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Services

Our Drop-in centre offers:

• a safe-space – our clients have suffered the indignity of passing through a variety of official bodies and therefore it is important that GARAS feels an easy place to come to
• information, advocacy and advice on health, benefits, immigration, education, careers etc
• access to other services
• food, bedding and household items for urgent needs
• trauma counselling – many clients have experienced trauma, bereavement, abuse in various ways and require help from our psychotherapists

Opening times:

GARAS is open for drop-in:
Monday:            10am – 4pm
Wednesday:      10am – 5pm
Friday:               10am – 4pm

Appointments can be made on Tuesdays and Thursdays and telephone enquiries can be made during normal office hours.

Myth Busting

Definitions:

Here is a quick guide to the definitions regularly used and misused

• Asylum seeker: is someone who is fleeing persecution in their homeland and has arrived in another country, made themselves known to the authorities and legally applied for the right to be recognised as a refugee
• Refugee: is someone whose asylum application is successful and is allowed to stay in the host country
• Failed asylum seeker: has had their application turned down and is awaiting return to their home country. It may be unsafe to return and therefore be sometime before they can.
• Illegal immigrant: is a person who arrives in another country and does not inform the authorities of their presence.
• Economic migrant: is one who has arrived in a new country in order to work

Asylum seekers just want to be safe:

• they have the right to apply for asylum in the UK – therefore cannot be “illegal” or bogus.
• they do not come for economic purposes
• the UK is a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention on the Rights of the Refugee and therefore guarantees the right to anyone to apply.
• Most refugees in the world have no choice in their destination and only go to a neighbouring country
• The UK system is tough – there have been several recent pieces of legislation that have made this tougher
• Asylum seekers do not get large handouts from the state, they receive 30% less than those on benefits and are not allowed to work
• Asylum seekers are more likely to be the victims of crime than the perpetrators
• Refugees make a huge contribution to the UK.

For more information visit:

• www.refugeecouncil.org.uk
• www.unhcr.org.uk
• www.refugee-action.org.uk