Leeds Student Action for Refugees

Donations will go directly to Leeds University STAR (Student Action for Refugees)

STAR is a great organisation with Student Societies across the country. In Leeds the Bike Project sees STAR volunteers trained in bike repairs by the team at Leeds Uni Bike Hub. Working in partnership with the Bike Hub, and repair old, unwanted bikes that are donated to the scheme, and distribute these to displaced people in the local area. We are passionate about this project as the costs of transport are often a massive barrier to asylum seekers and refugees accessing local services.

Any donations will directly help our local community.

1. Volunteering to support refugees in the community develop skills and integrate;



2. Campaigning to change policies which adversely affect the lives of refugees;



3. Educating people about asylum in the UK;



4. Fundraising to support other local community based organisation’s.



Volunteering



STAR Leeds runs two conversation classes every week, providing displaced people in our local area with valuable opportunities to learn and practice their English language skills. Charitable organisation’s have had to step up in recent years to provide this service, as English skills are increasingly important in the context of the hostile environment for successful asylum applications, and for integration into social life in the UK. This is also a great opportunity for students to contribute to their local area and expand their University experience; no prior teaching skills or experience are required to participate in this service and full training is provided!



Campaigning



One of the main purposes of the STAR network is campaigning to improve the legal rights and access to opportunities of displaced people in the UK. Our campaigns group meet on a weekly basis and organise events, campaigns, fundraisers and protests. As part of STAR campaigns you will participate in deciding which national and local campaigns STAR Leeds want to focus on for the year, help design and run events, mobilise the student body for campaigns and actions, suggest and plan fundraising or educational events, go on trips, work with and support other local organisation’s, and much more. Previous years campaigns have focused on pressuring the University to improve the accessibility of higher education for displaced young people; lobbying the government to end indefinite detention, and the ban on asylum seekers right to work.



STAR Bikes Project



A recent additional service we have launched in STAR Leeds is the STAR Bikes Scheme. This project sees STAR volunteers trained in bike repairs by the team at Leeds Uni Bike Hub. We will then work in partnership with the Bike Hub, and repair old, unwanted bikes that are donated to the scheme, and distribute these to displaced people in the local area. We are passionate about this project as the costs of transport are often a massive barrier to asylum seekers and refugees accessing local services.

STAR (Student Action for Refugees) is the national network of students building a more understanding and just society where refugees are welcomed and can thrive in the UK.

Our student groups based in colleges and universities and a central team of experts, work together at a number of levels to bring about lasting change. We:

Volunteer locally working directly with refugees, building understanding and connections

Campaign nationally for policy change and equal access to higher education for refugees

Learn about refugee protection and the asylum journey in the UK with experts and peers

Our impact

In 2022-23:

The STAR student network

39 STAR groups – 7 new groups – in 30 towns and cities run by 213 STAR leaders with 2005 STAR group members and a reach of 21876 on social media.

Training and empowering the network

20 training sessions delivered to 284 STAR student leaders and members.

84 one to one support meetings with student leaders – first in person training & networking day since 2019!

Volunteering

741 refugees supported by 323 student volunteers through 30 volunteering projects in partnership with 21 local organisations – these included English conversation clubs, women’s groups, kids’ homework clubs, book clubs, bike projects, film nights, university open days and more. 22 of these projects were student volunteer-led.

Campaigning

109 campaign activities with over 3200 participants. Major focus was fighting the anti-refugee laws, including a joint petition with City of Sanctuary, Voices Network & Solidaritee for university students and staff who opposed the Illegal Migration Bill which we handed into Downing Street.

Local campaign – Durham STARs successful campaign against Mitie Group Plc was a highlight. Mitie runs the local immigration detention centre and has contracts with Durham University. After lots of awareness raising and an open letter with 1129 signatures the university committed to end contracts with Mitie.

Educating and changing minds

9697 attendees at 345 events organised by STAR groups.

Access to University

88 universities now have scholarships – we provided guidance to 18 institutions to help them improve existing scholarships or plan new ones and delivered 5 information and networking events for 243 university staff

Equal Access Activists (lived experience campaigners) – worked on a new strategy for the campaign, presented about access to university at 8 events & helped develop the new Displaced Students Opportunities website.

335 applicants and students from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds were provided with individual signposting & advice by the STAR team and 777 attended 7 online information events.

1 new website launched – Displaced Student Opportunities UK – a partnership with REUK and City of Sanctuary!

Our vision

Our vision is a society where refugees are welcomed and can thrive as equal members of the community.

Our history

In 1992, students at the University of Nottingham were inspired by the idea of a society that welcomed refugees – so they decided to create one. Andy Davies (then a politics student, now Channel 4 home affairs correspondent) approached the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, pitching the idea of a network of student societies aimed at supporting refugees.

Andy was asked to set up a pilot scheme, and in 1994, the first STAR group was set up, with support from UNHCR and the British Refugee Council. Then-social policy student Elly Hargreave became a co-founder of STAR, growing the movement with groups in London and Edinburgh established by 1996.

Elly went on to found STAR as a registered charity in 1999 to support a national network of students campaigning, volunteering, and learning together. In 2008, the launch of our Equal Access campaign marked the start of our work improving pathways into higher education for refugees. Today, our network of informed and committed students bring about lasting change by volunteering locally with refugees, campaigning nationally for policy change, and learning about refugee protection in the UK with experts and peers.

There is no such thing as an illegal asylum seeker

The 1951 Refugee Convention guarantees everybody the right to apply for asylum in any country, recognising that people fleeing persecution may have to use irregular routes. There is no legal way to travel to the UK for the specific purpose of seeking asylum.

About 1% of the world’s refugees call the UK home

Meanwhile, 85% of the world’s refugees are living in countries neighbouring their country of origin, often in developing countries.

People seeking asylum are often forced to live on Home Office support, equivalent to £5.66 per day

People seeking asylum are not allowed to work to supplement this. Many families cannot afford essential items like clothing and nappies.

Refugee protection and asylum – what does it mean?

A refugee is someone who is in need of protection and would be at risk if they returned home. The word ‘refugee’ is often used to mean people who have fled danger which could arise from war, torture, political persecution, famine, economic crisis or natural disaster.

A person seeking asylum is the legal definition of a person who has fled to another country, has made an application for protection and is waiting for that country to decide whether they will be granted official refugee status.

Under international law, the word refugee has a very precise meaning. The UK uses the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees to determine whether a person seeking asylum will be recognised as a refugee.

According to the convention, a refugee is a person who has:

‘…a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country…’

Seeking safety in the UK

There is no legal way to travel to the UK for the specific purpose of seeking asylum and there is no international law stating that refugees must claim asylum in the first country they reach. The UN Convention on Refugees recognises that people fleeing persecution may have to use irregular means in order to escape and claim asylum in another country.

It is often very difficult for people seeking asylum to provide the evidence required to be granted protection. Initial Home Office decision-making remains poor. Many refugees have to rely on the courts rather than the government to provide them with the protection they need.

During the application process, almost all people seeking asylum are not allowed to work and are forced to rely on state support. This can be as little as £5 a day to live on, therefore most people seeking asylum live in poverty.

If granted refugee status, most people are only given permission to stay in the UK for five years. This makes it difficult for them to make decisions about their future, to find work and make definite plans for their life in the UK.