These refugees came from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and the Czech Republic. A team of fifteen volunteers from three different faiths, including Christians from six different denominations, was put together to work with them; and a drop-in centre was set up, where they could come to discuss their problems, have official letters explained, and be helped in dealing with statutory organizations.

It is, says Moira Ormerod, an elder of the United Reformed Church (URC) in Nelson, a privilege to be part of the volunteer team. "There are times when we feel hemmed in by the government's cruel and inefficient system for dealing with asylum seekers, and by the attitude of many in the local community - even, it has to be said, in some of the churches - who prefer to ignore the issues and wish we would do the same."

It is a privilege too, she adds, to work with "such terrific young people from troubled corners of the world" who "wish only for permission to work in a country... where they will not be tortured or imprisoned."

  At the beginning of 2000, there were about 22 million refugees in the world, three-quarters of them in refugee camps in countries of the south. Europe receives about 4%. Britain, ranked tenth in Europe for asylum applications, receives a paltry 0.04%.
  Under the Immigration and Asylum Act (1999), asylum seekers receive vouchers which they can exchange for food and other essentials in designated shops only. These, together with £10 a week in cash, come to about 70% of "income support": in effect, they are expected to live 30% below the British poverty line. No provision is made for special dietary or other needs. Many find themselves unable to buy essential items such as clothing, school books, nappies or washing powder.
  Meanwhile, Britain's tabloid press (arguably the worst in the world) feeds its readers on a poison diet of "bogus asylum-seeker" stories, and politicians do little to discourage this xenophobia or, unscrupulously, encourage and exploit it.

"We have been challenged by the courage and openness of so many of the people now with us," Ormerod adds. "They have opened windows on a world many of us had not imagined, and a return to complacent living will not be an option."

From the URC magazine, Reform, (June 2001)