refugeecouncil.org.uk

Sadly due to limited funds Refugee Council therapists are only able to offer a limit of 12 therapy sessions to each of the refugees and people seeking asylum we work with. In the light of this, it is important that therapists ensure that the refugees we are working with are aware that the therapy is time limited and that we work towards the final session with care, given the numbers of losses that refugees have experienced

The Working Group on Resettlement is being co-hosted by the Refugee Council, the UK Government and UNHCR, and brings together representatives from States and NGOs involved in resettlement to share learning and work to improve integration support for refugees. The event is taking place in Sheffield, the UK’s first City of Sanctuary which has a long tradition of welcoming refugees, and will be opened by Magid Magid, the Lord Mayor of Sheffield. Over the course of the event, delegates will discuss a range of topics including employment, entrepreneurship, community cohesion and cultural orientation, as well as how to meaningfully involve refugees in international resettlement forums. The Refugee Council is delighted to be co-hosting this important event alongside the UK Government and UNHCR.

The Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) has today published a damning report into immigration detention, describing the Home Office’s approach to this practice as ‘shockingly cavalier’ and calling for an end to the use of indefinite immigration detention. As well as calling for an end to indefinite detention, the HASC recommends implementing a maximum 28-day limit on the time someone can be detained for, with a consultation on how time limit maximums should be applied to those who are vulnerable. Prompted to examine detention after physical and verbal abuse at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) was exposed in 2017, the HASC’s report follows four previous reports into immigration detention, namely a joint report by the APPG on Migration and APPG on Refugees; two reviews by Stephen Shaw, on behalf of the Home Office, and a report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights. Responding to this report, Andy Hewett, Head of Advocacy at the Refugee Council, said: “The UK remains the only country in Europe to detain people indefinitely – a practice that is utterly inhumane, not to mention both expensive and ineffective.

An amended version of this article was first published at https://www. equalityhumanrights