Praxis, for Migrants and Refugees

Last week we spoke at Accenture’s Black History Month session about the work we do at Praxis campaigning against racist immigration policies and supporting Black, racialised, and migrant communities. It was a great opportunity to engage in important conversations about migration in the UK. Thank you Accenture for having us!

Good news! 📢 A Praxis community member was recently granted indefinite leave to remain through the 20-year rule. After 20 long years, they can finally feel safe and secure. Help us continue to support people through life-changing immigration advice: https://lnkd.in/eadresY9

How do you unite lived and learnt experience on social justice issues? Minnie Rahman, Praxis' CEO, spoke to @ForsterCommunications on this important question. Here's a few takeaways: 1. Co-production takes time, care, and financial investment. 2. Co-production must become a core part of structures and feed into strategies, rather than simply being an afterthought. 3. It's okay to say 'no' to the media if people with lived experience will not be adequately safeguarded. 🔗 Read more insights from Minnie's talk:

A few months ago, Praxis campaigners handed in hundreds of messages with Asylum Matters to Keir Starmer calling on him to build an asylum system that protects, rather than punishes people seeking safety. Since then, even more people have tragically died trying to cross the Channel to reach the UK. We desperately need change. The only way to stop people taking dangerous journeys is to let them take safe ones. Open safe routes. Scrap the hostile environment NOW!

Listen to a Praxis campaigner explain the impacts of No Recourse to Public Funds Policy on her children. No Recourse to Public Funds is a policy that prevents most migrants from accessing most forms of government support, even if they are on the streets or facing another kind of a crisis. At Praxis, we see the dire consequences of this cruel policy every single day. Hundreds of thousands have been pushed into deep poverty and it is women, children, and people of colour who are bearing the brunt. 🔗Join us and together we fight to scrap No Recourse to Public Funds: https://lnkd.in/edhFqD7R

Right now, one million parents across the UK are missing out on childcare support because of policy loop holes. Yesterday we joined Save the Children UK, Gingerbread, Disability Rights UK & Carers Trust to call on the Chancellor to help ALL families with childcare costs.⁠ ⁠ An estimated 71,000 working families with a child between one and four are locked out of support because of nothing more than the fine print on their visas. A condition called No Recourse to Public Funds.⁠ Josephine Whitaker-Yilmaz, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at Praxis, spoke to LBC: “We know this is already leaving some families at an increased risk of poverty. Children are also missing out on nursery and childcare placements that their financially better-off peers are getting, entrenching disadvantage. The Chancellor should heed our warnings about the current exclusions within the childcare system. While we welcome this Government's commitment to long-term reform of the childcare system, in the meantime, the Chancellor must expand the eligibility criteria to make it fairer.” Listen and learn more: https://lnkd.in/eqNpJjxK 

This week marks one year since the Hamas attack in Israel and the devastating bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli state began. ⁠ The past year has seen an unbearable escalation in suffering for civilians across the region as a result of ongoing and long-term violations in international law. ⁠ We stand in solidarity with all those who’ve been forced from their homes, separated from their families, and mourning their loved ones.⁠ ⁠ Read our full statement: https://lnkd.in/ebrTrx5c ⁠ As a migrant charity, our demands to the Government are as follows: ⁠ ⁠ The Government must open safe routes for people fleeing this conflict, no matter their nationality or country of residence. We continue to call on the Government to urgently explore emergency pathways for people to seek refuge in the UK, along the same lines as the Ukraine schemes. ⁠ ⁠ The Government must uphold full accountability and compliance with international law, and immediately suspend all arms licences and exports to the Government of Israel. ⁠ ⁠ The Government must tackle the worrying rise of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism over the last year, which is impacting Muslims and Jews across the UK. Every politician, regardless of political party, must stop using harmful language that stokes division within and between communities.

This #WorldHomelessnessDay we join calls for this Government to protect vital homelessness services. With critical funding facing a cliff-edge in 2025, vulnerable people will be left at risk. We can’t talk about tackling homelessness without talking about the immigration system. The latest figures show a huge increase in homelessness among newly-recognised refugees. We see every day how hostile immigration policies push people into poverty and onto the streets. Read how👉https://lnkd.in/euedaV-x

Meet Bevis. Bevis was a victim of the Windrush Scandal. He was denied his basic rights and cut off from essential services. Praxis legal advisors sorted out his papers but he's still waiting for compensation from the Home Office. Bevis is also a member of GIANTS, our community group for men who've migrated and are surviving the government’s hostile environment. "Bevis is somebody whose life experience has galvanised his spirit. He is courageous and assertive in his own right." - fellow GIANTS member Joseph Donate today and help us be there for more people like Bevis when it matters most. https://lnkd.in/eYgw5YA5

Critical funding for homelessness services faces a cliff-edge in 2025, leaving vulnerable people at risk. At the same time, the latest figures show a massive increase in people experiencing homelessness. That's why we've joined 22 other organisations to call on this Government to extend vital funding. Read more ⬇ https://lnkd.in/ef5fsrzC