Asylum Welcome’s orange heart will be in our Upper Gallery. Here’s what they say:

28th July 2021 marks the 70th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention. The Convention was signed following the Second World War by a group of nations that agreed to welcome Jewish refugees from Nazism. In 1967, the Convention expanded to include all people fleeing persecution, and this has been the foundation of our asylum system ever since.

Today, however, new legislation is being debated in the UK which, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), violates the terms of the Refugee Convention. Under this proposed new system, people who arrive in the UK via unsafe routes will no longer be entitled to full refugee status, and for the first time, they will not have the same rights as a person who arrives in the UK through a government scheme. Asylum Welcome is deeply concerned about what this will mean for people seeking sanctuary in Britain.

This is why Asylum Welcome is taking this opportunity to demonstrate that there are people in Oxfordshire who welcome refugees and asylum seekers into our community. If you would like to uphold Britain’s 70-year commitment to protect refugees and challenge the idea that refugees are not welcome in Oxfordshire, please contribute to our collage of messages of support and solidarity for refugees. We will be sharing these online and with our clients. The orange heart is the national symbol of refugee solidarity. Display one in your window to honour the spirit of the 1951 Refugee Convention.