Our Mission

At GARAS (Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers) we offer support to those seeking asylum in Gloucestershire, welcoming them when they arrive, advocating for them in their daily struggles, supporting them if they face being sent back as well as helping them adjust to their long term future if they are recognised as refugees.

Contact Information

Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (GARAS)
The Trust Centre
Falkner St
Gloucester
GL1 4SQ

Telephone: 01452 550528
General enquiries: info@garas.org.uk
Administrative enquiries: admin@garas.org.uk
www.garas.org.uk

Director
Adele Owen

May 14, 2015

A week into our new government and I find myself extremely depressed by
the immediate situation we find ourselves in.

This seems to be epitomised by the continuing response from the UK
towards those making the desperate journeys across the Mediterranean.

Countries across Europe are trying to work together to find ways to help
and our response is pitiful.
“Send them back!” was the response of our Home Secretary – to where?
Where do you suggest?

Do you mean to Libya where life is so very very bad taking a risk on a
flimsy craft seems worth it? Where you take your life in your hands and
abuse is routinely experienced.  Where a vivid description made to me
simply stated, “there is hell, and then there is Libya!”.

Or do you mean to countries such as Eritrea, where to be returned means
almost immediate imprisonment? Life long National Service, detention and
torture?

Or to Syria – yes you may claim we have taken 4000 Syrians, but not out
of any altruism, but because almost all them had to make the perilous
journey to get here.

This is a terrible response, one that had me in tears of anger and
frustration.  We can do better… we must do better, please remember that
well worn phrase, “Britain has a proud tradition……”

Lost at sea

April 20, 2015

Another boat over full of desperate people have met the tragedy of enormous loss of lives.

What does it mean to us? How should we react?

We have heard and felt outraged and sickened by the words of Kate Hopkins, but what about us?

We are in the midst of an election where promises are being made to improve our lives and choice between those who may most closely match our idea of what we want.

You see that’s what we all want, a better life for ourselves and those we care about. And we sit indifferently on the sidelines watching others who want to do the same for themselves.

We treated as heroes those involved in the Arab Spring, we idolise those who reach the pinnacles of their careers and yet we treat as villains, those who want to do the same for their families.

It’s desperate, and we need to shout out, we need to ask our candidates what their response to this is, and we need to re engage with the rescue missions in the Mediterranean, because the current policy is just not working.

Christmas shopping – donations

November 24, 2014

When doing your online Christmas, or other, shopping from major retailers, why not donate to GARAS in the process?  At no additional cost to yourself, you can register at easy fundraising with the proceeds to go to GARAS and then click on every time you make subsequent purchases.  It couldn’t be simpler.  So far we have raised over £100 for GARAS.  Please help us get even more, as we work with vulnerable asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants in Gloucestershire.

Campaign brewing

November 21, 2014

A bit like buses, we are quiet for a while and then we have a head of steam and produce another blog.

This is a little unusual because normally we do not discuss individual cases for obvious reasons, however we have been asked to on this occasion by the person himself.

There is an EU agreement called the Dublin Convention which simply put states that those people will be returned to the first country within the EU in which asylum was first sought. This is regularly used and we quite often see people returned to other parts of the EU.

But what happens if that in itself, is not safe? It is now recognised that it is not safe to be returned to Greece due to their human rights abuses of asylum seekers.

What if a country has no system to protect these most vulnerable individuals? What happens if you have been beaten up by the same people and hospitalised each time? What happens you are continuously threatened and your life is in danger? What happens if you are so familiar and well known by a particular group within a country there is no possibility of
safety?

You fled your home country due to the very real dangers there and in so doing find yourself out of the frying pan into the fire?

Given the very real evidence of the danger does it not seem reasonable then to find a way to by pass the Convention and just pay attention to the asylum claim which still needs to be examined..

And then, maybe this man can find the peace and security he so desperately needs. 

Shoe boxes for GARAS – working together

November 20, 2014

This morning I unloaded my jam packed car of 40 filled shoe boxes: the generous donation of people across Cheltenham.

shoe boxes

This was following an event held at the University of Gloucestershire for Inter Faith week.

People from a wide variety of faiths and none had come together to eat, share and create. Donations had been made for three different charities, of which we were one: of toiletries; food; scarves; hats; gloves; chocolate; all kind of little luxuries to cheer someone up. Then together people, sat and wrapped and filled their boxes and wrote cards for the recipients. The theme for the evening was compassion and each faith representative said a little bit about their own commitment to caring and kindness for others. The outpouring of this was very evident!

Now we can enjoy the fun part of passing this on to help our clients know that there are people in the UK who wish them well.