This Refugee Week 2022 I am thinking of the young people I met in Calais a few weeks ago while visiting with the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Migration. The lack of care shown to them by UK and French authorities is inhumane. This must urgently change. We need safe and legal routes. You can read my reflections on the visit here

Since joining the APPG as a Co-Chair, I’ve meet people with lived experience, stakeholders advocating with and for them, and I’ve worked with colleagues across the House who want to see an end to the government’s cruel policies on refugees. The fight for a better asylum system goes on. This week I attended a dinner organised by the Refugees, Asylum, Migration Policy Project, who coordinate cross-party work on migration policy.

Thank you also to the International Rescue Committee for introducing me to volunteers from Afghanistan this week, to discuss the gaping holes in the Resettlement Scheme. I will continue to raise these issues & fight for a properly funded resettlement programme.

This week I also attended a roundtable with the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association (ACAA), a charity which helps Afghan refugees to rebuild their lives and settle in the UK.