About the Commission

The Commission on the Integration of Refugees was convened in 2022 by the Woolf Institute with the aim of improving the integration of refugees in the UK. Commissioners include refugees and former asylum seekers; security officials; lawyers; third-sector workers; clinicians; education and health experts; academics; faith and community leaders; politicians and policy makers from across the political spectrum. They worked together to overcome differences, build consensus, and to find common ground, driven by the evidence.

The Commission received evidence from more than 1,250 organisations and individuals regarding what would be required to improve the integration experiences of refugees and asylum seekers and to identify practical solutions with which to fix the broken system. The organisations and individuals included refugees and asylum seekers; policymakers and politicians; local government and civil servants; third sector workers; academics; faith and community leaders; and many other stakeholders. As an independent and broad-based body, the Commission offers a unique example of consensus building across political differences in a polarised and heated public debate. The Commission’s recommendations are built on robust and wide-ranging evidence, with the voices of those with lived experience at the heart, and have achieved consensus across the political spectrum.