UK charities and INGOs, including Oxfam, Amnesty and the International Rescue Committee, today issued a plea to the UK Government to uphold its commitment to welcoming refugees to Britain in the wake of President Trump’s controversial refugee ban. 

It comes as thousands are set to demonstrate across the UK against the ban, including in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Glasgow.

In a joint statement, they said:

“It has been heartening to see hundreds of thousands of British people joining the worldwide condemnation of President Trump’s refugee ban through signing petitions and taking part in protests.
 
"The British government should listen to the British people and use its close relationship with the United States to put more pressure on the Trump administration to change its stance.
 
"At the same time, Britain should take urgent and concrete steps to fill the void left by the United States and reassert Britain’s tradition of welcoming refugees through:

"We urge the Prime Minister to meet as soon as possible with a delegation of leaders from the UK’s refugee protection charities to discuss how to deliver these measures. The Trump refugee ban has created an urgent and immediate need: Britain must step up now and show international leadership in providing protection for refugees.”

The statement is signed by:

·         Steve Symonds, Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme Director, Amnesty International

·         Sian Summers Rees, Chief Officer, City of Sanctuary

·         Sabir Zazai, Director, Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre

·         Jerome Phelps, Director, Detention Action

·         Jane Waterman, Executive Director, International Rescue Committee, Europe

·         Phoebe Griffith, Associate Director for Migration, IPPR

·         Edie Friedman, Executive Director, JCORE

·         Saira Grant, Chief Executive, Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI)

·         Nazek Ramadan, Director, Migrant Voice

·         Zrinka Bralo, Chief Executive, Migrants Organise

·         Wayne Myslik, Chief Executive, Migrants Resource Centre

·         Fizza Qureshi, Director, Migrants’ Rights Network

·         Marc Stears, Chief Executive, New Economics Foundation (NEF)

·         Matthew Spencer, Director of Campaigns, Oxfam GB

·         Sally Daghlian OBE, Chief Executive, Praxis Community Projects

·         Rita Chadha, Chief Executive, RAMFEL (Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London)

·         Stephen Hale, Chief Executive, Refugee Action

·         Maurice Wren, Chief Executive, Refugee Council

·         Mia Hasenson-Gross, Director, Rene Cassin

·         Yasmine Nahlawi, Advocacy & Policy Coordinator, Rethink Rebuild Society

·         Michael Collins, Co-ordinator, Right to Remain

·         Ros Ereira, Director, Solidarity with Refugees

·         John Wilkes, Chief Executive, Scottish Refugee Council

·         Emma Williams, Chief Executive, STAR (Student Action for Refugees) 

·         Natasha Walter, Director, Women for Refugee Women