With other leading UK medical organisations, we warned the government that cutting refugee leave to remain from 5 years to 30 months risks serious harm to mental health, including for survivors of trafficking and torture. 🧵
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
🎧 New podcast with our Director of Therapy, Fran Brady, discussing their paper “A phased approach for using CBT with adult survivors of human trafficking.”
Exploring gaps in mental health care for survivors & risks when trafficking goes unrecognised in clinical settings.
babcp.com/podcast/usin...
We are excited to be working with @enstatelessness.bsky.social to advocate with and for stateless communities across the UK. A great day on Monday planning with community members, @asylumaid.bsky.social @asylos.bsky.social and others.
Home Secretary’s announcement that asylum support would be revoked for those who “have the ability to support themselves” risks pushing people who simply cannot work towards homelessness, poverty & losing access to legal aid.
Our response: www.helenbamber.org/resources/la...
This cruel change, which deliberately keeps people’s lives in limbo, will not deter men, women, children & families fleeing war, conflict & persecution from seeking protection in the UK.
What it WILL do is trap people in a constant state of instability & profoundly harm their mental health.
Refugees experience profound psychological distress when separated from their families, many of whom remain in active conflict zones. Family reunion can be a matter of life or death.
We're representing @safepassageintl.bsky.social in this vital legal challenge.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
We're deeply concerned about the UK government's proposed changes to settlement. These plans are incompatible with the UK’s international obligations and would push migrants, refugees and stateless people towards insecurity, poverty and exclusion. 👇
The government’s plan to make refugees ‘earn’ protection by proving their ‘contribution to society’ makes their safety and stability in the UK dependent on their economic ‘worthiness.’
These are men, women, children & families who have fled conflict, torture, trafficking & extreme violence. 🧵
Labour peer @alfdubs.bsky.social is right to call for the restoration of family reunion rights so that children in need of protection can reach the UK.
In the year ending June 2025, 93% of family reunion visas went to women & children, over half to children.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
1/4 UN Experts and Special Rapporteurs have sent formal allegation letters to both the UK and French governments over serious potential human rights violations under the ‘one-in, one-out’ deal. You may read the full story here: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Refugees need stability & security to recover from profound trauma.
But the government's asylum reforms will force them to re-prove their need for protection every 2.5 years for up to 20 years before they can settle in the UK. We're already seeing the impact of this on our clients' mental health 🧵
Congratulations to @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social on being appointed King’s Counsel! Very well deserved. 🎉
Alasdair was one of the founders of Asylum Aid and his unwavering commitment to protecting the rights of people seeking asylum is an inspiration. 👏
Ex-military barracks & hotels are NOT suitable sites to house people seeking asylum in the UK, who have experienced unimaginable trauma.
Protests like these only deepen fear & make already-vulnerable people feel even less safe.
We need #CommunitiesNotCamps
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
On #HumanRightsDay today, we celebrate 75 years of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) & 25 years of the Human Rights Act. For generations, these frameworks have protected people’s dignity & safety, limited the misuse of power & upheld fairness.
But they are currently under threat 🧵1/5
We're 10% of the way there but we need your help! Please donate to our Winter Fundraising Appeal and help us continue to empower our visitors, build community and resist the hostile environment: localgiving.org/fundraising/...
🚨 Today we’re in court challenging changes to the Home Office’s 'Allocation of Asylum Accommodation' policy which force more trafficking & torture survivors to share rooms with strangers. These were introduced with no consultation or warning. 🧵
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
New government measures won’t deter people fleeing danger but they WILL cause significant harm. Forcing refugees into decades of limbo, tearing families apart & restricting support in the name of 'deterrence' will only worsen mental health and leave people at risk.
asylumaid.org.uk/resources/ne...
"I was isolated and it was very re-traumatising..."
Our client speaks to @claudiahammond.bsky.social on BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind about his experience of being placed in an asylum hotel & the harmful impact it had on his mental health.
📻 Listen in!
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
In case you missed it: Rule changes from 11 November to affect family members of stateless people | Djamilla Hitchins
Legal advice is vital for survivors to navigate complex asylum systems. But many are unable to access it.
Ambassadors for Change, a group of campaigners with experience of the UK asylum system, write about the barriers in getting free, quality legal advice 👇
www.helenbamber.org/resources/re...
Latest post from us: Migrant Help to provide training to staff after admitting trafficking policy breach | Monika Glowacka
Yesterday, a parliamentary committee report warned that housing people seeking asylum in large sites is harmful.
The response?
Today, the government announced plans to accommodate hundreds in two ex-military sites.
This is cruel & inhumane.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
"It is unacceptable that significant amounts of taxpayers’ money is being used to house often vulnerable people in sub-standard accommodation."
This is YET another warning that asylum accommodation is harmful & eye-wateringly expensive. Here's what the Home Affairs Committee report found🧵
⏰ One week before the deadline! ⏰
Applications are open for the next cohort of Compass: The Asylum Aid Advisor Development Programme. This free programme offers 5 IAA Level 2 trainees in-depth training, shadowing opportunities, supervision & a peer support network. 👇
Refugee family reunion saves lives. Last year, over half of those reunited were children fleeing dangerous situations & joining their parents.
But the suspension of family reunion until next spring & plans to tighten rules afterwards could turn temporary separation into permanent loss for many. 1/3
"You are not the same person after you experience torture."
Ambassadors for Change, a group of survivors of torture, trafficking & persecution, share their experiences & recommendations for better systems with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture 👇
helenbamber.org/resources/re...
On #AntiSlaveryDay, let's remember that thousands of confirmed trafficking victims are still being left at risk.
In 2024, only 4% were granted permission to stay in the UK, leaving 96% facing poverty & possible re-exploitation.
Read our latest blog for more ⬇️
www.helenbamber.org/resources/la...
REMINDER: Asylum hotels are NOT places of luxury. They are often dilapidated, squalid & overcrowded. Being forced to live there for months (even years) causes profound harm to people.
Those seeking safety in the UK must be housed in communities where they can rebuild their lives with dignity. 👇📽️
Applications are now open for the next cohort of Compass: The Asylum Aid Advisor Development Programme!
This free programme offers 5 IAA Level 2 trainees in-depth training, shadowing opportunities, supervision & a peer support network.
Find out how to apply here: asylumaid.org.uk/what-we-do/c...
With 63 other expert orgs, we’ve written to the government to strongly oppose the reduction in the length of time newly-recognised refugees get to move on from asylum accommodation. This could leave thousands more refugees destitute & on the streets this winter.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
