“My country has no respect from human rights. When I came to the UK I was exhausted but I felt safe - that my human rights would be respected. I have been an asylum seeker for eight months now and I feel ashamed. When a person sees me on a bus they know I am an asylum seeker and I want to explain that I’m grateful, but no one wants asylum seekers here. I don’t blame them. They don’t kill you in obvious ways like they do in my country… it’s more subtle.”

Social integration is a priority area for action identified at the 1995 World Summit for Social Development. In commitment 4 of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development, the UN Member States committed themselves to:

“…promoting social integration by fostering societies that are stable, safe and just and that are based on the promotion and protection of all human rights, as well as on non-discrimination, tolerance, respect for diversity, equality of opportunity, solidarity, security, and participation of all people, including disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and persons”

The UK government made a commitment to refugee integration in Full and Equal Citizens published November 2000. These are lofty aspirations. Social wellbeing and integration are bound together. One cannot be achieved without the other. Translating these ideals into action is one of the greatest challenges of our time.

We help clients find a fulfilling role in society and make the transition from asylum seeker to refugee. We act as a bridge between an individual’s previous experiences of loss and persecution, day-to-day hardships, and a brighter future as active members in the community.