We are calling all candidates to commit to uphold the UK’s long history of protecting refugees, change laws which make it hard for refugees to live with dignity while seeking asylum and to commit to building a refugee protection system.  

Specifically, we are asking candidates to:  

1. Change laws that undermine the right to seek asylum.  

1. Build a system that treats all people with care, dignity and compassion and enables them to achieve their full potential. 

Change laws that undermine the right to seek asylum  

We are calling for a commitment to the right to seek asylum in the UK. We must uphold our international responsibilities and obligations and recommit to the right to seek asylum in the UK. Furthermore, we must change laws that fundamentally undermine the right to seek asylum, including:  

• Repealing the Illegal Migration Act which effectively abolishes the right to seek asylum in the UK;  
• Ending the criminalisation of people seeking safety under the Nationality and Borders Act, which punishes people for their journey to reach safety;  
• Upholding the universality of human rights and abandoning plans to strip human rights away from people seeking asylum in the UK;  
• Stopping offshore processing: The Rwanda-UK agreement must be scrapped, and the principle of ‘offshore processing’ should be abandoned. People seeking safety should never be forcibly removed to other countries to have their claims for protection considered.  

Build a system that treats all people with care, dignity and compassion and enables them to achieve their full potential. 

Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and compassion and every refugee who is prevented from fulfilling their potential here in the UK represents a missed opportunity for our society.

The Bike Project are calling for candidates to commit to: 

• Giving people the right to work after waiting for six months to enable people to make a living and use their skills and talents to make a wider contribution to society and the economy.   
• Ending No Recourse to Public Funds and raising asylum support rates to cover essential living needs including transport and stopping other policies which force people into poverty and homelessness.  
• Housing people in communities not accommodation such as hotels, camps, barges or barracks, so they can access support and services.  
• Enabling families to be together by expanding family reunion rules 
• Celebrating the enormous contribution of refugees and migration to the UK whilst acknowledging the UK’s history as a colonial power and its involvement in migration and displacement.  

Candidates can further demonstrate their commitment by challenging the divisive language around migrants and refugees and talking with those who have lived experience of seeking asylum and local organisations to understand the reality of the current system and policies.  

If you are entitled to vote on 4 July, you can help by: 

• Checking different political parties proposed migration and asylum policies  
• Asking questions to candidates on your doorstep or at hustings  
• Talking to your friends and family about migration using these helpful resources  

For more information click here