At our April meeting John, Lyndon and Anne from the Sutton Amnesty group gave a presentation about their work with the charity, Refugee and Migrant Network Sutton, (RMNS).

RMNS has been in existence for an impressive 34 years in Sutton and continues to grow. The Amnesty group found it interesting and informative to hear about such an active organisation on its doorstep, with values closely aligned with its own.

The main focus of RMNS is to give advice and support to refugees, asylum seekers and migrant workers with the objective of promoting integration and independence. As one can imagine, there is a huge demand for advice on immigration, housing, education and generally how to navigate life in the U.K. Of equal importance, however, is the social support, friendship and respect people find there.

The mix of people who come to RMNS reflects world events, (including Brexit, Hong Kong, Ukraine, Afghanistan), which hit individuals the hardest. In addition there is a wide range of ages, first languages and educational backgrounds. In 2022/23 attendees were roughly split as follows : 48% Ukraine, 11% Hong Kong, 11% Turkey, 30% other countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Yemen.

As well as support with everyday life in the U.K., English lessons are provided from beginner to advanced level and these are complemented by a weekly International Coffee Club. There are normally around 60 students attending lessons every week.

One very important and demanding service provided by RMNS is the “One2One” programme under which an RMNS volunteer will be responsible for personally supporting an asylum seeker or refugee. This can include everything from housing, schools, employment, health, bills, and official paperwork relating to visas and permits. One can only imagine how overwhelming and bewildering it must be to tackle all of these things in an unfamiliar country and in a language which, in many cases, is limited.

More information on RMNS can be found here. For an excellent overview the RMNS Annual Report is highly recommended.

Please contact John, Lyndon or Anne through the Amnesty group if you would like to know more.

Perhaps it’s important to remember also that RMNS is a charity, providing support where official bodies are actually failing or shockingly uncoordinated. The difference it makes to the people it helps cannot be overstated.