system, throughout her experience trying to be recognised as a refugee in the UK for the last 17 years.
If you missed the event, you can watch a recording on our Facebook Page, including the very powerful words of our refugee friend, and several questions which were asked by attendees.
It is thanks to our Legal Project that many of our friends, who face destitution because of the UK asylum system, are finally able to be recognised as refugees by UK authorities. Those seeking asylum are banned from working, are often prevented from renting somewhere to live, they face barriers to accessing healthcare and live with a constant threat of being detained, all of which have a detrimental effect on their mental and physical wellbeing.
Your donations help us continue our Legal project, accompanying our friends in need, offering them hope, and changing their lives for the better.
Our monthly series known as Accompaniment in Action, sees us take a closer look at the various ways that JRS accompanies our refugee friends and they us. Each month, we will be speaking to members of staff, volunteers and hear from our refugee friends online. Join us for this series to find out more about JRS as we celebrate our 40th year. You can find out about the other events in the series here.
Your financial donations allow us to continue our Legal Project, and help many of our destitute refugee friends find the justice and security that they so desperately deserve.
Make a donation to JRS UK today and help us fund our Legal Project
