Policing the Channel alone is not enough to stop small boat crossings. As we told The Independent, the government must address why people take dangerous journeys in the first place: there are not enough safe and legal routes to the UK. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Children are children first. Our new briefing sets out reforms designed to centre and protect children in the wake of the government's new asylum and settlement changes: stable status, safe family reunion, fair age assessment and independent guardianship. www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/stay-informe...

Receiving refugee status in the UK should be a moment for people to celebrate and finally start rebuilding their lives in safety, after escaping war and persecution. Instead, they have to overcome endless bureaucratic hurdles and the threat of homelessness.

The government intends to ramp up deportations to so-called “safe” countries – including ones currently at war like Ukraine - before people have a chance to appeal failed asylum applications in the UK. But as we pointed out, many people are rejected unfairly and incorrectly.

Last week, it was revealed that a record high of 100,000+ people were waiting to appeal their asylum decision. Poor-quality decision-making by the Home Office is keeping people stuck in limbo for years, unable to work or rebuild their lives. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Last week, it was announced that some people seeking asylum will lose support and accommodation. Forcing people into destitution or sleeping rough won't fix the system. Instead, it will shift costs to local authorities and the NHS, making cases harder to resolve www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Making refugee status temporary will only keep people trapped in uncertainty, weaken integration and cost up to £725 million. Read our joint statement on these new asylum changes. @welshrefcouncil.bsky.social @scotrefugeecouncil.bsky.social www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/press-office...

Refugee families who have survived war and persecution will now face renewed uncertainty every 30 months. Refugees should be able to put down roots: settle into communities, learn English and find work. Our analysis also shows this new workload will cost up to £725 million over the first 10 years.

People fleeing war and oppression are being pushed into dangerous journeys because safe and legal routes are being shut down. In the last three months of 2025, there was a 35% drop in people granted protection through resettlement schemes, compared to 2024. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Although today's immigration statistics show progress, tens of thousands of people are still stuck in hotels for months or years, unable to legally work or rebuild their lives. Asylum hotels cost billions, spark division, and keep people trapped in uncertainty www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Today, on the four-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, we're thinking of the Ukrainian refugees we work with every day at the Refugee Council, and their courage as they rebuild their lives here in Britain.

These findings will be heartbreaking for the families of those who died on 24 November 2021. This needless loss of life shows how desperate people are to reach safety, and why it is so vital to have safe and legal routes to allow people to get to the UK. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Our outgoing Chief Executive @enversol.bsky.social joined the Law & Disorder podcast for a wide-ranging discussion on asylum in the UK, and why it's so important that we continue our proud legacy of offering safety to those fleeing war and persecution: open.spotify.com/episode/0NAy...

Football is our national obsession - and one of the best ways to bring people together. Fair Shot's incredible team of refugees and people seeking asylum played football with Barnsley FC fans this weekend. Watch them talk to ITV Calendar about how sport unites us: www.itv.com/watch/news/b...

At most, Crowborough will accommodate about 1.5% of the current hotel population. Camps are not the answer. As @refugeecouncil.bsky.social's Imran Hussain set out in the Times this morning, the way to end the use of hotels is to move people out of the asylum system www.thetimes.com/comment/lett...

Baroness Lister is right to challenge the absence of child rights impact assessments for the Government's latest asylum proposals. Leaving children in prolonged uncertainty is not only damaging for them, but undermines confidence that these policies will work in the long term.

Siham, Daneshgar, and Motaz are just three of the young people we work with. They told ITV News why education is so important for young refugees, to help them settle into Britain, rebuild their lives, and find work. www.itv.com/news/2026-01...

As CEO Enver Solomon leaves the Refugee Council, he reflects on the past five years in asylum policy - and how hostility and toxicity have reached unprecedented levels. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Tough-talking TikToks may get headlines, but there is very little evidence that these kinds of messages work to deter anyone. Refugees come to the UK because of existing links – like having family here, speaking English, or longstanding cultural ties. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

“Women in Afghanistan are like birds with clipped wings: they are not allowed to fly… But I still hold on to hope.” Three of the amazing women we work with speak about their lives and finding safety in the UK in a powerful @theguardian.com piece by Claudia Janke www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Across the country, many communities have welcomed people seeking asylum into their spaces. Read about a Christmas party where Refugee Council frontline workers, churches and community groups shared food and gifts with refugee families. www.ft.com/content/1d11... via @financialtimes.com

The problem with asylum in the UK is a system that doesn’t work, not the people trapped in it. Renae Mann, our Executive Director of Services, for @theipaper.com on what the public doesn't understand about asylum and immigration ✍️ inews.co.uk/opinion/visa...

We can build a fair asylum system that determines who qualifies for protection and who does not. Or we can water down laws that protect us all: desperate people would still arrive on our shores, but be driven underground and left vulnerable to abuse. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

More than half of people who applied for asylum almost three years ago still don’t have an outcome, the NAO has found. As we told the BBC, the report mirrors what we see every day in our frontline services: a system that is simply not functioning. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Government's new asylum plans will overwhelm an overstretched system, keep people trapped in uncertainty for up to 20 years, and cost more than £1.1 billion. Tell your MP that we need a safe, fair and humane asylum system ⬇️ refugee-council.yourmovement.org/p/share-conc...

These figures show that the few existing “safe and legal” routes for people are disappearing. When legal routes to the UK aren’t available, people escaping war and persecution are pushed towards smugglers and dangerous journeys instead. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

"We are a country of migrants... The vast majority of refugees who come here want to work hard, give back, and become proud Britons." Watch our CEO Enver Solomon speaking about Britain's asylum system on Channel 4 News last night. @channel4news.bsky.social www.channel4.com/news/debate-...

Despite anti-refugee misinformation, we see in our frontline services every day how refugees already contribute massively to the UK. Our CEO Enver Solomon in The Standard for the "Who's at your table?" campaign with Comic Relief ⬇️ www.standard.co.uk/comment/enve...

The government’s plan to review refugee status every 30 months is unworkable and extremely costly - and applying it retrospectively to people already granted protection will make an unmanageable system even worse.

People who have been persecuted, tortured or seen family members killed in brutal wars are not "asylum shopping." As our CEO told @thetimes.com, refugees don’t compare asylum systems before running for their lives. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

The government may have been successful in this case, but they still have a problem on their hands. Hotels are not an appropriate long-term solution for housing people seeking asylum. Nor is warehousing people in military barracks or other large sites. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Large accommodation sites are not a viable or humane solution, as we told The Times. These plans are extremely costly and logistically complex. They will further isolate people away from communities and fail to address the real issues facing the asylum system. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

"I can work, my children can go to school. We feel safe here. But in Afghanistan, people are in a really bad situation." Read about our previous client Nahid, whose pop-up restaurants have fed thousands of people and helped other refugees into work. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

75 years ago, the ECHR was born out of the horrors of World War II. It protects all of us - and has been the difference between life and death for many. That's why we and almost 300 organisations are calling on the government to defend our human rights. libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/almost...

Two months after the Government paused refugee family reunion, Lord Kerr has written for @politicshome.bsky.social about an amendment led by @alfdubs.bsky.social seeking to ensure that refugee children can continue to be reunited with family members in the UK www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

Survivors of torture need safety and stability - not unsafe, unsuitable and overcrowded accommodation where they feel like prisoners. Read Freedom from Torture's new report, 'A Place to Heal: How asylum accommodation re-traumatises torture survivors' ✍️ freedomfromtorture.org/news-and-sto...

Before #BlackHistoryMonth is over, read this post by Adam, a refugee from Sudan who works with refugee communities: "When we honour Black History, we must also honour refugee history... both are stories of endurance, transformation and human strength." www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/stay-informe...

Our Chief Executive, Enver Solomon, will be leaving in early 2026 to join @nacro.bsky.social as CEO. Enver says: “It has been a privilege leading the Refugee Council for the last five years during an extraordinary period for the charity’s mission." www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/press-office...

This is not who we are as a country – we should not be forcing children to grow up without their parents.  Read this new British Red Cross report, which shows why refugee family reunion is such a crucial lifeline. redcross.org.uk/about-us/wha...

Plans to house 10,000 people seeking asylum on military sites are fanciful, too expensive and too logistically difficult. These large sites also isolate people who have fled persecution and violence, separating them from communities and vital services. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Thanks to @carladenyer.bsky.social for setting out our @refugeecouncil.bsky.social proposal to end the use of hotels for people seeking asylum without needing to resort to unsuitable, expensive military sites in the House of Commons just now www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/stay-informe...

Jon Featonby, chief policy analyst at the Refugee Council, said: “The previous government tried and failed to put people off taking risky journeys by reducing the rights of refugees once they were in the UK. It didn’t work then and there is no evidence to suggest it will work now."

Hostility towards refugees is having very real consequences for not only the people who have fled places like Sudan and Afghanistan, but also for the organisations trying to help them. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

🎙️ Our Refugee Podcast Launches today with @enversol.bsky.social from @refugeecouncil.bsky.social Listen to Enver discuss the importance of expanding #SafeRoutes for #Refugees & the vital role the media plays. 💚 Listen on Spotify: lnkd.in/dY52K6TW ❤️ Watch on YouTube: lnkd.in/dT6egumh

Statement from our Chief Executive @enversol.bsky.social, on today's cabinet reshuffle and appointment of a new Home Secretary: www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/press-office...

Until now, family reunion has been one of the only safe and legal routes available that allows refugees fleeing war and persecution to be reunited with their partner and children. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

In the year to June 2025, 92% of refugee family reunion visas were given to women and children. More than half went to children. Two thirds to people from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran and Sudan. It helps integration and provides a safe route. Family reunion should be easier, not harder.

There's been a lot of talk about asylum hotels over the last few weeks, but little in the way of practical suggestions. Our new analysis at @refugeecouncil.bsky.social sets out how the government could end the use of hotels within months, rather than years www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Today we've published a report showing that asylum hotels could be shut by March 2026 with a one-off scheme for people from five countries. Find out more here: www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

“When refugees are welcomed, everyone benefits: local economies get a boost, skills gaps are filled, and communities gain people who want to work hard and give back.” www.marieclaire.co.uk/life/politic...