Read our full statement in response here 🔗 www.boaztrust.org.uk/articles/sta...

We stand in solidarity with all those in our communities who are fearful and frightened right now. We will fight for the protection of refugee rights and invite all who believe in this principle to stand alongside us 🧡

It is hard not to look at these proposals and determine that this Government believes that the lives of people who come here in search of safety are worth less than other people’s lives.

1️⃣ Process asylum claims within 6 months
2️⃣ Provide legal support throughout
3️⃣ Offer English lessons from day one
4️⃣ Give early access to job support

Read the full report here 🔗 togetherwithrefugees.org.uk?p=4530

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Instead of undermining international law in acts of performative cruelty, four simple changes to the asylum system could transform lives and save money:

This isn’t only about asylum policy. It’s about the kind of society we are shaping. Policies that treat people as temporary weaken trust, fuel division and make it harder for communities to come together.

Today’s announcement denies people seeking safety the stability they need to make a life in the UK. It feeds the lie that people trying to make a life for themselves here are outsiders, rather than future colleagues, neighbours and friends.

Find out more about this year’s Christmas Appeal by visiting boaztrust.org.uk/christmas 🎄

#ThisIsWhoWeAre #Christmas2025

This Christmas, we want to tell a different story: one about compassion, kindness and welcome, which we believe reflects the work of Boaz and the character of our friends, supporters and partners across Greater Manchester far more than the hostile asylum policies we're seeing unveiled today.

Instead, it should focus its efforts on providing dignified accommodation and supporting communities and people seeking asylum with the tools and resources they need for integration.

We will continue to call for #CommunitiesNotCamps until the Government stops segregating and warehousing people seeking asylum.

On top of this, as the National Audit Office has found in respect of Wethersfield and the aborted project at Scampton, the overall cost of such sites is greater than that of hotels.

We’ve already seen how the use of barracks and barges only serve to re-traumatise people who have survived the horrors of war, persecution and torture.

They have so far confirmed that two barracks - Cameron barracks in Inverness and Crowborough training camp in East Sussex - will be used to accommodate around 900 people.

But the words of Zephaniah’s poem are still true, and so is the fact that we can all be catalysts for change. So we must resist the temptation to despair. There is work for us to do 🧡 Find ways you can take action here 🔗 boaztrust.org.uk/pages/4-get-involved

Today, for whatever reason, the mosaic of poetry is gone and the wall empty. It feels like a small reflection of the continuing erosion of asylum principles in our politics and deepening division in our communities.