People seeking safety are being locked out in France and locked up in the UK.
ACT NOW. Send your MP a postcard from the border. Ask: When will Keir Starmer scrap these racist, anti-refugee policies? act.refugee-action.org.uk/page/188948/subscribe/1
NEW! Our new @refugeeaction.bsky.social report, "Locked Out and Locked Up", on systemic racism in UK asylum policy (as it is experienced by people seeking safety in the UK and northern France) is out today. Please read it and share widely.
www.refugee-action.org.uk/lockedoutloc...
After more people lost their lives and loved ones crossing the channel, our Senior Research and Policy Officer @drbenwhitham.bsky.social was with @lbc.co.uk @shelaghfogarty.bsky.social to talk about how our government must act and open safe routes. Listen back: www.globalplayer.com/catchup/lbc/...
"The UK-France border is becoming ever more hostile in the name of 'deterrence', but that never works.
"People come here to seek safety. We need safe routes for people to travel here, so we don't see the tragedy we've seen this morning of people losing their lives."
"All of these deaths are preventable through the creation of safe routes.
"We're sending hundreds of millions of pounds to France to fund the policing operation there, and this policing operation includes the snatching of life vests from people.
Once again, people have lost their lives and lost their loved ones due to the total failure to provide safe routes. How many more people will be killed before our government takes action?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
We did it 💛
£27,600 raised through #MarchForRefugees
Every step taken means real support for people seeking safety.
From frontline services to national campaigns to changing the narrative.
Thank you for showing what solidarity looks like.
Stand Up For Refugees is back! Join us for a cracking comedy night with Shaparak Khorsandi, Josie Long, Josh Pugh, Andrew Mensah, Ester Manito, Milo Edwards and Alison Spittle.
Let’s build a UK where refugees are welcome, and have a laugh while we’re at it. Early bird tickets are £18, link in bio.
As many refugee charities have said from the start, this cruel policy:
· does real additional harm to people seeking safety
· fails to deter crossings
· is performative and headline-grabbing
Time to scrap it and create safe routes.
https://bit.ly/4bw0Gam
The housing emergency has been caused by decades of under-investment and made worse by profit-driven asylum contracts. We’ve launched a practical guide to help you talk about housing with facts and clarity. Download and share. https://bit.ly/4lFj4Cl
The solutions are clear and evidence-based:
➡️ The right to work for people seeking asylum after 6 months
➡️ Safe, affordable homes for all
This new rule will cause greater destitution, hunger and street homelessness, while doing nothing to address the real challenges communities face. This is another step down the wrong path.
Stripping support from people seeking safety while continuing to ban most people from working is outrageous.
People seeking asylum receive £1.40 a day in hotels, or £7 a day in houses. These poverty-inducing levels of support push people into exploitation and irregular work to survive.
@rasvoice.bsky.social
While wars rage that displace people and tear families apart, the government also making it harder for people to seek safety here.
Giving people 30 months of safety traps people in cycles of uncertainty, making it much more difficult for them to rebuild their lives.
Text on a textured background reads: "A 30-month stay is not a life, it is a countdown. After 12 years in limbo, my family deserves a decision, not another temporary permit. My children grew up here. We are a part of this community, and it is time the law recognized our right to a stable future." - Bsmah, Ras Voice campaigner. The text is enclosed in a green outline.
Text on a dark textured background reads: "We flee wars created by men only to face a new battle: a thousand questions. In the search for protection, misfortune is met with suspicion instead of sanctuary." Below, it credits Anusha - Ras Voice campaigner. The text is enclosed in a light green rectangular border.
Text on a dark textured background with a bright green border. Quote reads: "It is a vicious cycle: The UK foreign policy contributes to push factors that force people to flee, yet we respond with draconian measures like the 30-month stay." Attributed to Yanick M - Ras Voice campaigner.
The image features a quote on a dark, textured background with a green border. The text reads: "Our lives should be defined by our human rights, not by 30-month countdowns. Safety is not a temporary luxury. It is a fundamental necessity for survival." It is attributed to Rene, a Ras Voice campaigner.
The policies that are made in the grand building of parliament impact real people all around the country.
Yanick, Rene, Anusha and Bsmah have all experienced the asylum system first hand. They are members of our community. They campaign for justice. And we share their outrage.
The government must use this moment to work hard for peace and reaffirm its commitment to the Refugee Convention and the UK as a country that offers sanctuary to refugees.
When missiles land or where tyrants lead, people search for safety. Often that's in their own country or just across the border. Sometimes people travel to other parts of the world to unite with family and communities. This is their human right. People move to survive.
We are devastated to see what is happening in the Middle East/West Asia and stand in solidarity with all those affected.
As violence escalates in the region, our government is rolling back rights for refugees and refusing to open safe routes for people.
The Labour Party says it's determined to lift children out of poverty.
So why don't children seeking sanctuary count?
✍️ @nbphillips1872.bsky.social
If the government truly wants to stop dangerous Channel crossings, then it must create safe routes.
It must also support all of us to thrive. Instead of chasing headlines and fuelling division, it can strengthen our communities by investing in real solutions, such as affordable housing.
This is an attack on our fundamental rights, and another divisive, scapegoating policy that tears at our communities and solves nothing. It must be reversed.
Everyone deserves the chance to settle, rebuild and put down roots, not face a life in limbo.
https://bit.ly/4rIVW7P
Don't miss out! This March, walk 30, 60 or 100 miles to support refugees in the UK.
Choose your distance, fundraise, and take steps toward a more welcoming country. Every mile makes a difference. Sign up! act.refugee-action.org.uk/page/185843/data/1
Want to learn more? Download your conversation guide to talking about the housing emergency: act.refugee-action.org.uk/page/186214/...
The conversation about housing is all wrong.
For decades, governments haven’t built enough social homes. People are struggling. Yet refugees get blamed.
Our new video flips the narrative and focuses on the real issue.
Watch it. Share it. Let’s change the conversation.
"Deterrence” policies don’t work, they only push people into further danger.
A few hundred have been sent back to threats, homelessness and overwhelming dispaif. This approach causes harm without solving the issue. Read more: https://bit.ly/3OGgK1c
Are you in? This March, take on a challenge to change the future for refugees in the UK.
Sign up: act.refugee-action.org.uk/page/185843/data/1
Stories remind us of our shared humanity. They help us meet people rather than categories. And they invite us to slow down, listen properly, and make space for voices that are too often ignored.
www.refugee-action.org.uk/national-storytelling-we...
Our findings, due to be published soon, expose how racialised state violence and harassment are being enabled by policies that criminalise people seeking asylum and externalise borders.
