Refugee Week 2023: This year is the 25th Anniversary for Refugee Week!
For this week, we are pleased to invite to the Seeing Asylum exhibition, which will be hosted at the Leeds Minster from Monday 19th June 2023 to Saturday 24th June 2023.
Please see the details below for the Launch Event:
Monday 19th June 2023 The Launch of the Seeing Asylum exhibition for Refugee Week
Time: 7pm – 9pm.
The launch event will begin with invited speakers providing insightful information about the process of people seeking asylum, followed by the opening of the exhibition. Attendees will be provided with visual and audio resources relating to the exhibition, alongside having the opportunity to speak with the speakers throughout the event.
The speakers for the launch event are:
The newly appointed Minister for Leeds Minster, Reverend Paul Maybury. Criminologist, Maria De-Angelis, who has over 20 years’ experience and has who worked with the people seeking asylum. Dwayne Hutchinson, Faith and Racial Justice Lead for Leeds Church Institute.
Additional information and more guest speakers will be listed in upcoming weeks.
Further details about the Exhibition:
The exhibition highlights the true hidden stories of the women who have experienced their human rights being opposed, their possessions taken away from them and the actions they took to protest inhumane practices within the Immigration Removal Centre (IRC).
From hearing the stories of people who have experienced the journey of seeking asylum, it seems as though they can often be treated as criminals, as they are refused the rights to contact their family or friends. In addition to asylum seekers not having the option to contact their social networks, people are not allowed to visit IRCs, to see the practices that are happening inside.
Unfortunately, people seeking asylum can end up having the negative experience of being held within detention centres due to their name being misspelt on their proof identification. Although this error may not be their fault, they can face the punishment of being held in an IRC until the error is amended. Whether they find asylum within the UK or they are sent back to their country of origin, dependent on the decisions made by the workers within the detention centre, people seeking asylum await their fate in a hostile environment.
By shining a light on these issues and practices, this event hopes to allow a chance to learn about and understand the difficulties that asylum seekers can face and expose the social isolation they experience being removed from their families and friends.