Volunteering with asylum seekers and refugees

[Lemniscate8]

There is so much said on MN about asylum seekers and refugees, and often it is speaking about them as a block, rather than by people who know any as individuals.

AIBU to suggest that some of you who currently feel fear and hostility have a go at some volunteering to get to know one or more individuals and see if your feelings change?

There are lots of ways to get involved in helping welcome a refugee to the country, and maybe more people extending more welcome will help with intergration, which seems to be one of the main concerns of some posters.

Many places have volunteers facilitating english conversation sessions, or literacy support. Many councils look for volunteers to support refugee and asylum seeker children in schools, you can ask your local council, or one of the main refugee organisations what volunteering opportunities are available in your area.

Also volunteering with any homeless charity is ineviatably going to bring you into contact with refugees, as so many are sleeping rough

You can find out about people first hand, rather than through the right wing press. Personal relationships can only help people understand each other better

I live in an area with lots of asylum seekers too. Both my dd and I have volunteered with them.

Refugees at Home charity?

Any change in the system is going to hugely increase numbers, as we are taking proportionally so few refugees, any readjustment is going to address this. I don't understand why people are finding this so hard to understand! The numbers are not going to go down, they are going to go up. Changing the system to make it fairer will massively increase the numbers of asylum seekers in the UK, as we have such a small number, both by number, density and GDP

The graph I've tried to upload & failed but it's half way down that page, blue & red.

Any change is going to lead to an increase?

We are heading for serious civil disturbance (at best) and no amount of volunteering is going to change that.

I think you're BU to try to recruit volunteers from amongst people who hold prejudice against the beneficiary group. People in need of support are not learning tools to teach people not to discriminate. They are entitled to have services delivered to them by people who already have empathy and are non judgemental. Anyone interviewed for a volunteer role who had a problem with the client group would rightly be rejected as a volunteer. If you want to change people's minds, you would do better doing it from within your organisation, awareness raising, case studies and so. I know you mean well, but think your suggestion is misguided.

Are you on the telly.

Yes I know they will go up. It’s not news. People who have said this have been told they’re ‘scaremongering’. Anyway your post isn’t new information to me.

Whether voters will just say ok is another thing.

So there’s going up unless something changes politically.

Stop thinking of illegal immigrants as though they're just a thing that happens to us and we get no say in the matter.

I am not deluded, I have been involved in the legal processes I have seen the evidence, I have witnessed the conclusions drawn by experts, and I have done this repeatedly over many decades. I know the reality. I recently supported a young man who was able to prove his identity by professional records on the internet, including using facial recognition technology, and confirm his qualifications, although he will be retaking them in English later. It happens.

Especially when they are raping our 12-14 year old children in multiple areas of the country.

You can’t pick and choose inevitabilities. If numbers must increase, then social unrest will follow unfortunately.

Open borders have consequences. You can’t wish them away with with meaningless platitudes.

I believe the govenment statistics for asylum seekers are that 58% of adults are men?

Have you ever lived in their countries to see how they treat white people? If you want growth, go and live there. You better be prepared for some shocking home truths.

Your own data doesn't even support these claims.

It's a global issue and numbers are going to increase. A change of government and social unrest isn't going to change that

which schools? that would be totally illegal, and very counter productive

Is this like the placard carrying activists who want asylum seekers housed in people’s homes but when asked if they are hosting one, the look at you wide eyed and surprised ‘but I can’t, my place isn’t big enough’.

It’s like bad satire.

I am in an area where asylum seekers are housed

Here we go folks. It’s ok, let’s just all be ok with social unrest, because the far left say that pen borders are a must, they won’t accept anything else.

Why not?

I am sorry to hear you have had such a horrible experience

But would you take them in? I’m not talking about families from Ukraine I’m talking about the ones we see coming off the boats.

I don’t want anyone I don’t know in our home, whatever their citizenship status, because I’m not an idiot.
I’m very happy though that a portion of our household’s considerable tax bill should go towards housing asylum seekers whilst the validity of their claim is investigated.

Why would taking a refugee from the Refugee at Home charity make you an idiot?