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 – 4pm
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.
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