Standing up for compassion and dignity for refugees

This Valentine’s Day, we are joining with Together with Refugees to stand up for compassion and dignity for refugees.  

People seeking asylum and those granted refugee status are regularly welcomed at all of our services, and we walk alongside them as they navigate building a safe future in the UK and seek to settle in their local communities.

Through our Caritas Aspire service, we offer support including ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) classes to refugees and migrants.  

We know that the rhetoric around the asylum system is so often one of division and mistrust, and through both the work of our services and our policy and advocacy work, we advocate for opportunities for positive integration in communities for refugees and migrants, and an end to the discriminatory anti-refugee narrative. 

The Government has recently introduced to Parliament the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. While we welcome aspects of the Bill such as the scrapping of the Rwanda plan, we’re concerned that some provisions may result in people being penalised for seeking asylum, without creating safe routes for people to seek refuge in this country. We will continue to call for a fair and efficient asylum system, ensuring that all people seeking sanctuary in this country are treated with dignity. 

Visit our policy and advocacy page to read more about the changes we are calling for, and to find out more about the Caritas services available for refugees and migrants to access here. 

Please join us this Valentine’s Day in calling for compassion and dignity for refugees – you could share this post, signpost someone you know to our services, or consider ways in which you can help your community become a safe and welcoming place for all. 

To find out more about our policy and advocacy work and ways you can get involved, visit https://www.caritassalford.org.uk/about/policy-and-advocacy/