Throwing Open the Doors to Refugees and Asylum Seekers

"Each one is known loved and cherished", Bishop McAleenan

On April 7th last the NJPN hosted the second event in this calendar year to mark this Jubilee Year. This event was entitled Throwing Open the Doors to Refugees and Asylum Seekers. We had 97 separate connections out of the 218 that registered to attend. We were bowled over by the number of attendees and we thank all who turned up to hear and learn a little more and we are more than indebted to our wonderful contributors who selflessly gave of their expertise, their time and their experience to make this a truly memorable evening.

Below you will find:

The running order.
The poster.
The introductory remarks.
The recording of the event itself.
We Refugees - a poem by Benjamin Zephaniah (as promised)
A poster that invites all to contact Sharon Chambers at NJPN admin to book your place for our next event. Opening Doors to a Sustainable World for Future Generations on Saturday 10th May: Open Networking Day in London (CAFOD). This will be an in-person event and so booking your place early and with Sharon is a must.
Invitation to sign up for our conference in Swanwick - Opening Doors to a Just Peace in Swanwick Conference: 25 – 27 July

https://www.justice-and-peace.org.uk/

Welcome, and thank you for joining us today.

We gather at a time when seeking safety in the UK has become increasingly dangerous and dehumanising.

Refugees and asylum seekers are being met not with compassion, but with cruelty.

Policies rooted in hostility now define our borders — shutting down safe routes and punishing those who flee.

The Rwanda plan, indefinite hotel stays, and threats of detention are not just policy failures — they are moral ones.

Every day, people escaping war, torture, and persecution are told they are unwelcome.

Outcomes for those who make it here are grim: poverty, isolation, uncertainty, and fear.

Meanwhile, hate-filled rhetoric in politics and the media fuels division and distrust.

This is not inevitable — it is a choice. And it can be challenged.

Today, we create space to listen, to learn, and to speak truth to power.

We will hear from those directly affected and those advocating for justice.

This is about reclaiming humanity in a system that has lost its way.

Let this webinar be a step toward compassion, solidarity, and lasting change.

Thank you for being part of this necessary conversation.

We Refugees

I come from a musical place

Where they shoot me for my song

And my brother has been tortured

By my brother in my land.

I come from a beautiful place

Where they hate my shade of skin

They don't like the way I pray

And they ban free poetry.

I come from a beautiful place

Where girls cannot go to school

There you are told what to believe

And even young boys must grow beards.

I come from a great old forest

I think it is now a field

And the people I once knew

Are not there now.

We can all be refugees

Nobody is safe,

All it takes is a mad leader

Or no rain to bring forth food,

We can all be refugees

We can all be told to go,

We can be hated by someone

For being someone.

I come from a beautiful place

Where the valley floods each year

And each year the hurricane tells us

That we must keep moving on.

I come from an ancient place

All my family were born there

And I would like to go there

But I really want to live.

I come from a sunny, sandy place

Where tourists go to darken skin

And dealers like to sell guns there

I just can't tell you what's the price.

I am told I have no country now

I am told I am a lie

I am told that modern history books

May forget my name.

We can all be refugees

Sometimes it only takes a day,

Sometimes it only takes a handshake

Or a paper that is signed.

We all came from refugees

Nobody simply just appeared,

Nobody's here without a struggle,

And why should we live in fear

Of the weather or the troubles?

We all came here from somewhere.

Benjamin Zephaniah

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