When a refugee knocks, answer the door
Rhiannon Grant discusses what our response to refugees says about us and highlights the importance of well-chosen language and truth.
Across the UK, refugees and asylum seekers face hostility, fear and demonisation. Headlines speak of "queue jumpers" and "waves of migrants", reducing human lives to numbers and threats. But we are all people. For Quakers, this is not just a belief; it is a call to act.
Meeting as people, we find refugees are not abstractions. Each person has come from somewhere and they leave for a reason: fleeing the Taliban, escaping forced recruitment into the Sudanese army, and a thousand other traumas. One Quaker said that meeting someone affected by torture or war “called me viscerally" to help because "these are people of immense courage and resilience, who have nothing."
When a refugee knocks, it is our own spirit standing at the door. To turn them away is to deny the shared humanity that binds us all. Quakers are working quietly, in towns around Britain, side by side with other faith groups and charities, welcoming families fleeing violence. They are helping people navigate asylum systems and offering simple acts of companionship – recognising the divine Light in each life.
Responses reveal who we are
How we respond, with fear or with welcome, reveals who we are. Every open door affirms our shared humanity. Welcoming refugees is not glamourous: it's mending sleeping bags, getting mobile phone minutes, and teaching English. It's a chance to get to know individuals and connect with them heart to heart. But now, some Quakers are going beyond working behind the scenes. After years of work to help people arriving in their communities find clothes and human contact, Quakers and partner charities are speaking up in counter-protests.
Cath Dyer lives near a hotel now used as asylum accommodation. She volunteers with a local charity which organises football matches and gives a hand with complex forms, the things we do with our neighbours. It was peaceful and friendly work until big protests started meeting outside the hotel. She describes the scene at those times as loud and aggressive, with people on megaphones calling all asylum seekers “rapists" and “paedophiles".
Her Quaker meeting feel strongly that this has to be countered. They don't shout back, but have a consistent presence at counter-protests to show their support for people unjustly accused. The Quaker group is one of several present and offers a quiet space. Counter-protestors also try to find moments of joy with music and dance.
The need for justice and truth
It's important to these Quakers that people know who they are. Cath wanted to be named even though she has already been targeted for harassment in the street. The Quakers bring banners so that even at a quick glance the people inside the hotel will know that they are being supported.
Cath is motivated by justice and truth. She has deep compassion for people protesting against the asylum hotel but sees them putting the blame for poverty, housing shortages, and problems with the NHS in the wrong place. Refugees are not causing those issues and we need to challenge inaccurate stories in the mainstream media about this.
False information can spread through social media as well. Cath told me about a local park, where everyone should be free to walk in the woods and which enables the young men seeking asylum to get some fresh air. It also has a children's playground. Because of the lies about asylum seekers and rape, untrue scares go round online, keeping both children and asylum seekers away from the public space. Without that demonisation, everyone's needs could easily be met.
Reality and the need for care
Refugees are people. They are more than numbers and not a threat. Metaphors like “great waves" which compare a group of human beings to a natural disaster are damaging and untruthful. The constant focus on seeking asylum, which is a legal right, makes it seem like a big problem: in fact, the 111,000 people who claimed asylum between June 2024 and June 2025 represent about 0.16% of the total UK population. Those who are living in hotels are there because they are waiting for the government to process their claims. Our moral duty to people in those circumstances – often traumatised, often alone, living on £1.42 a day – is to offer care and support.
Quakers see each person as a child of God and seek to express God's love in the world by caring for everyone. Quaker communities are involved in caring for refugees and asylum seekers in multiple ways: sharing food and warmth, listening and supporting, and speaking out. For example, a City of Sanctuary group with Quaker members handed out posters which stated on the front that refugees are welcome and on the back gave myth-busting information about common misconceptions. The rest of society could follow this lead, welcoming refugees and rejecting the lies which are being told about them.
Refugee Week takes place from 15–21 June 2026. Other useful links include:
- Newsletter signup for Sojourner Truth House of welcome in Calais
- Sanctuary Sunday and Refugee Week resources from Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI)
