Together with Refugees
How we treat refugees is who we are: showing compassion and welcoming the stranger fleeing war, persecution or violence.
Campaign toolkit
We have a new campaign toolkit on the Nationality and Borders Bill developed alongside our friends at the St Vincent de Paul Society. The toolkit explains the eight things you should know about the Bill and why it will make life that much harder for people seeking safety.
It also takes you through the four ways you can advocate for refugees today.
It’s #WhoWeAre.
Download the factsheet | Download the Full Toolkit
Ways you can stand together with refugees:
"The best way to achieve justice is to expose injustice. Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere."
Member of JRS UK’s advocacy group, Refugees Call for Change
Show the Love
Inspired by the refugee nation flag, and the colours of a lifebelt, the orange heart symbolises hope and compassion.
Display your message of hope, compassion and solidarity in your car, in your living room window, on your church bulletin board to show that you stand #togetherwithrefugees.
Download Orange Heart with text
Stuck for ideas of what message to share? or feeling despondent? Take a look at this gallery of organge hearts shared with JRS recently for some heartwarming inspiration.
We have a new campaign toolkit on the Nationality and Borders Bill developed alongside our friends at the St Vincent de Paul Society. The toolkit explains the eight things you should know about the Bill and why it will make life that much harder for people seeking safety.
It also takes you through the four ways you can advocate for refugees today.
Advocate: Write to your MP
Write to your MP to voice your concerns over the government’s treatment of those who have been forcibly displaced. By contacting your MP you will take a step towards opposing the Nationality and Borders Bill and the New Plan for Immigration, and holding the government to account.
If you’ve never contacted your MP before, or you could use a little refresher, there’s some tips and furthe resources & brefings on our Contact your MP page.
8 key concerns about the Nationality and Borders Bill
- How worthy of protection someone is will depend on how they travelled to the UK: denying sanctuary to the vast majority of people seeking asylum
- It will expand the use of detention-like accommodation centres: like Napier and Penally Barracks
- It will permit the use of offshore processing of cases
- It will tear families apart, making family reunion near-impossible
- It It makes asylum determination much harsher – even though it’s
already harsh - It does not commit to refugee resettlement
- It does not create any safe routes to seek asylum
- People seeking sanctuary will be more vulnerable to trafficking and modern slavery
“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.”
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The Together with Refugees mission statement.
Blogs
The Nationality and Borders Bill – aka the #Anti-Refugee Bill – seeks to overhaul the UK asylum system. Far from creating a ‘fair but firm’ asylum system, the cruel and inhumane proposals would deny many refugees the chance to seek sanctuary in the UK, criminalise many of those who try,
isolate refugees in harmful out-of-town reception centres, and undermine 70 years of international co-operation under the UN refugee convention.
Read more about the challenges the bill presents in a range of blogs of JRS UK, exploring the different challenges presented by the Bill.
Sharing resources
Refugees and those who stand in solidarity with refugees are speaking out about the proposed changes to the asylum system. We encourage you to join us!
There have been a wide range of responses and related research published. There’s a wealth of letters, statements and resources for your to read and learn more.
A positive vision for an asylum system
Our 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.
