Refugees, Migrants and Displaced Persons
The South East District geography means many of our communities are in areas that receive and welcome refugees, migrants and displaced persons.
Recognising the significance of this for our District, we have an volunteer officer dedicated to supporting the District to be informed and resourced for this area of our ministry.
Please continue to visit this page and check for updates, but also please let Hazel know of work happening in your area so you can help to inform colleagues in the South East District. In turn this will help improve the wider networking opportunities, and enable others to share information about what is happening!
Sustaining Hope
Our Sustaining Hope Networking Days offer an opportunity for learning more about work among refugees, migrants and displaced persons in South East District.
Rev Hazel Forecast: Refugee, Migrant and Displaced Persons Officer, South East District
Hazel’s role is to provide advice, encouragement and support across the District in the area of work and ministry with refugees, displaced persons and migrants.
She continues to maintain and nurture contacts across a number of the circuits in our district, as well as with ecumenical refugee officers and others employed in a wide range of different contexts in Surrey, Sussex and Kent.
About Hazel
“I was ordained as a Presbyter in the Methodist Church in 1987. Much of my ministry was in very ethnically diverse, urban and inner urban areas and churches, in London and in the Thames Valley. In 2009 I stepped back from Presbyteral ministry for two years and taught English as a Foreign Language, mainly to adults, in Sardinia. Returning to Circuit work, I served for a further 9 years in inner-city London, becoming a Supernumerary Minister in 2020. Now I worship in and support the Methodist church in Redhill (Gatwick & Mole Valley Circuit), where I also teach English as a Foreign Language and work ecumenically to raise awareness of modern slavery locally and further afield."
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Refugees, Migrants and Displaced Persons
Information about Refugees, Migrants and Displaced people, and the South East District.
The South East District of the Methodist Church includes all the Kent and Sussex coastline, and the airports of Gatwick and Heathrow. In addition, the Mediterranean islands of Gibraltar and Malta (where many seek access to Europe) are part of our district.
Gatwick and Heathrow have received many of the people on government resettlement schemes from Syria, Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Ukraine. Our district coastlines are the goal for many of those seeking to reach the United Kingdom outside of these schemes, in small boats and dinghies. Cobham Services on the M25 in our district often provides the first daylight and fresh air for those entering the United Kingdom in lorries from Europe.
But why make such a journey?
Behind every application for asylum is a unique individual, whose experiences are personal to them, and who has embarked on the hazardous journey out of desperation. Many know of Britain as a safe, law-based country of wealth and opportunity. Many have ties with family already here, or through our shared colonial history, including the English lanugage and education system. Contrary to popular belief, however, the United Kingdom is not high in world rankings for receiving refugees and treating them well. In reality, our nations still host less than one percent of the world’s refugees. Many would say that the system here is dehumanising and that they are made to feel unwelcome along the way, often being spoken of and treated as a threat or even a criminal. For more detailed statistical information, see these websites:
https://www.unhcr.org/uk/global-trends
https://www.concern.net/news/which-countries-take-in-the-most-refugees
What is the situation in the UK?
People seeking asylum are not allowed to work. Those who have formally registered as asylum-seekers receive a debit card with £49.18 per week for food, clothing, toiletries etc. If their accommodation provides meals, however meagre, they only receive £9.95 per week. Children struggle to study within our systems as they are frequently moved at very short notice. (For more information see https://www.gov.uk/asylum-support/what-youll-get). Asylum applications can take years to process and most find themselves in unsuitable or uninhabitable accommodation during this time. They are very much at risk of being entrapped into modern slavery. Some arrive thinking a job is awaiting them but in fact they are already entrapped. For more information see:
Getting the language right
Words can be emotive and are frequently misused within the context of migrants, refugees and displaced people. If someone is forced to flee their own home, usually in response to war, or natural disaster, they are a displaced person ('internally displaced' if they remain within their own country).
For the internationally recognised definition of refugee, as well as clarification on the difference between asylum seeker and migrant, see Domenica Pecoraro’s contribution to our Sustaining Hope morning in October 2022.
The response of our churches
Whatever the need and vulnerability of people, churches seek to be communities of welcome, support and affirmation. Across the District, many have been glad to welcome those who have arrived in the United Kingdom in challenging and distressing circumstances. In doing so we also find ourselves enriched by the presence, faith and gifts of those who become part of us. Our support as individuals and church communities takes many practical forms. As our awareness is raised, we seek to raise the awareness of others, increase empathy and address misinformation and injustices.
Our churches also host mother-tongue churches, other agencies and local authority initiatives which are seeking to support refugees and asylum-seekers in their various needs.
For more detailed information on what is happening and who we are working with, see:
2024 work across the District with Migrants and Refugees