At Refugee Action, we help people who’ve survived some of the world’s worst regimes. We get them the basic support they need to live again with dignity. Then we help them build safe, happy and productive lives in the UK.
Our vision is that refugees and people seeking asylum will be welcome in the UK. They will get justice, live free of poverty and be able to successfully rebuild their lives.
Regardless of how people seeking safety arrive in the UK, their journey to a safe, productive life is not over. So many challenges face refugees and people seeking asylum right here in the UK – and that’s why we exist.
We are with refugees and people seeking asylum. Our work is shaped by the experiences and insights of refugees and people seeking asylum. We stand together to call for change and commit to removing the barriers they face in using their power, skills and experience. We commit to deep analysis of how power works within society, the sector and Refugee Action.
We are collaborative. We believe that a well-connected, resilient and skilled refugee sector and movement is essential to achieving our vision and we understand that we have an important role to play in facilitating this and building effective collaborations. We are power-aware and commit to share our access, influence and platforms.
We are courageous. We’re bold and creative in all that we do. We challenge, at an individual and systemic level, those who hold power over the lives of refugees. We understand the scale of the task to achieve our vision and so take calculated risks to make progress and have an impact.
We are anti-racist. We recognise that we are working in a system that racialises people, creating discriminatory policies and practices that have a traumatic impact on refugees. We recognise that this is also deep rooted within society and in our sector. We will work towards being an anti-racist charity and commit to learning from our mistakes. We commit to continual learning and believe that we cannot truly achieve our vision without constantly challenging ourselves as Refugee Action. With this in mind, we are working towards viewing all our work through an anti-racist lens.
For many years, we’ve been fighting for a fair asylum system for people seeking safety. But this is no longer enough.
The asylum and immigration system in the UK is structurally and systematically racist, upheld by the racialised and dehumanising narratives that are used to justify it.
To end this, we need systematic change. Not just changes to laws and policies, but to the narratives used by those with power, our culture and values, our whole society. This is what our ambitious 2023-30 strategy sets out to do, starting with ending the hostile environment faced by people seeking safety.
