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The Refugee Council is a UK based organisation which works with
refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.
and
asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and mi ...
. The organisation provides support and advice to refugees and asylum seekers, as well as support for other refugee and asylum seeker organisations. The Refugee Council also produces many reports and educational material relating to refugee issues, and lobbies politicians and the media on these issues. The Council works in partnership with many other refugee organisations, including the
British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with more ...
,
Scottish Refugee Council The Scottish Refugee Council is a registered charity that provides advice and services to asylum seekers and refugees. The objective of the organisation is ‘building a better future with refugees in Scotland’. The charity was formed in E ...
,
Welsh Refugee Council The Welsh Refugee Council is a sister organisation to the Refugee Council and Scottish Refugee Council, and works to help asylum seekers and refugees in Wales. About The Welsh Refugee Council (WRC) is a Wales-based charity committed to pr ...
, North of England Refugee Service, Northern Refugee Centre, and
Refugee Action Refugee Action is an independent national charity founded in 1981 that provides advice and support to refugees and asylum seekers in the UK and campaigns for a fairer asylum system. It is governed by a board of trustees chaired by Penny Lawrence. ...
.


History

The Refugee Council originated from two independent organisations,
British Council for Aid to Refugees The Refugee Council is a UK based organisation which works with refugees and asylum seekers. The organisation provides support and advice to refugees and asylum seekers, as well as support for other refugee and asylum seeker organisations. The R ...
(BCAR) and the Standing Conference on Refugees (SCOR), which were both founded in 1951 following the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, also known as the 1951 Refugee Convention or the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951, is a United Nations multilateral treaty that defines who a refugee is, and sets out the rights of individual ...
. In 1981 these two organisations merged to form the British Refugee Council which was later renamed the Refugee Council due to the establishment of various other regional refugee councils. The Refugee Council Archives are held at University of East London, Docklands Campus.


Work

The Refugee Council's head office is in Stratford London. The organisation's main activities are providing support and advice to asylum seekers and refugees themselves as well as to other organisations, undertaking research and policy work, and campaigning on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers. The Refugee Council is a member organisation of the
Asylum Support Partnership The Asylum Support Partnership (ASP) is the largest asylum seeker support organisations in the United Kingdom and claims to be the only one giving asylum support over the whole of Britain. The mission of the Partnership (ASP) is to ensure that 'al ...
and
European Council on Refugees and Exiles Established in 1974, ECRE is a European network of 105 NGOs in 39 European countries. In 2011, the council raised concerns regarding planned repatriations of Afghan asylum children. In 2014, the council was critical of EU cutbacks of migrant r ...
(ECRE).


Support and advice

Refugee Council has received an exemption from the
OISC Oisc (also Æsc or Esc, pronounced “oish” or “ash”) was an early king of Kent who — according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle — ruled from 488-512CE. He seems to be the same person as Ansehis (or Anschis) who is described as a leader o ...
to provide immigration advice and holds the Quality Mark for advice work. Regional offices throughout England provide services to asylum seekers and refugees including: *Advice about where to apply for support, and help with applying; *Information about the UK's 'dispersal policy'; *Information about other services which can assist; *Help with problems with accommodation, racial harassment, physical and mental health; and *Help with appealing against rejection of a UKBA support application. These services are available either in the Refugee Council offices or on the phone. Drop in services provide hot meals, food parcels, clothes and English classes, as well as advice and support. In addition, the Refugee Council offers special advice to unaccompanied children, including children who are under 18 when they arrive in the UK and young people aged 18–21 who are caring for younger siblings. This specialist support includes *Help to obtain legal representation, and guiding the child through the process; *Accompanying the child to asylum interviews, hearings, tribunals etc.; *Supporting the child during doctor's or social service appointments; and In 2011 the charity launched a new Own Language Telephone Advice Service (OLTAS) providing free multilingual advice for asylum seekers and refugees.


Campaigning

In 2005, Refugee Council launched a campaign called Don't Believe the Type aimed at combating what they see as hostility and prejudice towards asylum seekers and refugees. In 2008 Refugee Council formed the Still Human Still Here coalition with
Amnesty International UK Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
,
Medical Foundation Medical foundations are nonprofit legal entities to allow physicians or certain other health care providers a mechanism to perform research or provide medical services. Medical foundations provide more flexibility for physicians and other providers. ...
and over 40 other organisations, which is dedicated to highlighting the plight of tens of thousands of refused asylum seekers in UK and campaigning to end destitution of asylum seekers. In 2011 the charity launched the Proud to Protect pledge which with the help of celebrity supporters gathered over 10,000 signatures. In 2012 the charity launched the London♥Refugees campaign for the London Mayoral elections.


Key people


Patrons

*
Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...
*
Hari Kunzru Hari Mohan Nath Kunzru (born 1969) is a British novelist and journalist. He is the author of the novels '' The Impressionist'', '' Transmission'', ''My Revolutions'', ''Gods Without Men'', ''White Tears''David Robinson"Interview: Hari Kunzru, a ...
* Sir Bill Morris


Chief executives

*
Martin Barber Martin Barber, OBE, is the former Director of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) at the UN Headquarters zh, 联合国总部大楼french: Siège des Nations uniesrussian: Штаб-квартира Организации Объеди ...
, 1982–1988 *
Alf Dubs Alfred Dubs, Baron Dubs (born 5 December 1932) is a British Labour politician and former Member of Parliament. Early life and education Born in Prague in what was then Czechoslovakia, Dubs was one of 669 Czech-resident, mainly Jewish, childr ...
, 1988–1995 * Nick Hardwick, June 1995 – January 2003 *
Margaret Lally Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Indo-Iranian languages, Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and r ...
, (acting) June 2003 – August 2003 *
Maeve Sherlock Maeve Christina Mary Sherlock, Baroness Sherlock, (born 10 November 1960) is a Labour Party life peer. Biography Born in Finsbury Park, north London, Sherlock was educated at Our Lady's Abingdon in Abingdon on Thames before going on to study ...
, August 2003 – October 2006 * Anna Reisenberger (acting) October 2006 – May 2007 * Donna Covey, May 2007 – October 2012 * Shān Nicholas, (interim) October 2012 – March 2013 * Maurice Wren, March 2013 – November 2020 * Enver Solomon, December 2020 – present


See also

*
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...
*
European Council on Refugees and Exiles Established in 1974, ECRE is a European network of 105 NGOs in 39 European countries. In 2011, the council raised concerns regarding planned repatriations of Afghan asylum children. In 2014, the council was critical of EU cutbacks of migrant r ...
*
Refugee Week Refugee Week takes place on the 20th of June each year. It is regularly used as a platform for holding hundreds of arts, cultural and educational events. Refugee Week events are often intended to celebrate the contribution of refugees to the Unit ...


References

{{Authority control Refugee aid organisations in the United Kingdom Human rights organisations based in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1951 1951 establishments in the United Kingdom Refugee aid organizations in Europe