Ready, Waiting. The UK must let its asylum seekers work.

By Jay Burgess As the UK finishes marking both Refugee Week and World Refugee Day, one advocacy campaign is gaining mainstream traction. Lift the Ban, an award-winning coalition of 200 members, is campaigning to give asylum seekers in the UK access to work. Work allows asylum seekers to provide for themselves and their families with … Continue reading Ready, Waiting. The UK must let its asylum seekers work.

Towards a Rights-Based Reform of the Common European Asylum System

By Stephanie Pope, Senior Advocacy and Policy Officer In the wake of the European Parliament elections, Refugee Rights Europe is launching its next phase of EU-level policy and advocacy work. In 2019 and 2020, we will be working with policy-makers and advocacy partners in Brussels to achieve positive reform. Informed by data gathered from over … Continue reading Towards a Rights-Based Reform of the Common European Asylum System

The experiences of women in asylum accommodation: unsanitary and unsafe

By Aileen Voit The recent report by Refugee Rights Europe, researched in collaboration with MEENA Centre for Women and Children and the Baobab Women’s Project in Birmingham, raises considerable concern about the living standards for asylum-seeking women in the UK. In the United Kingdom, asylum seekers are entitled to be provided with accommodation and small … Continue reading The experiences of women in asylum accommodation: unsanitary and unsafe

“Slow, unfair and expensive to run. . .” The crisis of immigration detention within the UK

“Unaccountable, arbitrary, indefinite detention is a human rights abuse and a cruel anomaly in our system. I urge MPs on all sides to use their strength to end it”[i] Harriet Harman MP Immigration detention is not a legal term. It refers instead to policy and practice,[ii] and occurs when someone is deprived of their liberty or … Continue reading “Slow, unfair and expensive to run. . .” The crisis of immigration detention within the UK

At the Western Doorstep: On the human rights violations resulting from the externalisation of asylum

Refugee Rights Europe’s latest report, ‘At the Western Doorstep’, highlights the complex experiences facing refugees and displaced people arriving in Europe through Morocco and via the Western Mediterranean route. The report raises renewed concerns about the deplorable impact of the European externalisation of asylum to non-EU countries, and serves as a stark reminder of the … Continue reading At the Western Doorstep: On the human rights violations resulting from the externalisation of asylum

The end of the journey? Young asylum seekers and the struggle for stability in the UK

By Helena Eynon, RRE volunteer researcher. “The definition of home for these young people is not where they came from but where they can find a new life in safety. But many struggle to find this in the UK.”  Samer Mustafa, RRE Young refugees and asylum seekers in the UK often face unique and complex … Continue reading The end of the journey? Young asylum seekers and the struggle for stability in the UK