From suspending student visas to family reunion- this government is entrenching a culture of cruelty.
Solidarity to the Sudanese students fighting to live freely and with dignity, agency and courage. You deserve a life of freedom and safety,.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Together, we will continue to build a world where every woman can live in safety. Because we will not give up, and we will not be silenced! 💜✊
Donate to support our work: www.refugeewomen.co.uk/donate/ 4/4
To our community of refugee and asylum-seeking women, our staff, volunteers, trustees, and wonderful supporters: today we see you, we celebrate you, and we stand with you. 💜🙌
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Even in weeks like this, when new polices create fear and anxiety, we stand united.
Our resolve to create a fair and compassionate asylum system remains unshaken. ✊
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Today, on #InternationalWomensDay, we celebrate the strength, resilience and courage of refugee women.
While an important day to celebrate, this week has been a heavy week with a raft of hostile announcements made by the Government signalling alarming changes to refugee protection in the UK.
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✨ Happy International Women’s Day! ✨
Refugee women in our network made this video to celebrate the day.
Please watch and enjoy! 💜
#IWD26 #GiveToGain
We hope you all have an amazing day! 💜☺️
07.03.2026 10:33 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Antonia Benfield encourages everyone to support this year’s charity of choice @4refugeewomen.bsky.social. Introduces their powerful message for #IWD2026. #GivetoGain m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wan...
07.03.2026 10:32 — 👍 4 🔁 3 💬 2 📌 0
If you agree, join our friends at @weareyoungroots.bsky.social and write to your MP asking them to urge the Government to make the 56 day trial a permanent policy.
The decision is expected within the next few weeks, so please act now!
🖊️ action.youngroots.org.uk/en/make-56-d... 3/3
The 28 day move-on period is not enough time for people to access financial support, secure work, and to find somewhere to live.
Unless this changes, people will continue to be forced into homelessness by the cruel asylum system.
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When people are granted refugee status, they are given just 28 days to find somewhere new to live.
‼️This isn't enough time for anyone.
Recently, the Government extended this period to 56 days as a trial.
We need this to be permanent!
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🚨"Proposals could include handcuffing children."
Where is the humanity?
The dehumanisation and scapegoating of people seeking safety here by our Government is frightening.
This cannot and should not be normalised. Ever.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
A fair asylum system cannot be built on instability or performative toughness
This policy will not deter people from fleeing conflict and persecution. But it will make life harder for those the UK has already recognised as needing safety
Read here: scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk/refugee-asyl...
We know that when people seeking safety are treated with humanity, whole communities thrive.
It is these shared values of community and compassion - not fear or division - that must guide the path forward.
There IS another way. We know this, and we know you do too.
💜💜💜
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But we know that a different vision is possible - an asylum system rooted in compassion and dignity.
One where every person seeking safety in the UK is given a fair hearing and a chance to rebuild their lives.
We will continue to channel our anger into action and change! ✊
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Today, we are angry.
We are disappointed.
We are ashamed.
But we are unsurprised.
This hostility has been sowed for years, and the current Government continues to let it bloom.
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All this comes while refugee family reunion remains suspended, forcibly keeping families apart.
There are NO safe or accessible routes for people to reach the UK to seek safety.
Until the Government opens meaningful and accessible safe routes, people's lives will continue to be put at risk.
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With little detail or clear timeline, it is also unlikely that people would arrive under these new routes for almost two years.
When your life is in danger, you cannot wait two years.
This announcement is little more than an empty gesture to soften the blow of the other hostile policies.
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Meanwhile, the Government offers a token gesture: capped legal routes for student or workers seeking safety.
This came just a day after announcing the suspension of student visas for people from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan.
This is nonsensical.
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The fact that we're now debating what level of force is acceptable to remove children from the UK shows the extent to which compassion and humanity are completely missing from the Government's plans.
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The Government knows the harm these policies will cause.
Yet it is wilfully ignoring this fact.
Instead, it continues to sow division, scapegoat refugees, and normalise language that demonises people seeking safety.
These policies are outright dangerous.
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And for women, this harm will be disproportionate and profound.
Evidence from Denmark - on which these policies are modelled - is clear: women and children are trapped in insecurity, poverty, and fear.
Since similar reforms took hold, grants of settled status to women have nearly halved .
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We've heard plans to:
❌ Make refugee status temporary to 30 months
❌ Remove financial & housing support from individuals
❌ Pay families up to £40k to leave the UK
❌ Link permanent settlement to economic contribution.
❌ Reform appeals to increase deportation, including families with children
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‼️ Today's speech by the Home Secretary marks the end of a week in which we've been drip-fed a series of hostile and cruel asylum policies.
Each one points in the same direction: further penalising and harming people who are simply seeking safety here.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026... 1/🧵
This comes after a series of Government announcements in recent months that signal an alarming disregard for refugee protection and a worrying move towards more hostility and cruelty.
This is not who we are.
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For many, changes in their home country that happened while they were studying or working in the UK, mean it is no longer safe to return home.
For others, such as women and LGBTQ+ people, leaving their country on a visa is often the safest way to leave situations of violence and danger.
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2️⃣ It disregards the myriad of legitimate reasons people may enter the UK on a study or skilled worker visa, and later claim asylum.
This should not invalidate someone's need for refugee protection, and it is extremely dangerous to suggest so.
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This move is nonsensical for many reasons, including:
1️⃣ Stopping study visas (and skilled worker visas for Afghans) punishes people seeking education and skilled workers who make huge contributions to the UK.
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In 2021, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Sudan experienced violent regime changes which has resulted in years of violence, displaced millions, and caused widespread poverty and starvation.
The UN has said that 12 million women and children are at risk of sexual and gender-based violence in Sudan.
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The Government state that this move is to 'clamp down on visa abuse' as people from these four countries are the most likely to make an asylum claim after originally coming to the UK to study.
But this doesn't tell the whole story.
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