The Commission on the Integration of Refugees

CALL FOR EVIDENCE

The independent Commission on the Integration of Refugees invites you to submit evidence on how the current refugee and asylum system affects refugees’ integration into wider UK society.

Your evidence will be used to support the Commission’s report and recommendations for changes to the way the UK processes and supports refugees and asylum seekers. The Commission hopes that these recommendations will be adopted by policy makers and will result in tangible changes to the current system.

Click here for the Commission’s Terms of Reference

We welcome submissions from everyone, including integration service providers, refugee and asylum seeker experts and the general public. We especially welcome submissions from people with lived experience of being refugees or asylum seekers themselves.

Submit Evidence

You can respond to as many or as few of the questions as you like. Please respond to the questions in your own words.

You can provide a longer response (of up to 1,000 words) or hyperlinks to relevant reports, research, or other published materials (along with appropriate page numbers) in the box at the end of the survey.

If you would like to submit evidence anonymously, please put "X" in the First Name field below.

First Name

Last Name

Email (Optional)

Gender

Age

Organisation

Do you identify as a refugee or an asylum seeker in the UK?

Yes No

If yes, which of the following best describes your situation

If other please specify

Life in the UK as a Refugee

The Commission would like to find out about life in the UK for refugees and asylum seekers, and the communities hosting them.

The Commission would like to hear your views on the following:

As a refugee or asylum seeker yourself, what are the good things and what are the bad things about settling in the UK?

What does refugee integration mean to you and what should communities look like where refugees are well integrated?

Refugee and Asylum System

The Commission is interested in learning about how the structure of the UK refugee and asylum system affects the integration of refugees. This includes learning about the experiences and rights of refugees and asylum seekers who have applied for refugee status in the UK, as well as those who have travelled to the UK via a government resettlement scheme (including, but not limited to the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, UK Resettlement Scheme, Community Sponsorship Scheme, Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy, Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, Homes for Ukraine, Mandate Resettlement Scheme for family reunion, or visa adjustments for BN(O)).

The Commission would like to hear your views on the following:

How can we improve the overall refugee and asylum system to support the protection and integration of refugees and those granted other forms of humanitarian protection, and what special measures are needed for unaccompanied asylum seeker children (UASC)?

How should these systems ensure the humane treatment of those asylum seekers who do not receive status?

Local Integration Support

The Commission is interested in collecting evidence about the services available to support refugees at a local level. This includes learning about the work of local government, the voluntary sector, faith communities, business, and the community in providing services for refugees and asylum seekers. It also includes looking into refugees’ and asylum seekers’ experiences of these services.

The Commission would like to hear your views on the following:

How could the central government, devolved governments, local government and the voluntary sector better coordinate their work to tackle the challenges of supporting refugee integration across the UK?

What difficulties do asylum seekers and refugees face in accessing services (including but not limited to housing, education, training, healthcare, children’s services and social services)?

What challenges do organisations (in the public, private and third sector) face in providing services for refugees and asylum seekers (including but not limited to housing, education, training, healthcare, children’s services and social services)?

What actions are needed to overcome the challenges faced by refugees, asylum seekers and service providers?

Public Opinion and Politics

The Commission wants to learn about the public perception of refugees and asylum seekers and how this affects the refugee experience. This includes learning about the ways that politicians and the media have talked about refugees and asylum seekers and why public debate in this area is often polarised.

The Commission would like to hear your views on the following:

How does the way that politicians, the media and the general public talk about refugees and asylum seekers affect refugees’ ability to integrate into British society?

Our preliminary findings have shown that integration policy has rarely been a political priority of the UK government. What can be done to put integration at the heart of government policy on refugees and asylum seekers?

Additional Evidence

Please add any additional evidence, linking to relevant sources, websites or articles where necessary.

Upload a file to support your evidence

Submit Evidence

If you have any questions about the call for evidence, please get in touch with the Commission at [email protected]

I give the permission for the Commission to use my submitted evidence in its research and publications. (required)

I give the Commission permission to contact me via email about its work. Visit our Privacy Policy for more details.

You can submit evidence up until 31 March 2023 in the following ways:

By completing this form and returning it by email or by post.

Submitting oral evidence to this email address: [email protected]
or by uploading the file to our form above (Please ensure recordings are no more than 5 minutes long).

TERMINOLOGY

Refugee refers to any person who has left their country as a result of persecution, war or other natural or economic disaster and has found sanctuary in the UK. This includes all of those legally recognised as refugees by UK and international law. It also includes several groups that cannot be legally classified as refugees, including: asylum seekers granted humanitarian protection or some other dispensation to remain in the UK; Afghan nationals resettled in the UK via the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS); Ukrainian residents relocated to the UK via the Homes for Ukraine Scheme or the Ukraine Family Scheme; and British National Overseas resident in Hong Kong granted visas to enter the UK following the imposition of the 2020 Chinese National Security Law.

Asylum seeker refers to any person who has arrived in the UK and is in the process of applying for refugee status or some other form of humanitarian protection via the UK asylum system. They might be awaiting an initial decision on their application or lodging an appeal against an unsuccessful application.

The Commission’s objective is to enhance the integration of refugees into UK society. Integration can mean different things to different people, and we encourage those submitting evidence to tell us what integration means to them. According to the latest research ‘Integrated communities are where people, whatever their background, live, work, learn and socialise together, based on shared rights, responsibilities, and opportunities’. It is multi-dimensional and multi-directional, which means it depends on each member of society – both the host communities and refugees – taking responsibility. It is also context specific, which means integration will look different depending on location and the parties involved.

Need support or advice?

Some of the issues raised in this work may be sensitive or upsetting. The following organisations may be able to offer support or useful information:

Asylum Aid
Offers free legal aid advice and representation to asylum seekers and refugees in the UK.
Call: 020 7354 9631
Email: [email protected]

British Red Cross
Supports refugees and asylum seekers and provides emergency assistance to those who are destitute.
Call: 080 8196 3651

London Destitution Service – Refugee Council
Supports asylum seekers or rejected asylum seekers who are destitute, and supports vulnerable and homeless asylum seekers.
Call: 020 7346 6700
Email: [email protected]

Migrant Help
Operates a free 24/7 helpline providing independent advice and support to asylum seekers in the UK in your own language.
Call: 080 8801 0503

Samaritans
For everyone, 24 hours a day, every day.
Call: 116 123

Background and purpose

This call for evidence is part of the work of the Commission on the Integration of Refugees, an independent commission that aims to improve the refugee and asylum system for a society where everyone, including refugees, feels welcome and integrated. The Commission is composed of 24 Commissioners from the public sector, civil society, academia and politics. They started collecting evidence in September 2022, with a view to reporting before the end of 2023.

You can download are full call for evidence here.

If you have any questions about the call for evidence, please get in touch with the Commission at [email protected]

CALL FOR EVIDENCE

Submit Evidence

Life in the UK as a Refugee

Refugee and Asylum System

Local Integration Support

Public Opinion and Politics

Additional Evidence

Submit Evidence

TERMINOLOGY

Need support or advice?

Background and purpose

Thank You for your form submission!