Refugee Rights Europe is a human rights organisation and registered UK charity. Founded in late 2015, our organisation researches and documents the situation for refugees and displaced people seeking protection in Europe, with a particular focus on human rights violations and inadequate humanitarian conditions experienced. The organisation uses its research findings to advocate for human rights-centered policy development, to ensure the rights of refugees and displaced people are upheld on European soil, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Our vision is a world in which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights applies to all human beings, including refugees and displaced people in Europe.
Our mission
Aware that our vision cannot become reality without effective human rights-centered policy development, our mission is to call on those who have the power to bring about change, to honour their national and international human rights commitments. Through our rigorous independent field research, we bring the lived experiences of refugees and displaced people to policy-makers, influencers and international media. We amplify our messages further by mobilising individuals, communities and partner organisations to join our call to action, in defence of refugee rights.
How we work
Our mission is guided by three overarching goals. The first goal is to ensure that policy-makers take action to develop human rights-centered policies which can improve the situation for refugees and displaced people in Europe. We work to ensure that policy-makers at all levels are exposed to and consider evidence-based research findings, and that they are reminded of the inadequacy of the current European refugee response.
We proactively reach out to national and European level politicians, parliament representatives and other relevant influencers, to share our research findings and encourage them to engage in constructive conversation around our recommendations. We also hold European governments and policy-makers to account through formal accountability mechanisms. Based on our research findings, we submit reports about the treatment of refugees and displaced people in Europe to United Nations human rights bodies, court cases, and national-level inquiries and offer recommendations for humane change.
To maximise the impact and potential of our human rights policy work, we join forces with others. Our second goal is to ensure that civil society actors are empowered and amplify our call for refugees’ human rights in Europe. We develop useful tools for partner organisations to use in their campaigning and advocacy work, host regular planning meetings, and invite others to jump onboard our campaigns. We know that we are stronger when working together, and we want to facilitate the work of others to ensure we all speak out with a unified voice.
Equally, we know that having a critical mass behind our message is crucially important when seeking to effect social change. Therefore, our third goal is to inform the wider public – individuals and communities across Europe – about the human rights violations suffered here, and invite them to assert pressure on political leaders to uphold the human rights of refugees and displaced people seeking protection in Europe.
