Migrants Organise
Personalised support for Afghan refugees and asylum seekers
“An inclusive and welcoming society with a fair immigration system based on principles of dignity, justice, welcome and action.” This is the vision of one of our new partners, Migrants Organise – a grassroots charity for migrants and refugees.
A vital part of their work involves providing one-to-one support and advice as people move through the immigration system – so the charity is recruiting a full-time case worker. Our grant of £15,000 will go towards funding this role. The case worker will be there to support 70 refugees and asylum seekers from Afghanistan, currently in temporary hotel accommodation in Earl’s Court, making sure they have the high quality, specialist advice they need.
- 9 out of 14 of the Migrants Organise team, and 6 out of 9 Trustees, are immigrants from14 countries.
- There are around 682 people from Afghanistan in Kensington and Chelsea in temporary hotel accommodation in Earl’s Court, and at least as many asylum seekers from other countries (according to information from the GLA cited in November 2021).
- According to a 2020 survey of Migrants Organise members (about support during lockdown) almost 93% accessed the buddy system and 100% who did felt less isolated as a result.
Emotional and practical support
Starting by creating a personalised action plan of what each person wants and needs, the case worker will look at issues including housing, physical and mental health, and education. If needed, some people will get additional specialist advice through a qualified immigration barrister.
The charity also offers sessions with a volunteer buddy mentor to provide one-to-one ongoing emotional and practical support, advice and friendship, which helps them make connections and integrate. There are group-work sessions people can attend according their needs and interests, such as English classes, a women’s group, health, fitness and wellbeing activities.
“As we watched refugees from Afghanistan being placed in temporary accommodation in one of the London boroughs that we work in, we were able to react quickly and support Migrants Organise to offer people individualised support. They helping make the transition as easy as possible in a really difficult situation.”
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