JRS-UK Community Blog

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Louise Zanré, Director of JRS UK, shares her vision for a better world and invites us to join advocacy efforts alongside refugees to make the case for their dignity
Advocacy is one of the three parts of the JRS mission. We often spend a lot more time on accompaniment and service - I suspect because many of us attracted to working for JRS are what I think of as being at heart "people persons". We derive energy and inspiration from being present both with and two the people we accompany. We build relationships and endeavour to offer and to receive hope, dignity and justice through those relationships. And we often do not make enough of the advocacy opportunities we have had and the fact that peoples' lives are changed as a result.

Being a "people person" myself I get a great deal of pleasure from meeting new people and having the opportunity of explaining to them a little about the reality of the lives of the people we accompany, whether those left destitute by the asylum system in the UK or those who have been detained, and the work of JRS. As a person of faith and conviction I base much of that message I share on the values underpinning the mission of JRS. I dream of a new world of dignity and justice, where everyone is treated with equality and compassion. I hope that, when I speak to groups, or at events; when I have meetings with civil servants, politicians; when I attend network meetings of partner organisations; when I write articles, that I am able to speak with truth, compassion and with passion and that the people I address or meet with are better equipped to conceive of and to want to work towards that new world.

It is a big ask - of myself and of those listening - and I am sure that I am not always as effective as I might be. It is also a big ask as we are up against so much. There are too many myths about refugees and asylum seekers. The world is far from perfect and sometimes the issues we are confronted with can seem to be insurmountable. It is difficult to know what response to make to the fact that so many people are being forced to risk dangerous journeys to get to Europe; to the fears that so many people have over competition for resources, jobs, housing or health care provision.

However it is especially at this time when things can seem to be so dark and depressing that it is of particular importance that we do try our best to counter a prevailing message of blame, of not being able to be generous, of not being able to participate together in society.

A new immigration bill was announced recently in the Queen's speech. Unsurprisingly, the highlights make for pretty depressing reading - landlords having to check immigration status of prospective tenants to determine if they can legally rent housing to them, appeal rights only being permissible in immigration cases after deportation, making it more difficult for immigrants to get bank accounts, making money earned from illegal working the proceeds of criminal activity and therefore able to be confiscated, to name a very few. On top of existing restrictions they make the UK a very unwelcoming place indeed.

In the face of this we all need to be diligent advocates. We will be sharing with you campaigns against particular measures - whether to stop indefinite detention; to try and convince our government to resettle more refugees; or to lobby MPs about the immigration bill. But we will also be asking you to listen to the experiences of our refugee friends, their hopes and dreams. And we will be asking you to work with us to dream a new world, to try to be more welcoming ourselves in everything we do or say, to challenge injustice and to pray and reflect. Without our refugee friends and without you, nothing I nor JRS can do will substantially change things.

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What can we do together to improve the lives of asylum seekers here in the UK? JRS UK staff and advocacy volunteers share what advocacy means to them.

Sr Margaret Baxter SSMN, Detention Outreach Co-ordinator, helped two detainees give evidence to the UK parliamentary inquiry on detention via a video link, co-wrote JRS UK’s submission to the inquiry and herself also spoke at the launch of the report.

"For me, being involved with advocacy means to create an opportunity for the detainees I work with to self-advocate, then to help them prepare. For example, for the detention inquiry, we all wanted to be clear on what we wanted to say, so that it was a balance of their experience. On the moment of the hearing, I sat with them and then took each one into the room and then left, to allow them to speak for themselves. When they came out of the interview, I saw a liberated delight in these young men who had been empowered and now able to speak for themselves. That their stories were taken with credibility was in contrast to their experience of coming into country and making their asylum application against disbelief. There is nothing like the sincerity of the person themselves advocating on their own behalf. And with the detainees, there is a sense of solidarity with one another, even in the midst of their vulnerability."

Souleyman Sow, refugee poet and anti-detention campaigner, used to attend JRS UK’s Day Centre and now often speaks at events to explain the negative impacts of detention on the lives of vulnerable detainees, most recently at a school sixth-form education day.

"To be honest, before getting involved in campaigning, I did not know where I was, I had nowhere to start. It lifts me up and puts me on my feet and without it I would be somebody else. My main message is detention. It has an impact, it keep people in limbo. So to decision makers, I say that we have to put detention on trail, it is a waste of tax payers’ money. And let’s have a time limit on detention and we will see some of the problems for detainees ended. It is wonderful to speak out, I have been a tour guide, I have spoken at the parliamentary inquiry. Advocacy is not about money, it is not about food - you have to get involved in the community, after your release what have you contributed to the community? When I see my colleagues, I tell them come and get involved. So just involve yourself!"

A personal reflection from a JRS volunteer, Sr Juliana, who offers her thoughts after being with JRS for a couple of months...

My journey at Jesuit Refugee Service, it all started during our CSJP's Congregation (Congregation of Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace) experience here in London, as we explore where God is calling and leading us for future ministries in accordance with the signs of times and the needs of the world today. Right form that day something really touched and stayed with me, I felt something within, is had to name and to express what it is.

JRS as an international catholic non-governmental organization with a mission to accompany, serve and defend the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced people; is very much in line with our Charism of Peace through Justice. The question is often asked, why on earth should one had anything to do with ex-offenders, law breakers. Others feel that these people should get what they deserve and go where they belong. This attitude deeply touched and challenged me when I hear these words towards refugees and asylum seekers. At the same time what a remarkable witness of people who are willing to risk their lives by trying to live against this way of thinking, the logic and standards of the world; by working with people on the margins, helping those that nobody wants to help in terms of political, socio-economic and national policies and structures. With individuals not given a fair and good hearing and unfairly treated.

As a CSJP invited to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, I questioned myself how do I live and apply the Charism of Peace through Justice where people are not respected, believed in or listened to and considered as individuals and persons?  Why do I choose to go to JRS? It was because as CSJP I am called to live and think differently from the logic and standards of the world, to live in a new way the concept of basic human rights – our common humanity that fosters mutuality equality. I was welcomed within the team at JRS, making it possible for me to fit in very well, and we really worked very well together.

The situations of all those that visit the centre are very complex, difficult and sad, but the team acting as a community where everyone is family really makes a huge difference for the friends receiving service. As Henri Nouwen said: "Hospitality is primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy". I was involved in the administration (updating files, reception and welcoming); Day Centre (variety) and the women's group. The main purpose of the work with the women is to see to their personal well-being - physical, emotional, moral and spiritual (activities like relaxation exercises, reflexology and contemplative prayer circle are offered to help them) All of this aims to create a place for them just "TO BE", a time of relaxation and companionship. For me, the group itself was a witness: there are no barriers, no best way, no better language, and no better expression! We relate to God as we are and in the same way we relate to one anther. There were times when I was challenged and really experienced my own poverty, because many times I didn't feel I was actually doing anything, I had just to sit with the participants, even if communication was difficult. The communication of acceptance, equality and that atmosphere of shared common humanity spoke more than anything indeed. I became aware that sometimes even without words my attitudes can be discriminating and marginalizing of others. My experience at JRS, what really stayed with me is that "If I can't change people's situation, but I will try to love them".

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