Dear supporters
We have decided to discontinue our regular blogs and will send out a regular newsletter to members of our groups and you, our supporters, instead.
Of course, we invite you to comment – please go to the Contact page of this website and leave your feedback, and sign up to get your newsletter under FaVRSG@gmail.com.
Thank you for your ongoing support!
Support the Christmas Challenge 2021
From 12 pm (noon) on 30th November – 12 pm on 7th December, your donation to participating charities can be doubled. One donation, twice the impact!
The Big Give is a non-profit, charitable website that enables donors to find and support charity projects in their field of interest. Its main activity is online match funding, where donations from the public are matched by donations from notable philanthropists.
You can find more info online under ‘The Big Give’,
https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/christmas-challenge-2021
I m p o r t a n t to know: your donations, on a first come, first serve basis, are matched 100% by those ‘champions’, and since fundraising began in 2008, The Big Give has raised over £156 million for thousands of charity projects, including for Covid-19 relief efforts and for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, but also to raise money in disaster relief. Funds have been released in response to the Syria Crisis, typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal, and other international emergencies.
This year, FVRSG is supporting Donate4Refugees, a small but very active and efficient charity, founded in the UK and registered with the Charity Commission.
European winters can be long and harsh. Rain, cold winds and snow can leave us feeling cold to the core. Whilst we pop on central heating, put the kettle on, or thaw out in a hot shower, not everyone has these luxuries… Men, women and children living as refugees in Europe are too often homeless, living in tents, squats or camps. Frequently without adequate food, shower or wash facilities, or electricity for cooking, making tea or running a heater. Basic survival is always on their minds.
So, we are raising urgently needed funds to provide refugees in Europe, surviving winter in challenging living conditions, with some warmth. For many this will be tents and sleeping bags, for others it might be a hot meal or cup of tea.’
Donate4Refugees works within a framework of youth-driven, highly motivated, on the ground charities, a lot of them on the Calais and Dunkirk sites. We have all heard of the horrible drowning of at least 27 people last week, in only one incident. Those charities on the ground certainly don’t encourage anyone to cross the Channel in a flimsy boat, but they do supply the most urgent items, such as water, blankets, boots or a hot meal, in situ, and are often the only human contacts outside of the refugee community in those places.
Please consider a donation to one of the charities:
https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a056900001wZayiAAC
https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a056900001wWyo6AAC
https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a056900001txOwzAAE
https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a056900001v3XeAAAU
https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a056900001v5Wb2AAE
or just check out the Big Give Website for other charities you might like to support.
Thank you so much!
Last week, Little Amal was guest of honour in the Cathedral City of Canterbury, and FVRSG was part of the huge “welcoming committee”.
Having made her way up from Folkestone, where she had been greeted by an enthusiastic and delighted crowd, she was “walked” from the cathedral up to the university, accompanied by a sizeable and cheerful crowd. A wonderful percussion band provided appropriately up-beat background rhythm, and hundreds of people, flocking the old town, later joined by an urban fox and two delightful pelicans, marched her up the hill and onto the University Campus.
The sun smiled on the crowds and the many schoolchildren, who had prepared displays of their own, from peace doves and smiling children’s’ faces to intricately woven fabric meshes on banner mounts.
Little Amal came to the UK as part of an initiative aiming to raise awareness of problems faced by refugees. The initiative was designed by The Good Chance Theatre, which produced The Jungle – a play focusing on the conditions at the Calais migrant camp and the oversized puppet itself was crafted from cane and carbon fiber by the Handspring Puppet Company, of War Horse fame.
The Walk – under the Artistic Direction of Amir Nizar Zuabi, brings together artists, cultural institutions, community groups and humanitarian organisations.
Little Amal’, a 3.5-metre-tall puppet of a young refugee girl, represents all displaced children. Walking over 8,000 km, from Gaziantep, in Turkey, through 8 countries, to Manchester, UK, for all the children (many unaccompanied and separated from their families), who are forced to undertake extraordinary journeys under life-threatening conditions.
The Refugee Tales project, presented in the evening at the Gulbenkian Theatre, was a collection of tales and music. Hosted by Niamh Cusack, it featured readings by Patience Agbabi, AJ and Bidisha, and music by Liran Donin’s 1000 Boats and was, by all accounts, a wonderful and inspiring evening.
Apologies for any cross postings dear friends, but many have approached us asking how they can help.
At this point, the US and the UK are concluding their efforts to get out their nationals and as many eligible Afghanis as possible.
For the time being, the UNHCR is desperate for donations.
FVRSG is following the situation closely and as soon as we get specific information as to how we can best assist Afghan refugees arriving in this area, we will set out our appeal for specific items and what role we can play locally.
Keep informed via
ALSO please see this Guardian Article in Saturday the 28th paper, which shows ways of helping, particularly:
Care4Calais:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/27/afghan-refugees-arrive-uk-what-can-you-do-help
British Red Cross:
Refugee Council:
https://act.refugeecouncil.org.uk/donation/refugee-crisis-appeal
FVRSG member Victor took part in the Concern Worldwide ration challenge, which asks people to live on rations typically distributed to refugees and displaced people in camps.
Victor, himself a descendent of immigrants, managed to stick to the challenge and gives us this humorous but insightful feedback:
“Rations for the whole week arrived in a small cardboard box weighing less than a Friday night takeaway from The Raj. This was somewhat alarming, but it turned out that it did last the week. The box included rice, lentils, chickpeas and a tin of red beans. There would have been sardines but, being a vegetarian, it was suggested that I should buy tofu. I am however… not really a fan of tofu…
I was allowed to buy one vegetable and chose an onion, which lasted all week. Also, unlimited supplies of salt were allowed – not entirely appropriate for someone on blood pressure pills however!
What really surprised me was that I only deliberately broke the rules once. I fully expected that I would have to raid the fridge, in secret, when my wife was not around, but this never happened. My offence, taking place at a friend‘s house, was to accept one of the delicious looking strawberries which I was offered (one cup of coffee for the whole week was allowed). It seemed churlish not to accept – and I admit, I chose the biggest one I could see!
Each meal was about one third of what I would normally eat, which was sufficient. The real problem was that I could not make anything which tasted even remotely pleasant. The absence of tea, coffee, fruit and veg was difficult to cope with.
An unfortunate incident on Friday resulted in some marital tension: Entitled to one teabag, I used it after lunch, then put it aside to drain and use again. Later, in the kitchen, I found, to my horror, that my wife had thrown the cherished teabag away. Careful enquiry convinced me however that it was a genuine mistake, and marital harmony was restored.
The week ended for me at midnight on Saturday. Five minutes later I had a cup of coffee and a croissant, which was bliss.
The experience gave a small insight into the conditions which so many have to survive on.“
In the end, Victor raised over £ 1,900.00, money which will now support the charity in supplying food and water in refugee camps.
On 3rd and 4th of July Refugee Tales walkers will be gathering in Canterbury and across the world. They will walk and share tales, celebrate the world wide community and continue to take steps towards our collective destination: a future without immigration detention.
There are many ways you can take part in this event.
Whether you are walking in Canterbury or joining R T in solidarity elsewhere, thank you, and welcome to Refugee Tales 2021.
All details can be found here:
https://www.refugeetales.org/the-walk-of-2021
Walk booking is now OPEN!
Put your best foot forward for refugees and the displaced this weekend!
– a true challenge, which our member Victor is embracing this year.
For a week, participants eat the same as a Syrian refugee living in a camp in Jordan, based on food packs distributed by the Ration Challenge’s local partner organisation.
Sponsorships and “reward” donations may add the odd onion or a piece of fruit to the rations.
*In addition, extra rice and flour represent additional food purchased with coupons that some refugees are given by the UN or other organisations.
All donations raised go towards emergency food, hygiene kits and life-saving support to the people that need it most.
A typical ration packet includes:
Rice: 1.92kg* – Flour: 400g* Lentils: 170g – Dried chickpeas: 85g Tinned sardines (or tofu): 120g –
Tinned kidney beans: 400g – Vegetable oil: 330ml
SUPPORT VICTOR with your donation –
https://www.rationchallenge.org.uk/victor-frith
to help him towards maybe an extra strawberry or a teaspoon of jam –
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY –
to bolster funds which Concern Worldwide will pass on to refugees in Syrian and other camps for displaced people!
Check out https://www.concern.org.uk/events-and-challenges/take-part/ration-challenge
Well done so far Victor! Best of luck for the remaining days and hours!
Kent campaigners, including local MP Rosie Duffield, The Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin Bishop of Dover, The Most Reverend John Wilson, Metropolitan Archbishop of Southwark, and Faversham Town Council, are urging the Government to include safe and legal routes for unaccompanied refugee children in its New Plan for Immigration.
In an open letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel, Kent residents from 12 groups, together with Faversham Town Council, plus 18 supporting organisations and groups around Britain, express their concerns. They say that the proposed legislation does not protect the rights of refugees under international law to seek asylum in the UK. The letter also calls on the Government to share responsibility for unaccompanied child refugees more equally among UK Local Authorities. Whitstable Calais Solidarity are emphatic: “WCS fully supports this comprehensive letter and would request the Home office to base its decisions on evidence rather than populist narrative.”
Valerie Jeffries, from Faversham and Villages Refugee Solidarity Group, said, “The Immigration Plan is unworkable, and cannot achieve the Government’s aim of preventing youngsters being exploited by ruthless criminals.” She warned, “As the Government has not outlined any safe and legal routes available to them, more refugee children will make hazardous journeys to reach safety. Trafficking of young asylum seekers by boat and lorry into Kent will continue.” According to research by Safe Passage International, between 2010 and 2019 around 10,000 children arrived in the UK via dangerous journeys. Asylum seekers cannot avoid the journey to UK because the British Government will not consider asylum claims from outside the UK.
Campaigners are angry that the Government has cut short previous plans to welcome unaccompanied asylum seeking children. Both of the schemes initiated by Lord Alfred Dubs, himself a former child refugee, plus the Dublin III route for child refugees to reunite with family members living in Britain, have been stopped. Many children with family in the UK are now stranded in Northern France, at serious risk of abuse and exploitation, because unaccompanied minors are no longer allowed to reunite with family members living here.
Osama Sharkia, who has become a Youth Ambassador with Kent Refugee Action Network, is a witness to the need for child refugees to seek asylum in safety. “The new immigration plan is a big shock” he says, “It puts our life, our friends’ life, and our family’s life in a real danger. They are still using these routes to seek sanctuary in the UK and this plan only forces them to accept their destiny in their countries, and not giving them the chance to survive the persecution that they face in their homes.”
Kent County Council has received and cared for most young arrivals for several years. Other local authorities have pledged 1400 places for children to come via a safe route to the UK, but these have not been taken up. Kent has disproportionate numbers of asylum-seeking children in care, and campaigners are asking for a Government commitment to reform the National Transfer Scheme. This would ensure that these caring responsibilities are fairly distributed between all local authorities. Kent refugee groups want adequate funding for councils caring for young asylum seekers so that these children are given the chance of a new life in safety.
Faversham Town Cllr Carole Jackson says “I am concerned with the Home Secretary’s desire to overhaul the current UK asylum system. We need to maintain adequate safeguarding measures for all vulnerable refugees who are in immediate danger within their own nation state. The Home Office’s programme offers more hostility and harm towards refugees, especially unaccompanied children. I believe it is our responsibility to increase intake, and all areas of the UK should be prepared to welcome them.
In summary, the Mayor of Faversham declares “The need for safe routes instead of trafficking is paramount, as is the need for adequate funding for Local Authorities who receive child refugees.”
The Letter is below, followed by list of signatories
Kent letter to Priti Patel
We are writing to you as concerned citizens in Kent, with supporters from around Britain.
In light of the recent announcement by the Home Office of their New Plan for Immigration we are asking for assurances that the Government will provide a safe route for refugee children in Europe to come to the UK to prevent children attempting dangerous Channel crossings.
As residents in Kent including individuals who have sought sanctuary in the UK, we see and have experienced first-hand the consequences of no safe routes for children and young people as they risk their lives and make treacherous journeys across the Channel to reach sanctuary or reunite with family in the UK. We are deeply concerned by the Government’s new Plan for Immigration, which fails to provide any safe routes to unaccompanied child refugees living in dangerous conditions, for example on the Greek islands and in northern France.
People fleeing persecution and war have a right under international law to seek asylum in the UK and we have a responsibility to provide sanctuary, particularly given that 86% of the world’s refugees are hosted in developing countries.
We understand that several local authorities in the UK are under heightened pressure due to the number of spontaneous arrivals coming under their care. We thank the Government for listening to some of Kent’s concerns around the National Transfer Scheme and for reviewing the scheme with other local authorities. This is important to enable Kent County Council to send some child refugees to the care of other local authorities, and for some children newly arrived to bypass Kent directly to other regions, leaving Kent County Council with some future flexibility.
We hope this operation will now be permanent, and we ask if you can provide three assurances to prevent future crises in Kent?
This is deeply worrying, and even more so when we consider that the vast majority of children claiming asylum in the UK have had to travel here dangerously, risking their lives on dinghies or in the back of lorries. According to research by Safe Passage International, an estimated 10,000 children arrived in the UK in the back of a lorry between 2010 and 2019. We anticipate further young arrivals in the Summer coming by unsafe and irregular routes.
We were also deeply disappointed to see the Government restrict family reunion provisions for children at the end of the last year. This leaves a number of children in Northern France who have family members in the UK stranded on the other side of the channel, as they are unable to reunite with their families under the UK Immigration Rules. The current Immigration Rules must be expanded so that children who would have been able to reunite with family in the UK under the Dublin III Regulation can once again do so, without risking their lives.
Opening safe routes will continue Britain’s reputation for compassion. It would also allow the unused 1,400 places pledged by local authorities in 2019 to be filled – places pledged specifically for children to come via a safe route to the UK. Now, more than ever, we must deliver on our duty of care for children in very vulnerable circumstances, no matter where they are from.
We welcome the announcement made by the Government to publicly consult on safe and legal routes, and we look forward to engaging in this process.
We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss these issues further at your earliest convenience.
Yours Sincerely,
All signatories follow
Kent signatories 16
The Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin Bishop of Dover
The Most Reverend John Wilson, Metropolitan Archbishop of Southwark
Rosie Duffield MP
Faversham Town Council
Faversham and Villages Refugee Solidarity Group
KRAN – Kent Refugees Action Network
Whitstable Calais Solidarity
Migrant Support
People Not Borders
Good Chance Theatre
Tonbridge Welcomes Refugees
Kent Refugee Help
Faversham Stands up to Racism
Kent Kindness
The Worldwide Tribe
Humans for Rights
Supporting signatories 18
Safe Passage International
The Joint Council for The Welfare of Immigrants JCWI
iMIX Refugees
Refugee Compassion
Refugees at Home
People Not Borders
Side by Side Refugees
Refugee Relief Ynys Mon
Epsom Refugee Network
Elmbridge CAN
Bridge2
Cambridge Convoy Refugee Action Group
Guildford Refugee Aid,
Jesuit Refugee Service JRS
Phoenix Rising
Donate4Refugees
Hello My Friend
Herts for Refugees
Faversham & Villages Refugee Solidarity Group 