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The Commission on the Integration of Refugees

THE COMMISSIONERS

The Commission on the Integration of Refugees is led by our Commissioners, who are community leaders, professionals, academics and policy makers from across civil society and the public sector. Several have lived experience of the refugee and asylum system themselves. They will share their own experiences and views, as well as collect evidence from a wide variety of stakeholders and organisations.

Trixie Brenninkmeijer

Trixie Brenninkmeijer is Chair of the Arise Foundation, an anti-slavery human trafficking…

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TRIXIE BRENNINKMEIJER

Trixie Brenninkmeijer (Steering Group) was until recently the Chair of the Board of trustees of the Arise Foundation, an anti-slavery and anti-human trafficking organisation, and former Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Woolf Institute. Trixie has been involved in many charities, including Driving for Meals on Wheels. She was chair of her parish council; board member of the Helen Bamber Foundation supporting AMREF; and lately, has been involved in combatting human trafficking, especially through promoting the long-term care of trafficked women and girls from the sex-industry.

Jacqui Broadhead

Jacqueline Broadhead is the Director of the Global Exchange on Migration and Diversity…

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Jacqueline Broadhead

Jacqueline Broadhead is the Co-Director of the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford. Established in 2003, COMPAS is a multi-disciplinary migration research centre with a broad portfolio of research, knowledge exchange and teaching across the full spectrum of migration studies. Jacqui’s own work focuses on local government and integration, including leading “Inclusive Cities” – a network of 12 UK cities focused on improving integration outcomes. Jacqui previously worked in local government – leading one of the first programmes to accept refugees through the Syrian VPRS Scheme in 2015. She is a trustee of Justice Together Initiative, aiming to improve access to immigration advice. 

Twitter: @jacquibroadhead

Lord Alex Carlile

Lord Alex Carlile is a former MP and a Cross Bench member of the House of Lords. He is…

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Lord Alex Carlile

Lord Alex Carlile CBE KC is a former MP and a Cross Bench member of the House of Lords. He is a founding director of SC Strategy Ltd, a strategy and public policy consultancy. From 2001-11 he was the UK Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation. He is expert on terrorism and extremism issues. He is a Fellow of King’s College London, and holds Honorary Doctorates from several universities. He is President of the Royal Medical Foundation of Epsom College. He was a co-founder of the Welsh charity Rekindle and chairman of Design for Homes. He speaks regularly in the House of Lords on a wide range of issues, including migration and asylum.

CAROLYN DOWNS

Carolyn Downs is Chief Executive of the London Borough of Brent, having taken up…

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Carolyn Downs

Carolyn Downs was Chief Executive of the London Borough of Brent, from 2015 – 2023. Prior to this, Carolyn was Chief Executive at the Local Government Association and had also previously served as Chief Executive of the Legal Services Commission, Deputy Permanent Secretary and Director General at the Ministry of Justice, and Chief Executive of Shropshire County Council. She lead on both Asylum and Refugees and Crime and Policing for London Chief Executives. She is now an NHS Non-Executive, a member of the London Policing Board, and an advisor to the States of Jersey Health and Community Services Board. 

Bishop Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani

The Right Reverend Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani is Bishop of Chelmsford and Member of House… 

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Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani

Bishop Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani is the Bishop of Chelmsford and the Church of England’s lead Bishop for Housing. She previously served as the first Bishop of Loughborough in the Diocese of Leicester from 2017 to 2021. Guli arrived in this country as a refugee from Iran, aged 14. She was educated at Nottingham and Bristol Universities, training for ministry at The South East Institute for Theological Education. Ordained priest in 1999, Guli served her title in the Diocese of Southwark. She has a doctorate in theology on cross cultural mission and is a contributor on Radio 4s Thought for the Day.

David Goodhart

David Goodhart is a journalist, author and head of the demography unit at Policy Exchange…

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David Goodhart

David Goodhart is a journalist, author and think tanker. He is currently head of the demography unit at the Policy Exchange think tank. He is the founder and former editor of Prospect magazine and the former director of the centre-left think tank Demos. His 2013 book “The British Dream: Successes and Failures of Post-War Immigration” was runner up for the Orwell book prize. In his last book published in 2017 (a Sunday Times bestseller) The Road to Somewhere: The New Tribes Shaping British Politics, Goodhart identified the value divisions in British society that help to explain the Brexit vote and the rise of populism. His latest book Head, Hand, Heart: The Struggle for Dignity and Status in the 21st Century argues that many of the modern world’s troubles arise from allocating too much reward and status to just one form of human aptitude: cognitive ability.

Twitter: @David_Goodhart

Baroness Brenda Hale

Baroness Hale retired as President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in January…

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Baroness Brenda Hale

Baroness Brenda Hale retired as President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in January 2020, after a varied career as an academic, law reformer and judge (where she heard many cases involving refugees and asylum seekers). She now devotes her time to writing, speaking and good causes. She is a member of the House of Lords, holds a number of visiting and honorary academic appointments and is a Trustee of the Woolf Institute.

Kevin Hyland

Following 30 years in policing, including leading London’s Human Trafficking Unit, in 2014…

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Kevin Hyland OBE

Kevin Hyland was a police officer for 30 years and leader of London’s Human Trafficking Unit. In 2014, he was appointed the UK’s first Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner. In 2018 he was elected Ireland’s representative to the Council of Europe Independent Group of Experts for Trafficking. He was instrumental in establishing and remains chief advisor to the Santa Marta Group, a high-level partnership between law enforcement agencies, faith groups and civil society launched by Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Dame Diana Johnson DBE MP

Diana Johnson was elected as the Labour Member of Parliament for Kingston Upon Hull North…

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Rt Hon Dame Diana Johnson DBE MP

Dame Diana Johnson DBE MP was elected as the Labour Member of Parliament for Kingston Upon Hull North and the city’s first female MP in 2005.  Diana became Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee in December 2021 and, due to this position, is also a member of the Liaison Committee and the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy. Diana was named Backbencher of the Year in 2018 for her work to secure a Public Inquiry into the NHS contaminated blood scandal. In the 2020 New Year’s Honours, Diana was appointed as a Dame Commander for her charitable and political work.

Professor Cornelius Katona

Cornelius is Honorary Medical and Research Director of the Helen Bamber Foundation…

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professor cornelius katona

Professor Cornelius Katona (Steering Group Chair) is Honorary Medical and Research Director of the Helen Bamber Foundation, a human rights charity working with asylum seekers and refugees. He is also a Professor in the Division of Psychiatry at University College London. He is the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ lead on Refugee and Asylum Mental Health and was a member of the Committee that updated NICE guidelines on PTSD. He has published more than 300 papers and written/edited 16 books. In 2019, he was awarded the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Honorary Fellowship, the College’s highest honour.

You can read Cornelius’s publications here

Dr Ed Kessler (Chair)

Dr Ed Kessler is Founder President of the Woolf Institute, Fellow St Edmund’s College…

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DR ED KESSLER

Dr Ed Kessler (Commission Chair) is Founder President of the Woolf Institute, Fellow St Edmund’s College, Cambridge, and a leading thinker in interfaith relations, primarily Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations. He founded the Woolf Institute in 1998 and has written 12 books and dozens of articles on interfaith relations. Ed was described by The Times Higher Education Supplement as “probably the most prolific interfaith figure in British academia” and was awarded an MBE for services to interfaith relations in 2011. He regularly appears in the media commenting on religion and belief issues of the day.
Twitter: @kessler_ed

Professor Hanna Kienzler

Professor Hanna Kienzler is Professor in the Department of Global Health and…

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Professor Hanna Kienzler

Professor Hanna Kienzler (Steering Group) is Professor in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine and Co-Director of the ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health at King’s College London. As an anthropologist with a long-standing interest in the field of global health, she investigates how systemic violence, ethnic conflict and complex emergencies intersect with health and mental health outcomes in the occupied Palestinian territory, Kosovo, and the UK. She conducts ethnographic research on the impact of war and trauma on survivors; on what it means for persons with mental health problems to live and participate in their respective communities; and on humanitarian and mental health interventions in fragile states. She is also co-founder of the Refugee Mental Health & Place network.

Twitter: @HannaKienzler

Janice Lopatkin

Janice Lopatkin is UK Programme Director of World Jewish Relief. She established the…

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Janice Lopatkin

Janice Lopatkin is UK Programme Director of World Jewish Relief. She established the refugee employment programme The Specialist Training and Employment Programme (STEP) in 2016, which now provides refugee employment support across England and she is the chair of Trustees of the Refugee Employment Network ( REN), which aims to strengthen employment support services for refugees in the UK.

Jehangir Malik

Jehangir Malik OBE is Director of Policy and Engagement at Mercy Mission UK. Previously…

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Jehangir Malik OBE

Jehangir Malik is Director of Policy and Engagement at Mercy Mission UK. Previously he held leadership positions at Muslim Aid, Islamic Relief UK and at VCSEP within British Red Cross. He has held various civil society leadership roles in faith-based organisations leading on public policy, engagement, strategy and governance, humanitarian response strategies, equality, diversity and inclusion and worked with minority communities in supporting funding and social Impact. Jehangir has served as a trustee on various boards including National Emergency Trust, Chair of Equality Steering Group, Association of Chief Executives for Voluntary Organisations, Runneymede Trust, The Feast and Muslim Charities Forum.

Twitter: @jehangirmalik

Bishop Paul McAleenan

Bishop Paul McAleenan was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and Titular Bishop of…

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Bishop Paul McAleenan

Bishop Paul McAleenan was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and Titular Bishop of Mercia in 2016. He has particular pastoral responsibility for Hertfordshire. Bishop Paul is Chair of the Caritas Board in the diocese and has oversight of all matters concerning Ethnic Chaplaincies, Hospital and Prison Chaplaincies and the work of the Permanent Diaconate. In the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, Bishop McAleenan is Lead Bishop for Migrants and Refugees and Racial Justice issues.

Baroness Julia Neuberger

Rabbi Baroness Neuberger DBE, is a cross bench Peer, and is Chair of University College…

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Baroness Neuberger

Rabbi Baroness Julia Neuberger is a cross bench Peer, Chair of University College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Chair of The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust. She is a Trustee of the Rayne Foundation, Chair of Independent Age and is a Commissioner on the UK Commission on Bereavement. She was Senior Rabbi of West London Synagogue from 2011 until March 2020, where she is now Rabbi Emerita. Baroness Neuberger is also Chair of Walter and Liesel Schwab Charitable Trust set up in memory of her parents, to help refugees and asylum seekers access education. 

Professor Jenny Phillimore

Professor Jenny Phillimore is Professor of Migration and Superdiversity and a leading…

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Professor Jenny Phillimore

Professor Jenny Phillimore FAcSS is Professor of Migration and Superdiversity and a leading scholar in refugee integration, sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) and forced migration, superdiversity and access to social welfare. Jenny is also an expert on Community Sponsorship. She manages teams of researchers focusing on refugees’ access to SGBV, health, education, employment, training, and housing integration with a particular focus on integration in the UK and EU. She has advised policymakers in all continents and was a co-author of the UK’s Indicators of Integration for refugees.

Mishka Pillay

Mishka Pillay is a campaigner and an advocate with a focus on refugee rights and…

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Mishka Pillay

Mishka Pillay (Steering Group) is a campaigner and advocate with a focus on refugee rights and immigration detention in the UK. He is a co-founder of A&M Consultancy, which is a venture of two consultants with first-hand experience of the UK’s asylum and immigration system. He has a particular focus on lived experience leadership and co-production and meaningful involvement of people with lived experience. Mishka is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Working Group for Mental Health and Forced Migration and is also a trustee of Freedom from Torture. 

Twitter: @Mishka_anonym

David Simmonds MP

David Simmonds MP was elected Conservative MP for Ruislip, Northwood and…

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David Simmonds

David Simmonds MP was elected Conservative MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner in December 2019. He has been active in local politics in the constituency as Deputy Leader of Hillingdon Council since 2002. He has led on education and children’s services. His national work has included leading the Conservatives at the Local Government Association, chairing the LGA Children and Young People Board from 2011-15 and the Improvement and Innovation Board 2015-16. As chairman of the Asylum and Refugee Task Group, he led the political work with the government developing the Syrian resettlement programme and the National Transfer Scheme to support refugee children.

Enver Solomon

Enver Solomon joined the Refugee Council as Chief Executive in 2020, having been CEO of…

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Enver Solomon

Enver Solomon joined the Refugee Council as Chief Executive in 2020, having been CEO of Just for Kids Law, a charity providing youth support and legal representation to children and young people facing adversity. Previous experience in the charitable sector includes senior roles at the National Children’s Bureau, The Children’s Society, Barnardo’s, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and the Prison Reform Trust. Prior to working in the voluntary sector he was a BBC journalist for ten years.

Twitter: @EnverSol

Nicola Thomas

Nicola Thomas (Steering Group and Commissioner) is Head of Justice, Peace and the…

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 Nicola Thomas

Nicola Thomas (Steering Group) is Diocesan Secretary (Chief Executive) of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. Before this, she was a civil servant for 20 years, mostly in the area of asylum and immigration. Her most recent civil service role was Deputy Director of Refugee Integration and Vulnerability at the Home Office where (with her job-share partner) she led the team that created the Community Sponsorship Scheme for resettled refugees. 

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nicola-thomas-JPIC

Sabir Zazai

Sabir has been CEO of Scottish Refugee Council since 2017 and was previously CEO of…

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Sabir Zazai OBE

Sabir Zazai has been CEO of Scottish Refugee Council since 2017 and was previously CEO of Coventry Migrant Centre. Sabir arrived in the UK from Afghanistan in 1999, and his work draws from his own experiences and expertise in community integration and cohesion and refugee rights. Sabir graduated from Coventry University with a Masters in Community Cohesion Management and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Glasgow and the Lord Provost award for human rights. Sabir is Honorary President of City of Sanctuary and a Visiting Practice Fellow at the Centre for Trust Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University. Sabir currently chairs the Asylum Reform Initiative, and Together with Refugees movement. In 2022, Sabir was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and also received an OBE.

Twitter: @sabir_zazai

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