Applications are now open for the next cohort of Compass: The Asylum Aid Advisor Development Programme! This free programme offers 5 IAA Level 2 trainees in-depth training, shadowing opportunities, supervision & a peer support network. Find out how to apply here: asylumaid.org.uk/what-we-do/c...

It is horrendous that people who come to the UK to seek safety after fleeing torture and trafficking, are met with further violence, creating more trauma. This is what happens when dangerous rhetoric and misinformation are spread, emboldened and legitimised. 1/2 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally is a terrifying example of what happens when politicians create performative, divisive policies to appease the far-right. With over 100 orgs, we ask the new Home Secretary to end the scapegoating of refugees & migrants. 📜 www.refugee-action.org.uk/OpenLetterHo...

With 63 other expert orgs, we’ve written to the government to strongly oppose the reduction in the length of time newly-recognised refugees get to move on from asylum accommodation. This could leave thousands more refugees destitute & on the streets this winter. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

We cannot stress enough how harmful asylum hotels are — contrary to the perception that they are 'luxurious'. They must be closed urgently but not be replaced with crumbling, overcrowded & isolated large sites.  Thanks @benchu.bsky.social for dispelling the myths around asylum hotels 👇

We have been witnessing the fear, sadness & disappointment among the people we support over the last few weeks. The horrific attacks on asylum hotels are a direct outcome of the constant scapegoating of people seeking safety in our politics & the media. This must stop immediately. Our response 👇

In 2 years, the ‘move-on’ period has yo-yoed: 28→7→28→56 days. Now the government wants to slash it again. People who have finally had their refugee status recognised must now find a job and private housing in 28 days - or risk winter on the streets.

The plans to use facial recognition technology to assess the age of children seeking asylum are concerning, unless significant safeguards are put in place. Replacing poor human decision making with inaccurate AI will not prevent children being put at risk. www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2025...

53 organisations have joined RAMFEL to demand Yvette Cooper extend family reunion rights to those resettled under Afghan schemes. This is a vital step to fix the harm caused by the data breach, which exposed families to renewed risk from the Taliban. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Thousands of families with children arrive in the UK every year to seek protection. But they are pushed into extreme poverty by the Home Office. Two months ago, the government froze the rates of financial support given to people seeking asylum. This has a devastating impact on children. 🧵

In July 2024, Keir Starmer said he'd close Wethersfield asylum camp. Now, he's forcing hundreds more people to live there. Nothing has changed. Wethersfield is still isolated, still dangerous, still cruel. People still deserve to live in communities, not camps.

New Medical Justice report finds that failures in clinical safeguards put vulnerable people at unacceptable levels of risk and caused harm and suffering to people in immigration detention during 2024 medicaljustice.org.uk/annual-revie...

"I did not come here seeking wealth or running from poverty. In fact, I had a stable life back in my country, Yemen. "What forced me to leave was not economic hardship, but persecution and fear for my safety and the safety of my family." www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Many survivors stay silent due to trauma, stigma & fear of retaliation. We must build trust, create safe reporting channels & remove barriers so they can seek help without fear. On World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, we call for systems that protect & support survivors. #EndHumanTrafficking

🚨 Thousands of trafficking survivors continue to be denied permission to stay in the UK despite their critical need for safety and support — a new report by @helenbamber.bsky.social, ATLEU & @ecpatuk.bsky.social reveals. Instead survivors are left in fear and at risk of further exploitation. 🧵1/3

'Youth Support Collective’, a group of young people with lived experience of age assessments by the Home Office, has collaborated with @refugeecouncil.bsky.social and GMIAU to create a guide to support others going through the process, and social workers. 🔗 childhood1st.notion.site/age-assessme...

❓Did you know that hundreds of thousands of people are forced to wait over 10 years for the right to permanently settle in the place they already call home? And it’s about to get worse. 🧵

🚨 We welcome the government's decision to scrap 'scientific methods' of assessing age of children seeking asylum. X-raying children to decide their age is inaccurate, expensive & potentially harmful. But we remain concerned about the Home Office’s use of visual assessments & plans to use AI. 🧵👇

🚨 New report from @ecpatuk.bsky.social 'More Than Words' found that over 61% of child referrals as potential victims of human trafficking were rejected on the grounds that the case did not meet the definitional threshold required to proceed. 📖 Read it here: bit.ly/4nTZDpP #ChildTrafficking

New report by @HelenBamber, @ATLEU_UK & @ECPATUK - just 4% of trafficking survivors got permission to stay in the UK for their recovery/to assist the police in 2024 - of 699 confirmed child victims, less than 5 received temporary permission to stay as victims

Join @helenbamber.bsky.social's call on the UK government to automatically grant ALL confirmed trafficking survivors 5 years leave to remain— in line with other protection routes. It’s time to put survivors’ safety, recovery and rights first. 📄 Full report: helenbamber.org/resources/re...

🚨 Thousands of trafficking survivors continue to be denied permission to stay in the UK despite their critical need for safety and support — a new report by @helenbamber.bsky.social, ATLEU & @ecpatuk.bsky.social reveals. Instead survivors are left in fear and at risk of further exploitation. 🧵1/3

It's two years today since the opening of Wethersfield: the prison-like camp where hundreds of people seeking sanctuary are shut away. Here, we look back at two years of suffering & scandal to show why Wethersfield MUST close. [CN: thread contains suicide & torture mentions]

🎧 Second episode of Lawmanity podcast featuring our Executive Director Alison Pickup just dropped! 📻 Listen in to this insightful conversation on securing justice for people seeking asylum and some career advice for aspiring human rights lawyers 👇

For too long the Home Office has wrongly judged refugee children to be adults, and in doing so deprived them of the care, love and support they need as the children they are. More here in @theipaper.com today (nb, paywalled) inews.co.uk/news/politic...

🚨We have published a NEW REPORT sharing the experiences of children from our All4One youth group who were wrongly treated as adults by the Home Office. These children arrived in the UK alone seeking asylum, were declared “significantly over 18” at the border and sent alone to adult asylum hotels.

🚨 For the third year in a row, our data shows that HUNDREDS of child refugees, who come to the UK alone, are continuing to be incorrectly treated as adults after a visual assessment of age at the border. They are placed with strangers in adult accommodation & even adult prisons. 1/2

📻 Our Executive Director Alison Pickup speaks on Lawmanity podcast about Asylum Aid's vital role in successfully challenging the Conservative government's Rwanda plan. Want to know more about went behind this critical legal challenge? Listen in! 🎧 pnc.st/s/lawmanity

Today MPs vote on the welfare bill. Many survivors we support need disability benefits due to the severe impact of torture & trafficking on their mental & physical health. The bill (even with concessions) will push many into poverty, homelessness & exploitation. www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

🚨Blog post: "Communities provide VITAL support to children & families seeking sanctuary across the UK. But they cannot protect thousands of children from deep & persistent poverty. Only gov reforms can do that." ilonapinter2019.wordpress.com/2025/06/20/c... #childpoverty #RefugeeWeek #asylumsupport

Today, on International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we stand in solidarity with all survivors of torture and trauma. At Young Roots, we know that many young refugees and asylum seekers carry experiences of deep pain and trauma – often in silence.

As a charity that supports survivors of extreme human cruelty, we witness every day the profound & long-lasting trauma caused by torture. On UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we stand in solidarity with all survivors globally. #UnitedAgainstTorture

On #WorldRefugeeDay today, we celebrate the friendships, solidarity & joy among our clients, who attend our community groups every fortnight. They bond over shared experiences & fun activities & often inspire us with some extraordinary talent. 🌿🥗🎼🎨🧶 #RefugeeWeek 🧡

🚨 We found that, in the first half of 2024, over HALF of young people seeking asylum were initially assessed as adults by the Home Office but found to be children after being referred to local authorities – at least 262 children. This cannot continue. 1/2 www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Great to join @barnardos.org.uk for their roundtable in the House of Lords to discuss their latest briefing on the impact of age assessments on children seeking protection in the UK, and what needs to change. #RefugeeWeek www.barnardos.org.uk/research/let...

This #RefugeeWeek, #OurSuperpower is resilience ✊🧡 The hostile environment that people seeking asylum in the UK experience takes a huge toll on their mental health. But the resilience and strength of our clients, many of whom continue to face tremendous hardship, inspires us every day.

🚨 We need your support as our wonderful team goes on a 10 km walk w/ @londonlegal.bsky.social tomorrow to raise money for Asylum Aid! Please donate here so we can continue to help some of the most vulnerable people seeking protection in the UK 👇 🙏 londonlegalsupporttrust.enthuse.com/pf/asylum-ai...

Over the past 2 years, we've warned repeatedly that moving men seeking asylum in the UK to Wethersfield causes them profound & long-lasting harm. Instead of closing the site urgently, the govt plans to extend its use — it's disgraceful. We need #CommunitiesNotCamps www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The government's (renewed) commitment to close asylum hotels is certainly welcome. It must also shut RAF Wethersfield urgently. But progress can't be made if the Home Office continues to wrongly refuse thousands of asylum claims and builds a backlog of appeals. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

One of our Ambassadors for Change, a group of campaigners with lived experience of the UK's asylum system, spoke in Parliament yesterday! She shared her insights at the launch of a new report about the continuing legal advice crisis in the UK: justice-together.org.uk/learning/our...

The UK's asylum housing system is broken, cruel & unjustifiably costly. People seeking safety in the UK are still forced to live in hotels and the ex-military site, RAF Wethersfield, for prolonged periods of time, pushing them towards despair & even suicide. 🧵 observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Thank you to @jakerichardsmp.bsky.social who sits on the Home Affairs Select Committee for raising the vital issue of refugee children being wrongly placed in adult asylum hotels. Many refugee children we and @helenbamber.bsky.social. @humansforrights.bsky.social work with are wrongly judged adult.

On Monday, the Border Security Bill was debated in the House of Lords for the first time. Many Peers highlighted that the Bill doesn't go far enough to undo the harmful legislation introduced in recent years and risks further criminalising refugees and survivors of trafficking 🧵(1/3)

Fast-tracking asylum decisions from countries the government decides are 'safe' denies people seeking protection in the UK a fair & proper assessment of their claim — our recent report showed the terrible impact this has had on survivors of trafficking. 1/2 www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

This new report shows that hundreds of people seeking safety in the UK have been imprisoned for arriving on a ‘small boat’ since 2022. Among those are victims of trafficking & torture & children prosecuted as adults. This practice breaches international law & causes profound harm. It must stop.

📣 Global Migration Conference 2025: Creating Spaces of Sanctuary 🕊️ An afternoon of talks and discussion with speakers from @helenbamber.bsky.social, @hackneycouncil.bsky.social and @cityofsanctuaryuk.bsky.social. 📅 Tues 17 June | 1–4pm 🎟 Free + open to all #UCL #RefugeeWeek2025 #GlobalMigration

🚨 16p a day — that's how much the Home Office has increased the rate of asylum support for people in hotels. 😖 It hasn't raised self-catered support rate AT ALL. This is after we provided detailed evidence of the abject poverty people seeking protection are forced to live in. It is disgraceful 🧵

This is a tragic story. Men, women & children who come to the UK to seek asylum are forced to live in squalid hotels, where they often encounter hostile & untrained staff — while private companies running these inhumane housing systems earn millions in profit. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

We're proud to join hundreds of signatories to this open letter coordinated by @asylummatters.bsky.social We urgently need this government to move away from hostile, divisive rhetoric and towards defending everyone's human rights. We are and will remain an island of solidarity, not strangers. 🧡

@helenbamber.bsky.social expose how the previous government's measures are denying those seeking protection in the UK a fair & individualised assessment of their asylum claim - while the new govt seem set to tighten measures, putting 100s of trafficking survivors at risk #RepealS59IMA bit.ly/4msMLWY