Educate Yourself and Others
August, 2025
If you believe that everyone deserves safety, dignity, and welcome — that those who have left their homes in search of refuge deserve a chance — then you will also want to find ways to challenge those who deny this.
The wellbeing of people navigating the asylum system, of those rebuilding their lives as refugees, is a concern for the whole community. Whoever is your neighbour — regardless of the differences you may see — they have a place here, and we can stand with them.
Yet we are always faced with fear. The mistrust of the stranger, of difference, of change of all things that are not understood or have been intentionally misinterpreted. There will always be people in our societies that feed on such anxieties and amplify them for their own purpose.
These are the ones that exploit human emotions and uncertainty to create a culture of fear based on a narrative of hate. The successive failures of all governments to acknowledge the need for migrant labour and contribution, which is disconnected from the larger narrative of immigration, and the responsibility to offer safe harbour, only exacerbates this problem. It’s all a game of wills and words, a contest of virtue signalling and dog-whistle messaging.
And then add yet another shameful aspect of poor governance – the erosion of our civil liberties, our choices of who we can support and and who we can challenge. The UK is still a place where protest is allowed and equal chances exist for diverse and contradictory opinions to stand in the street. Yet, this is become more and more challenged and we must take all opportunities to maintain our civil liberties.
Not everyone is comfortable in a crowd, holding a banner and facing-off the supporters of far-right tendencies, that invariably have a more violent undercurrent. Not everyone wants to shout. Without misunderstanding, we support all of our colleagues that have courage and conviction to stand-up and be counted, and show solidarity with those who cannot do this.
We also need those who will take a quieter approach, perhaps alone or in groups – listening, talking, writing, being creative and finding ways to include those who are being persecuted.
And we are not a one-size-fits-all community. We change, and respond as our conscience, conviction, strengths and abilities will allow. We make choices of our own to support others whose choices are limited.
Every act of solidarity counts. Whatever form your protest takes, it is essential to be informed and educated. By doing so, you can speak with authority and help others to understand what they fear, and see the hate for what it is.
Not everyone in the crowd opposite you is deaf and blind to compassion and reason. We try to encourage all people to find out more – real fact and real experience. Here are some resources to get you started. Learn, reflect, discuss, support and have hope.
Resources
The Refugee Council – Refugees – Factual information
The Refugee Council – Asylum – What it really means
Praxis – Immigration – Helpful resources
Maslaha – Muslim Communities – Challenges and their hopeful responses
These Walls Must Fall – Networking – Grassroots community for change
Amnesty international UK – Predictive Policing – Information and petition
Amnesty international UK – Asylum Facts – the Right to Asylum
Author: Simon Beresford
Image: Photo by Priscilla Gyamfi on Unsplash