We’re determined to make life better for people seeking safety in Scotland. Here’s how we’re standing up for refugee rights.

Supporting people in desperate need

In 2022-23 we supported more than 350 people facing homelessness and destitution, helping them access mental health services, get legal advice and find food, clothing and homelessness support.

Read more about how we’re helping people in crisis.

Raising awareness about refugee rights

More than 480 frontline workers from 44 organisations, including charities, universities and local councils came to our training courses on refugee and asylum rights

Over 100 teachers and support staff received our resources on the education rights of children seeking safety

Find out more about our training courses

Making recruitment fairer and more accessible

In 2022-23, 87 people from various sectors attended our employer training sessions about making recruitment fairer and more accessible for candidates from refugee backgrounds. The seven sessions were delivered in partnership with Perth Chamber of Commerce and The Prince’s Trust.

Campaigning for change

We campaigned against the UK government’s unjust asylum policies – including the Nationality and Borders Act and the Illegal Migration Bill.

As part of Together With Refugees – a coalition of more than 300 organisations from across the UK – we called for a fairer and more humane asylum system.

We raised awareness about refugee and asylum issues by speaking out in more than 200 newspaper articles, radio interviews and TV shows.

Rewarding responsible journalism

We joined forces with the National Union of Journalists Scotland to host the Refugee Festival Scotland Media Awards 2022 celebrating fair, responsible and accurate journalism on refugee and asylum issues.

The awards honour the vital work of journalists in building greater public empathy and understanding of the experiences of people affected by forced migration.

Supporting people to share their stories

Six people with lived experience of the refugee and asylum system helped us create a best practice photography guide for organisations working with refugees.

60 people seeking safety in Scotland received training and support to share their stories on their own terms.

It’s so important that refugee voices are heard in the media because I realised that every time I speak out, things change. If we are all working towards positive change, we need to be bold enough to speak out.” – Comfort Anjorin, Storytelling Volunteer

Rachel Lamb
Author: Rachel Lamb