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Our fortnightly summary of advocacy and campaigning initiatives, new research, government developments and useful resources from across the asylum, refugee and migration sector. Contact us if you’d like to get this update directly into your inbox. 1. Advocacy and Campaigning initiatives It’s Refugee Week, and it’s been so lovely to see so many of our friends at events up and down the UK this week. Here’s a run down of some of the events on this year’s calendar  General Election Invitation to sign joint pubic letter to incoming Prime Minister In anticipation of the upcoming General Election, Asylum Matters has drafted a joint public letter to the incoming Prime Minister outlining what steps the new UK Government should take to repair the broken asylum system. We hope this letter will be signed by organisations and individuals who are providing support to people navigating the asylum system. The deadline for signatures is 5pm on 1st July 2024. You can sign the letter using this form. We will be looking to have this published in the media just after the election, so we ask you not to share this publicly on social media, websites, or with journalists. However, we would be grateful if you could share this letter with your networks (for example via email/message) as we hope to get as many signatures as possible. General Election resources Asylum Matters has created General Election resources designed to support local groups in engaging with their prospective parliamentary candidates and calling on them to repeal the #AntiRefugeeLaws. The resources include two documents: ‘Building a compassionate refugee protection system’ a 2-page document setting out key principles and policy that you can share with your parliamentary candidates; ‘Campaigning ahead of the 2024 General Election’ which collates different resources and tips around campaigning in a General Election year and ensuring your work keeps within charity and electoral commission rules. ‘I’m an Asylum Rights Voter’ poster, which you can download and print here.  JCWI Six Steps to Migrant Justice These are six core principles drafted by organisations working with people who move that, if implemented, would bring about justice for migrants and a fairer society for all. These six steps are unbranded – they’re keen for them to be shared as widely as possible within and outside of the migration sector, in the hope that we can show a united front in the run-up to the General Election and beyond. Below you can find suggested copy for social media posts, graphics to use on social media and suggested copy for your website if you would also like to post there.  Suggested copy for social media and website Graphics Safe Passage Rally with Refugees Pledge Safe Passage International have launched RallyWithRefugees pledge campaign for the election.  With the future of refugees being welcomed in the UK on the ballot this election, they’re asking everyone across the UK to contact their parliamentary candidates and ask them to pledge support for safe routes and refugee rights if they’re elected. You can join [...]

Our fortnightly summary of advocacy and campaigning initiatives, new research, government developments and useful resources from across the asylum, refugee and migration sector. Contact us if you’d like to get this update directly into your inbox. General Election As you’ll all be aware a General Election has been called for Thursday 4th July. As such we are in the official Pre Election Period where government and Civil Service roles are restricted. Therefore many of the usual meetings between the Home Office and other government departments and the sector have been suspended. Additionally, Charities are regulated during the Pre Election Period, particularly around campaigning. These resources are available from the Charity Commission and this briefing from the Sheila McKechnie Foundation Asylum Matters has our General Election resources for all to use during this time. These resources are designed to support local groups in engaging with their prospective parliamentary candidates and calling on them to repeal the #AntiRefugeeLaws and commit to building an asylum system that treats everyone with compassion and dignity. The resources include two documents: ‘Building a compassionate refugee protection system’ a 2-page document setting out key principles and policy asks for parliamentary candidates; ‘Campaigning ahead of the 2024 General Election’ which collates different resources and tips around campaigning in a General Election year and ensuring your work keeps within charity and electoral commission rules. We hope that these resources will support campaigners in reaching out to candidates and setting out the changes our communities urgently need. You can also share the resources on Twitter and Facebook. Additionally, we have a new ‘I’m an Asylum Rights Voter’ poster which you can display in your window at home. Feel free to print these yourselves or look out for us at Refugee Week events where we will have printed copies as well as badges that say the same and postcards where you to write a message to the new Prime Minister about what kind of asylum system you want after the General Election. Advocacy and campaigning initiatives Accommodation *TRIGGER WARNING* The Guardian have reported on widespread abuse faced by people seeking asylum in Home Office hotels and other accommodation. Hundreds of complaints about ill treatment from staff have been lodged in the last year, with asylum seekers facing abuse and harassment, failures to deal with vulnerabilities such as mental health problems and serious self-harm, and staff walking into their bedrooms unannounced. Hundreds of other complaints related to the meals provided in catered accommodation, with inedible food and a lack of milk for children reported. ITV News have reported on the severe mental health crisis at RAF Wethersfield. They cite data from our partners Helen Bamber Foundation and Doctors of the World that shows there were between 5 and 10 suicide attempts and 10 incidents of self-harm at Wethersfield in January 2024 alone. The Home Secretary James Cleverly has faced criticism from human rights campaigners after accusing people at Wethersfield of lies about their mental state in order to secure a move away from the [...]