Urgent appeal: support people on the move to resist government cruelty
Urgent appeal: support people on the move to resist government cruelty
Latest: May 20, 2025
Diallo's story: an odyssey to asylum in Greece
Diallo was jailed for four long months - no trial, kept in isolation and subjected to beatings, electro-shocks and threats against his family. He still bears the scars from his torture - both physica…
Read moreThe rights of people on the move are under threat. You can help us fight back against government cruelty and support people seeking safety.
At RLS, we provide vital legal support, help people find safety, and restore hope.
What’s happening - cruelty by design
After last year’s election, many hoped the new UK government would start to rebuild the asylum system around compassion and fairness. Instead, we’re seeing a harmful approach that directly impacts people on the move.
- People are being criminalised for the way they travelled to the UK. Hundreds of people who came here to find safety now find themselves in jail.
- The new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill focuses on enforcement, not protection.
- Footage from deportations and immigration raids has been published, so people’s most vulnerable moments have been shared to the world for political gain.
- Some of the most basic human rights of people seeking asylum are currently under review, including the right to family life.
- It’s getting harder to claim asylum. A rising number of Afghan asylum claims are being refused, including those submitted by Afghan women, who face severe and systemic discrimination in Afghanistan.
The UK’s approach isn’t occurring in isolation. Trump is slashing aid abroad and rounding people up for deportation at home. Meanwhile, the far-right is rapidly growing across Europe. The people we support in Greece are now confronted with a new migration minister with a background supporting fascists.
At RLS, we see the consequences of this wider global shift towards the far-right everyday, and the impact it has on our clients in the UK and in the EU.
Against this backdrop, standing in solidarity with people on the move is more important than ever.
Legal support is essential to fighting back
Legal support is one of the most effective tools we have to fight back. Our work helps people gain asylum and stability, and it reunites families. It gives people hope.
With your support, we’ll continue to stand with people on the move.
1. We help people find a route to safety
Safe, legal and accessible routes to the UK are limited. However, we help people navigate the handful of available routes.
- We’re one of the few organisations helping Afghans to find sanctuary in the UK via the available pathways
- We bring loved ones back together through family reunion so they can start new lives together
“She did not only help me with my case but she helped me with bringing them from Afghanistan to here, finding a house for us, and registering them for the government’s support. How could I do all those things without her support?”
2. We work with communities and help them to take back their power
We work in solidarity with the communities we support by:
- Partnering with local authorities and other grassroots organisations to ensure people in under-served and hard-to-reach communities can access information and the help they need
- Helping communities fight for change through our advocacy work
3. We reach places others don’t
As a grassroots organisation, we provide legal support where there’s often no other help available:
- In Northern France, we’re the only organisation with UK legal expertise supporting people on the move
- In the UK, we support people who are in prison for arriving in the UK on a small boat and people stuck in asylum accommodation.
- In Greece, we offer expert legal support and information when many of our colleagues are being forced to shrink or close their services.
If we can’t help people, they rarely find support elsewhere. They’ll be stuck in limbo for the foreseeable future.
How you can help
Our work wouldn’t be possible without help from our friends and supporters. At a time when the rights of people on the move are being threatened around the globe, your support is critical.
We’re seeking to raise £8,000 so that we can continue providing vital legal support in 2025.
- £30 could pay for an hour of interpretation so that we can work with clients in their own language
- £50 could help us to visit a refugee camp to bring legal information to people who urgently need it
- £100 could help us to submit an application to reunite a family
If you can, please support our campaign. Every pledge means we can continue providing legal support to people on the move, and bring them hope.
“I feel alive every time I see my family back together in front of my eyes and that I am with my daughter after a long time.”
Thank you,
The RLS Team
Photo credit: Booker Photos
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Refugee Legal Support
May 20, 2025
Diallo's story: an odyssey to asylum in Greece
Diallo was jailed for four long months - no trial, kept in isolation and subjected to beatings, electro-shocks and threats against his family. He still bears the scars from his torture - both physical and psychological.
To reach Greece and try to rebuild his life has shown remarkable resilience. He’s had to battle a hazardous, traumatic journey before facing an odyssey of bureaucracy and rejections.
Last year, more asylum claims were registered in Greece than ever before. However, funding for legal aid has collapsed. Diallo fell victim to this collapse. His asylum claim had already been rejected once before the lawyer who was supporting him lost his job due to lack of funding.
RLS steps in
Our lawyer, Anastasia, took on his case as a matter of urgency. Together, they:
- Remapped his experiences and journey - ensuring that they included the important details that the asylum service would be looking for
- Unearthed essential evidence - including medical reports and expert testimonies on the situation in Diallo’s home country
- Accompanied Diallo to his interview - as a reassuring presence and to make sure that he was asked the questions required. We then followed up with a detailed memo of supporting evidence so the authorities couldn’t miss anything important.
“My previous lawyer said, “I need to leave, but don’t worry I’ll give your case to a great lawyer, she’s the best”. I saw not that what he said was true, but more than that”
The system said no again
In an often arbitrary system, even the clearest case and highest quality legal work can lead to a refusal. The authorities claimed that they couldn’t see a link between Diallo’s torture and his asylum claim.
This is where legal support goes far beyond the technical aspects of a case. This rejection would be devastating so we quickly arranged to meet Diallo. We explained the rejection and reassured him that we’d continue to fight alongside him.
An appeal
We set to work on Diallo’s appeal. An appeal is impossible without high quality legal support. It requires careful preparation of the written appeal, an appearance and support of the case in front of the Appeals Committee and considerable technical expertise. Even then, only 10% of appeals are successful. This might be his last chance.
Apart from preparing the appeal, we were also able to submit a memo with new evidence and information about his home country that hadn’t been available for our previous application, as well as case law to support our arguments. We accompanied Diallo to the Appeals Authority the day of the hearing and supported the case orally before the Committee.
Victory - and the start of a new life
The appeals committee finally recognised what had always been true - Diallo was a refugee and he needed international protection.
“I saw I had two missed calls from Anastasia. I asked myself, “what’s going on?” Then Anastasia sent a message - “you have a positive decision”. I was outside in 50 degrees… I couldn’t believe that it was true. The next day I went to the office, it was a pleasure to say thank you in person”
Diallo is able to start looking to the future. He’s working as a chef and finishing his studies at a cookery school in Athens. “I want to get more experience and work with a great chef. If there’s an opportunity to have my own restaurant, I’ll then be ready.”
Refugee Legal Support
May 13, 2025
Match funding period ended
A generous supporter matched donations received today, up to £1,000. We have now reached this target. Thank you for your support!
We’re still trying to reach our goal of £8,000. If you can, please support our campaign. Every pledge means we can continue providing legal support to people on the move, and bring them hope.
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