Meet the Manchester’s amazing Afghan dressmakers
A small group of us in Manchester have been running weekly creative and wellbeing sessions for refugees in the airport hotels here. We thought they’d be opportunities for the ladies and children to have a break, chat to different people and do some light crafts-type activities as a change from their normal routine. In fact, as the sessions have developed, they have become as much of a learning experience and treat for the volunteers as the refugees, because the Afghan ladies have utterly amazed us with their sewing and creative skills. The intricacy of their sewing and embroidery really …
Rwanda Update
In just two weeks we will be back in court to challenge the lawfulness of the Government’s cruel Rwanda policy. To have any chance of stopping this, the time to act is now. We’ve recently learned that the Foreign Office warned Priti Patel that refugees should not be sent to Rwanda due to human rights concerns, including that they could be forced to join the country’s army and sent to fight in neighbouring states. Following this disclosure, the Government has been ordered by the court to deliver more documents next week that had previously been redacted. What else could they …
The terrifying change facing UK asylum seekers
Your emotions are always up and down when you work with refugees, but today I had a moment that was so bittersweet it set my head reeling. A young Sudanese refugee I’d been helping sent me a message that made my spirits soar. Having been through hell at home and on his journey, he’d been granted leave to remain for five years, and had finally accessed the medical treatment he had waited so long for. “First of all I want say thank you very much for standing with me in difficult time,” he wrote “I will never forget your help …
Jonas’s Story
Trigger warning: r*pe Libya is like hell for African men, but for women it is worse than hell. It is a living, never-ending nightmare they cannot escape from. You never hear their stories. Because they never escape. In Libya I lost the woman who took care of me when my own mother died. Even when I had nothing, she made sure I had something to eat and she sacrificed herself for me. I’m from Eritrea but I left when I was five or six. My family were Christians so life in Eritrea was so hard. My father died when I …
An incredible day of action
Yesterday was the most incredible day of action with volunteers, activists and trade unionists across the country coming together to show their opposition to the Government’s brutal Rwanda plan. Protests took place at Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival, Nottingham, Coventry , Dudley, Cambridge, Norwich, Manchester, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Leeds, York, Shrewesbury, Harlow, Tower Hamlets, Lewisham, Stoke and elsewhere, called as part of the #StopRwanda campaign, launched by the Trades Union Congress, Care4Calais and Stand Up To Racism, and backed by eleven trade unions including the PCS. This was an incredible display of what we can achieve when we come together. It was …
More refugees greeted at Dungeness
Since the end of June we’ve welcomed 107 refugees who’ve come ashore in three boats at Dungeness on the Kent coast. Many of these people were from Kuwait, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Ethiopia. The first boat, which arrived at 4.45am on 29 June, had 40 people on board, including five women and five children aged 8-10; the second (10.50pm, 6 July) carried 22 men, and the last (8.15pm, 11 July) was carrying 45 people, including families with 14 kids in total, some of them did not look even a year old. It was incredibly moving to see such young children …
Supporting #StopRwanda in Calais
This #StopRwanda sign was sent to us by a refugee in Calais. Its simplicity is incredibly moving – and a reminder that the refugees who will be affected by this barbaric Rwanda plan are only seeking safety. We’re receiving pictures from places all around the world now, the sheer numbers of people showing the sheer scale of opposition to the UK Government’s callous scheme. People everywhere are united in demanding that the flights are stopped and the whole idea replaced with a plan for refugees that is sensible and humane. It was great news that our court case against …
Making friendships far from home
Today we were making friendship bracelets whilst on distribution in Calais, and a small group of guys from Sudan came over and started thinking about the colours they could use and what sort of style they’d like. We made various suggestions, but one of them laughed and said no, no and then he thought for a bit and said, I know, I want a Bob Marley – one, red gold and green. Bob Marley is always popular with the guys here and you sometimes hear them talk about him. Anyway, they were soon deep in quiet concentration weaving /plaiting …
#StopRwanda support floods in!
It’s amazing to see all the pictures we’re getting of people with #StopRwanda signs, showing just how huge opposition to the Government’s cruel scheme is. People of all ages and backgrounds in every corner of the country are clearly united in demanding that the flights are stopped and the whole idea replaced with a plan for refugees that is sensible and humane. It was great news that our court case against the plan has been adjourned to September, giving us more time to build the campaign and show people’s refusal to accept the plan. Right now we’re using all …
Rwanda Update 5 July 2022
On 19 July we will be back in court to determine whether the Government’s Rwanda plan is lawful. This will be an incredibly important case for the future refugee rights in the UK. Our lawyers will argue: – There is compelling evidence, provided by UNHCR, that Rwanda is not a safe country for refugees. – There is a risk that refugees human rights may be breached in Rwanda. – It is against international refugee law to penalise refugees for their unlawful arrival in a country. – UNHCR have provided evidence that asylum seekers will not get a fair hearing in …