Thank you for the dates, SKT Welfare!
We couldn’t believe our eyes when our friends from SKT Welfare arrived at our warehouse in their truck, and began unloading it. First came a whole pallet piled high with boxes of delicious, juicy dates. We would have been pretty thrilled with that on its own, but then came another. And another. And… by the time they’d finished, we had 20 pallets-ful! That’s thousands of pounds worth of dates. It meant so much to us and refugees, and we were all quite choked with emotion. As SKT know, dates are so important at this time of year because Ramadan is …
Join the protest on March 18
On 10 February we witnessed a disgraceful riot outside a Knowsley hotel housing asylum seekers; since then a wave of protests have been held outside other asylum hotels across Britain. Sadly, rather than condemning this intimidation of people who came to our country simply to ask for help, our ‘leaders’ have given it their support. Arguably, this fear and hate was incited from the top – what can you expect when you tell ordinary people their country is being invaded? This is why there has never been a more important time to take a stand and say that refugees are …
A beautiful birthday party for Helen and her daughter
Last week my friend Helen from Eritrea, had a party. There was food, dancing, games, and Helen was so happy – this felt especially good as just a year ago life looked very different for her. About 14 months ago, I first went to visit Helen. I was a bit nervous as she was the first person I was visiting having recently joined Care4Calais. She was heavily pregnant, had been moved from a London hotel to Reading at very short notice, and had very few belongings. She was worried that she didn’t have anything for the baby, and had little …
If you really want to change things, try this
Today there have been more protests against refugees by the far right – and more, larger, counter demonstrations by caring people who want to show refugees they are welcome here. At the protests we have heard from people who are angry about refugees being housed in hotels, but the message to them is clear. If you don’t think refugees should be in hotels tell the government to process their claims. If you love your country, treat those less fortunate with dignity and respect. It’s not hard. Refugees don’t want to be in hotels. They want to work and contribute to …
How to fight digital hate
Social media can be powerful. It can also be a place of hate, prejudice and hurtful comments. You can combat that using a few simple rules. Try it next time you see online hate. 1. DON’T reply to negative comments. It’s tempting. But all it does is make these comments more popular to social media algorithms. “Don’t feed the trolls” means just that – don’t make the nasty comments more relevant by replying to them. 2. Start new comment threads with positive comments. If you do need to refute something, instead of replying, start a new comment …
Ukraine and safe passage, one year on
One year ago today Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since the fall of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. As a nation, we responded with compassion and action. Since then we’ve issued 233,000 visas and welcomed Ukrainians to our communities across the UK. As caring people, we continue to help our fellow human beings escaping danger; as we acknowledge all people deserve safety and dignity. Our leaders, however, claim to respect human rights that should be universal, but in practice it seems, they pick and choose who these rights apply to. That is not how human …
How our volunteer Coline helped with an award-winning play
‘‘In the water now up to the waist, there are some who struggle to walk, staying upright as best they can, holding what’s left of their belongings, clinging to one another…” This haunting image of people struggling as they attempt to cross the Channel comes from lines in a brilliant play about refugees now being performed in London. The play, One Who Wants to Cross, has won several awards, and we’re proud to say our amazing volunteer Coline played a part in the London production. The producer Clarisse Makundul wanted the audience to be able to ask questions after the …
Surge in anti-refugee activity: new analysis
The Times has published a highly relevant and informative article about the increase in anti-refugee activity in the UK. As the article is behind a paywall the key points are summarised below. Hard-right protesters visited hotels housing asylum seekers 253 times last year amid a surge in anti-migrant activity across the UK, Dame Sara Khan, the government’s commissioner for countering extremism, said a neo-Nazi group behind some of the anti-migrant protests had been allowed to flourish owing to inaction from ministers. The government failed to respond to a warning by Khan and Sir Mark Rowley, now the commissioner of the …
Now is the time to stand up for refugees
Today, thousands of ordinary people came out to show refugees they are loved and wanted in this country. In Liverpool, where last week riots were seen outside a hotel housing asylum seekers, eight hundred people gathered to show their support for people who seek refuge in the UK. And in South Yorkshire, at a demonstration at another asylum seeker hotel, an estimated 400-500 counter protestors outnumbered the far right by five to one. This meant so much to the resident asylum seekers, who held up signs saying “Love Sees No Colour”, “We Love You” and simply “Thank You”. In Liverpool …
Ernesto and Sofia’s (love) story
Ernesto and Sofia had to flee their home country to save the lives of their young children, whose lives had, horrifically, been threatened by violent gangsters. The family had virtually nothing except two small suitcases of clothes to their name when they landed in the UK, and were terrified to even think about where they would eat or sleep. “It is so difficult to leave your country and your family,” Sofia says now,” but we had our love for each other, and that helped us survive.” Their story really is a testament to the power of that love, and their …
