Refugee charities call for end to 'hostile politics' in open letter to PM

Apr 7th, 2025

Image: Together With Refugees

Source: Together With Refugees

Today more than 100 refugee charities have signed an open letter to the Prime Minister calling for united communities and an end to 'hostile politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language of the past'.

The letter has been coordinated by campaign coalition Together With Refugees in response to the Organised Immigration Crime Summit on targeting smuggling gangs and the Prime Minister's comments ahead of the event. He said: "But we all pay the price for insecure borders - from the cost of accommodating migrants to the strain on our public services. It is a basic question of fairness."

The 136 signatories are from national, local and grass roots organisations across the UK including City of Sanctuary UK, Choose Love, Freedom from Torture, One Strong Voice, Rainbow Migration, Refugee Action, Refugee Council, Safe Passage International, Scottish Refugee Council, Welsh Refugee Council and Women for Refugee Women.

The letter states: "You told us this week that immigration 'is a basic question of fairness'. We agree. But the searing experiences of last summer, when hate-filled mobs tried to burn down hotels hosting asylum seekers, make it clear that the path to fairness is not to be found in those pitting local communities against refugees seeking safety from persecution and war."

It goes on to say: "Now is not the time to play into the hands of those seeking to build them-and-us division between local communities and refugees. It is the time to move away from the hostile politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language of the past and unite our communities for a different way forward."

The letter also responds to the Summit's focus on targeting smuggling gangs. It states: "Rather than the border security summit's focus on expensive new ways to disrupt people smugglers, often making the journey more dangerous for refugees, the government should be looking at safe routes for refugees to get here without risking their lives."

Bridget Young, Director of NACCOM, who signed the letter, said: "A narrow focus on targeting the smuggling gangs is expensive and will only risk more lives as people take greater risks to get here. People fleeing war and other dangers need a legal way to apply for asylum in the UK, without ever having to take a terrifying journey across the Channel. We need a proper plan for refugees, with safe routes and meaningful support to help them integrate into their communities and contribute when they get here."

Tim Naor Hilton, Chief Executive of Refugee Action, said: "We need the Prime Minister and his government to be brave and ditch the divisive language that scapegoats migrants, including refugees and people seeking asylum.

"Hostile policies and rhetoric risk fuelling more of the racist, Islamophobic and anti-immigrant riots that tore through our communities last summer.

"The government must use language that focuses on unity and community resilience, and develop a new asylum system that is grounded in rights and justice."

Signatory Nico Ndlovu, representative of lived experience campaign group One Strong Voice, said: "The Prime Minister's words this week make no recognition of our suffering and why we desperately need to find safety, or our contribution to this country, its economy and culture. It's painful to hear him add his voice to this kind of hostile rhetoric. Rather than this summit's narrow and expensive focus on people smugglers we need a proper vision for the asylum system, with a plan that is fair, compassionate and well-managed."

The letter calls for a fair new plan for refugees that is compassionate and well-managed, with:

Protection for people fleeing war and persecution by upholding the UK's commitment under international law to the right to claim asylum.

A proper strategy for welcoming refugees by ensuring fair, rapid decisions on their application for asylum, and the chance to rebuild their lives through settling in a community.

Stronger global cooperation to tackle the root causes that force people to flee their homes and provides positive solutions when they do, including through safe routes to refugee protection.

The full letter and list of signatories follows:

Dear Prime Minister

You told us this week that immigration 'is a basic question of fairness'. We agree. But the searing experiences of last summer, when hate-filled mobs tried to burn down hotels hosting asylum seekers, make it clear that the path to fairness is not to be found in those pitting local communities against refugees seeking safety from persecution and war.

We know that 80% of British people want an asylum system that is fair, compassionate and well managed. In our daily work we see communities across the country going the extra mile to welcome refugees - opening their homes, volunteering, speaking up, and donating. Refugees enrich our country as our neighbours, friends and colleagues.

That's why the fair and right thing to do is create a new vision for asylum in this country, with a fair new plan for refugees. We welcome the important changes your government has made - from scrapping the Rwanda scheme to ending the indefinite detention of refugee children, but we need a plan that goes further, with:

Protection for people fleeing war and persecution by upholding the UK's commitment under international law to the right to claim asylum.

A proper strategy for welcoming refugees by ensuring fair, rapid decisions on their application for asylum, and the chance to rebuild their lives through settling in a community.

Stronger global cooperation to tackle the root causes that force people to flee their homes and provides positive solutions when they do, including through safe routes to refugee protection.

Now is not the time to play into the hands of those seeking to build them-and-us division between local communities and refugees. It is the time to move away from the hostile politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language of the past and unite our communities for a different way forward.

Yours sincerely

Chris Woof, Join lead, ACAP (Ashton Churches Asylum Project)
Maya Esslemont, Director, After Exploitation
Professor Caroline Glendinning, Professor Emerita, Amnesty International Manchester
Rob Wilson, Coordinator, Angels of Freedom CIC
Victoria Marks, Director, Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU)
Bobby Lloyd, CEO, Art Refuge
Godefroid Seminega, Chief Executive Officer, Asha North Staffordshire
Alison Pickup, Executive Director, Asylum Aid
Ewan Roberts, Centre Manager, Asylum Link Merseyside (ALM)
Louise Calvey, Director, Asylum Matters
Anya Hulley, Community Engagement & Communications Co-ordinator, Baca Charity
Zita Holbourne, National Chair, BARAC UK
Steve Ruffle, Secretary, Barnsley Borough City of Sanctuary
Corrinne Ainsworth, Projects and Marketing, Bicycle Links
Emma Hawthorne, Chair of Trustees, BIRCH Network
Shari Brown, Chair, Birmingham City of Sanctuary
Barbara Forbes, Coordinator, Birmingham Schools of Sanctuary
Ros Holland, Chief Executive, Boaz Trust
Will Sutcliffe, Chair, Bradford City of Sanctuary
Linda Walz, Chair, Bristol & Bath FfT Local Supporters' Group
Jo Benefield, Campaign Coordinator, Bristol Defend the Asylum Seekers Campaign
Yvonne Rendell, Chair, Bromsgrove and Redditch Welcome Refugees
Catharine Walston, Chair, Cambridge Convoy Refugee Action Group
Adrian Matthews, Trustee, Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign
Charlotte Khan, Head of Advocacy, Care4Calais
Patrick O'Dowd, Director, Caritas Salford
Ben Gilchrist, Chief Executive, Caritas Shrewsbury
Hebe Reilly, Creative Director / CEO, Cartwheel Arts
Andy Glover, Director, CC Hub CIC
Emma Stevenson, Deputy CEO, Choose Love
Sian Summers-Rees, Chief Officer, City of Sanctuary UK
Nick Crofts, CEO, Co-op Foundation
Jennifer Nadel, CEO, Compassion in Politics
Chris Rose, Chair, Craven District of Sanctuary
Kuljit Chuhan, Director, Crossing Footprints CIC
Fran Wood, CEO, Darlington Assistance for Refugees
Jan Benvie, Secretary, Edinburgh Action for Palestine
Jeannie Tweedie, Co-Director, Elmbridge CAN
Andrea Simon, Executive Director, End Violence Against Women Coalition
Linda El-Miligy, Centre Manager, Esolperth
Ros Gowers, Coordinator, Evesham Vale Welcomes Refugees
Lewis Garland, Chief Executive, Fences & Frontiers
Kate Tector, Headteacher, Filton Avenue Nursery School
Jan Heritage, Publisher, Finished Creatures Poetry magazine
Sonya Sceats , Chief Executive, Freedom from Torture
Naomi Popli, Executive Director, Good Chance
Traci Kirkland, Head of Charity, Govan Community Project
Denise McDowell, Chief Executive, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit
Becky Moore , CEO, Hackney Migrant Centre
Polly Gifford, Co-Chair, Hastings Community of Sanctuary
Jane Grimshaw, Convenor Hastings Support Refugees, Hastings Supports Refugees
Ailsa Dunn, Secretary, Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees
Kerry Smith, Chief Executive, Helen Bamber Foundation
Irene Austin, Chair, Herts Welcomes Refugees
Rabbi David Mason, Executive Director, HIAS+JCORE
Elizabeth Jiménez-Yáñez, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Hibiscus
Rossana Horsley, Director London Programme, HostNation
Christine Collings, Coordinator, HOW (Humans of Wolverhampton)
Andrew Copson, Chief Executive, Humanists UK
Katherine Maxwell-Rose, Strategic Communications Director, IMIX
Zoe Bantleman, Legal Director, Immigration Law Practitioners' Association (ILPA)
Bruna Boscaini, Director, Indoamerican Refugee and Migrant Organisation
Liam Allmark, Acting Deputy Director, Jesuit Refugee Service UK
Yasmin Halima, Executive Director, Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI)
Jill Kent, Chair, Justice & Peace Scotland (Scottish Catholic Justice & Peace Commission)
Andy Sirel, Legal Director & Partner, JustRight Scotland
Dr Razia Shariff, CEO, Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN)
Alison Bell, Co-Chair, Lewes Refugee Support Group
Jamie Balfour-Paul, Founder and Performing Magician, Magic for Smiles
Helen Paskins, Advocacy and Partnerships Coordinator, Manchester City of Sanctuary
Joanna Knight, Director, merl
Seana Roberts, Manager, Merseyside Refugee Support Network
Sebastian Rocca, Founder and CEO, Micro Rainbow
Nazek Ramadan, Executive Director, Migrant Voice
Fadi Itani OBE, CEO, Muslim Charities Forum
Bridget Young, Director, NACCOM
Nico Ndlovu, Podcaster, One Strong Voice
Anna Lewis, CEO, Open Door North East
Amos Schonfield, CEO, Our Second Home
Paul Gauntlett, Trustee, Pendle New Neighbours
Sarah Wilson , Director, Penrith and Eden Refugee Network
James Adamson, Legal Adviser and Centre Manager, PERN Legal and Info
Dawn B Judd, Chair, Preston City of Sanctuary
Katie Hall, Advocacy Coordinator, Project Play
Fran Heathcote, General Secretary, Public and Commercial Services Union
Sheila Mosley, Member of Steering Group, Quaker Asylum & Refugee Network - QARN
Leila Zadeh, Executive Director, Rainbow Migration
Nick Beales, Head of Campaigning, RAMFEL
Tim Naor Hilton, Chief Executive, Refugee Action
Enver Solomon, Chief Executive, Refugee Council
Rachel Ellis, CEO, Refugee Support Europe
Nick Harborne, CEO, Refugee Support Group
Lauren Scott, Chief Executive Officer, Refugees at Home
Mia Hasenson-Gross, Executive Director, René Cassin, the Jewish voice for human rights
Jeremy Thompson, Manager, Restore, a project of Birmingham Churches Together
Shabna Begum, CEO, Runnymede Trust
Gunes Kalkan, Head of Campaigns, Safe Passage International
Charlotte Zosseder, Director, Samphire
Michael Collyer, Chair, Sanctuary on Sea
Karen Dobson, CEO, Scotswood Garden
Dr Sabir Zazai OBE, Chief Executive, Scottish Refugee Council
Angie Pedley, Treasurer (volunteer), Settle Area Refugee Support
Annika Joy, Programme Director, Simon Community Scotland
Kathryn Ashworth, CEO, Solace Surviving Exile and Persecution
Selma Taha, Executive Director, Southall Black Sisters (SBS)
Nikki Walters, Chair, Southampton Action
Catherine Hartley, Co-Chair, Southampton and Winchester Visitors Group
Pauline Nandoo, Director, Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers
Abigail Martin, CEO , St Chad's Sanctuary CIO
Maja Moller , Committee Co-leader, St Thomas Church Asylum Seeker and Refugee Support Network
Dr Helen Taylor, Director, Stories & Supper
Stephanie Neville, Project Manager, Stories of Hope and Home
Emily Crowley, Chief Executive, Student Action for Refugees (STAR)
Satinder Collins, Chair, Tees Valley of Sanctuary
Ruth Harvey, Leader, The Iona Community
Summerly Devito, Joint CEO and Cofounder, The Launchpad Collective
Susannah Baker, Trustee and Director of Refugee Resettlement, The Pickwell Foundation
Rossana Leal , CEO, The Refugee Buddy Project Hastings Rother & Wealden
William Gomes, Director , The William Gomes Podcast
Andreea Dumitrache, CEO, the3million
Saskia Borchardt-Hume, Chief Executive Officer, Thread Ahead
Dania Thomas, Director, Ubuntu Women Shelter
Tetyana Barnes, Manager, Ukrainian Scottish Council ( Ukrainian families club in Glasgow)
Bella Hoogeveen, Project Manager for UNESCO RIELA, University of Glasgow, UNESCO Chair on Refugee Integration through Education, Language and Arts
Andrew Jackson, Chief Executive , Upbeat Communities
Mel Steel, Director, Voices in Exile
Norman Minter, Chair, Waltham Forest Migrant Action
Miriam Philip, CEO, Waterloo Community Counselling
Rebecca Didi, Senior Trauma Informed Therapist, We Are Survivors
Rob McDowall, Chair, Welfare Scotland
Andrea Cleaver, CEO, Welsh Refugee Council
Joanne MacInnes, Director, West London Welcome
Andrea Vukovic, Co-Director, Women for Refugee Women
Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, Director, Women's Budget Group
Dr Michael Bowker, Trustee, Wycombe Refugee Partnership
Paola Uccellari, CEO, Young Roots
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