REFUGEES IN THE NEWS
World Economic Forum: Refugees are key to Europe’s economic future
31st August 2026
Declining skilled workforces and ageing populations are already negatively impacting many countries across Europe. New research indicates that the untapped skills of refugees could be key to addressing labour shortages and weakening economies - if barriers to work and education are removed. READ ON >>>
FORTY CHILDREN still missing from UK asylum 'hotels'!
27th August 2026
Of the 472 unaccompanied refugee children - some as young as 12 - who went 'missing' from asylum hotels run by the UK Home Office in 2023, forty children have still not been found. The Children's Commissioner has called on the Home Office to outline what is being done to find them and why they went missing. READ ON >>>
EHRC slams UK govt for failing to uphold basic rights of refugees
27th August 2026
The UK government has been condemned for taking ‘inconsistent action’ – the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) lowest ranking – to uphold the legal rights of refugee asylum seekers and for exposing refugee families "to a higher risk of poverty” and destitution.
URGENT CAMPAIGN
TELL THE UK GOVERNMENT TO LET REFUGEE CHILDREN BE REUNITED WITH THEIR FAMILIES!
In September 2025, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer halted all reunification rights of refugee families.
This means THOUSANDS of refugee children are no longer allowed to be reunited with their parents or other surviving members of their families on UK soil.
We support Safe Passage International's case AGAINST the UK Government seeking to stop this cruel and illegal policy and reinstate the rights of ALL REFUGEES TO BE REUNITED WITH THEIR LOVED ONES.
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The case launched in the UK courts in May 2026 and continues.
Sadly, the new acting Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has opted to continue punishing refugees and asylum seekers, including children, for seeking safety in the UK.
And so, we continue with our child-led campaign calling on this government and the Home Office to heed basic international human rights laws.
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WATCH, READ, ACT
WATCH
GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM (Channel 4, 2025)
As toxic views about (non-White) refugees continue to be weaponised by the Far Right and translated into acts of physical violence against asylum seekers, this four-part series remains as relevant and as eye-opening as ever.
Thrusting six opinionated Brits onto the frontline of real-life refugee experiences - from Somalia to Syria to Calais - the result is an honest, eye-opening and at times, deeply heart-warming confrontation of what it means to simply be human, regardless of colour or religious faith, and to be in need of refuge. WATCH HERE>>>
READ
Award-winning journalist and former Home Office insider Nicola Kelly investigates the cruel realities of the UK refugee and asylum process.
A must-read for anyone wanting to understand the time, resources - and lives - wasted by an inept and inhumane system. SEE HERE >>>
ACT
The willingness of the UK government to permit arms development companies such as like Elbit to create and sell weapons to internationally recognised war criminals, makes the UK complicit in those same war crimes.
From Palestine, Lebanon and Iran, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Somalia, the UK continues to play a key role in arming and elongating wars - from which refugees are forced to run...
Over 72,000 agree the hypocrisy of war-profiteering must end. SIGN HERE>>>
Read them. Borrow them. Buy them...
However you use them, thank you...
Thanks to every reader of The Boy at the Back of the Class and The Girl at the Front of the Class, O's Refugee Aid Team can continue its works without having to launch endless appeals for funds.​
We are grateful to everyone who uses these stories to not only raise awareness of the plight of refugee children around the world, but to assist us in our works.​
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We couldn't do what we do
without you...
WHAT YOU HELP TO FUND
WAREHOUSE 1: DUNKIRK, FRANCE
Since 2021, O's Refugee Aid Team and Mobile Refugee Support (MRS) have co-rented a crucial warehouse location in the heart of Dunkirk.
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Our most expensive annual expense to date, it forges our headquarters, and is the place where all donations are delivered, stored, sorted and cleaned ahead of distributions.
ANNUAL COST: £27,000
STORAGE UNIT: LUTON, UK
In 2024, after years of gathering donations in the corridors and rooms of our homes, we decided to bite the bullet and begin renting a storage unit in the UK to enable the acceptance of postal donations and safely store donated goods.
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Our first ever UK unit is now up and running! If you would like to post a much needed item to us, please SEE HERE.
ANNUAL COST: £6,500
EACH & EVERY AID CONVOY
We are proud to have delivered refugee aid convoys for a wide array of different teams across northern France since 2015.
As of 2023, we deliver aid supplies to Mobile Refugee Support and Association Salam Kitchens exclusively. From tents, sleeping bags and pre-packed food and hygiene packs, to spices, bulk goods and fresh foods for hot meal preparations, we do what we can, when we can.​
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COST PER CONVOY:£7,000