Warwick STAR launch raises £250 for Destitution Fund

Warwick STAR (Student Action for Refugees) launched its first “Big Event” in the Chaplaincy last Monday at 1.30pm, raising nearly £250 for the Destitution Fund in Coventry.

The money was raised from donation buckets and the proceeds of a £2 three-course buffet, with over 20 volunteers contributing with home-made dishes.

It will help fund the Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre’s (CRMC) project to support those made destitute through the migration process.

The event, hosted by Syrian refugee, volunteer and PhD Applied Linguistics student Reem Doukmak, was attended by approximately 40 people.

With 38 groups nationwide, and over 13,000 student participants, STAR is larger than it has ever been since its inception 22 years ago.

Warwick’s own group welcomed several hundreds of interested newcomers at the Freshers’ and Volunteer Fairs earlier this month, while its Facebook group now has over 500 members.The group organises local volunteering projects to improve the lives of refugees living in the UK and to raise awareness about their situation.

STAR’s weekly event, the newly rebranded Conversation Club, will begin this week and continue every Wednesday.

4.8 million displaced Syrian refugees

The informal meetings will bring together students and refugees to provide key language skills for newly arrived people in England.

The group will also be campaigning for access to higher education for refugees unable to continue their studies.

While the crisis has seen 4.8 million displaced Syrian refugees, the UK has pledged to resettle only 20,000 in five years.

Furthermore, in the last year, only 2,609 Syrians were able to reach the UK, mainly due to a lack of safe and legal travel routes, alongside European Law ruling that migrants must claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.

The Home Office only recently gave permission for some 100 unaccompanied children in the Calais camp to be reunited with relatives in the UK.

Single adult asylum seekers are not permitted to work during the lengthy claim process, which often leaves people stranded and destitute, whether asylum is granted or not.

Emily Crowley, STAR’s National Deputy Director, spoke at the event, condemning the process in the UK: “It’s pretty much a policy of forced destitution in this country: people who want to aren’t allowed to work, and those seeking asylum are put in immigration detention centres (which are effectively like prisons) for administrative convenience.

“You could find yourself locked away for exercising the right to claim asylum. And we have one of the biggest detention states in the whole of Europe.”

Ms Crowley also criticised the response across the continent, which despite containing a huge landmass and some of the wealthiest countries in the world, is doing very little when compared with Lebanon or Iraq:

“At the moment we’ve got over 60,000 people stuck in Greece while other countries across Europe are doing very little apart from putting up borders.

“We are making the situation for people who come here harder with quite repressive policies. People look for somewhere safe to live when they have no other options. They don’t put their children on boats across the Mediterranean on a whim, they do it because it’s the only way they see any future for their family.”

The event also heard from Julie Faulkner, Integration Manager at Coventry Citizens’ Advice Bureau (CAB), who supports the resettlement program alongside the CRMC.

She suggested the next big challenge would be securing jobs for refugees, but hopes the newly launched ‘Job Club’ program will help people find new career pathways.

She added that the most pressing issue for refugees is that of government funding for basic needs such as food and rent.

Susie Murphy, Development Manager at Positive Youth Foundation, also attended the meeting. In wake of the migration crisis, the charity has been working specifically with newly arrived young people in the Midlands.

Together with CAB, they are organising integration sessions and social activities for young people awaiting school placements.

The project, which aims to prevent mental health issues, has plenty of involvement opportunities and offers qualifications to volunteers.

The event also featured a duet of traditional River Plate folklore by musicians Santiago Oyarzabal and Sofia Mercader.