‘I was a stranger and you made me welcome’
Matthew 25:35
EMBRACE is a group of Christians working together to promote positive responses to people seeking asylum, refugees, migrant workers and people from minority ethnic backgrounds in Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland is becoming richer in its diversity of culture and ethnicity as it becomes home to an increasing number of people from other countries.
EMBRACE seeks to equip the church to fulfil its call to welcome our new neighbours, by providing information, training, materials and channels for practical help. In doing this we seek to build a community which welcomes and respects diversity.
On this site you will find information relating to the situation for people seeking asylum, refugees, migrant workers and people from resident minority ethnic backgrounds within Northern Ireland. There are also links to related sites.
May the light of Christ shine brightly in your heart and home this Christmas. Embrace NI wishes you joy and peace as we remember the miracle of Christ’s birth this season.
“O Lord God, you led your people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide us now so that, following your son, we may continue to walk alongside people seeking asylum, migrants and refugee families as they build a new life in the bounty of your love and mercy.”
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION RE eVISAS
CLICK THE LINK BELOW
https://www.lawcentreni.org/evisa-guide/
WHO’S WHO? WHO’S HERE?
IMPORTANT REMINDER 28/08/24
Ukraine Scheme Update Sessions (English & Ukrainian) Wednesday 4th September 2024
URGENT REQUEST FOR NI HOMES TO CONSIDER HOSTING REFUGEES
Lots of people have been asking what they can do to help following last week’s awful attacks. In response, Refugees At Home are holding a Northern Ireland host recruitment information session.
Refugees at Home is a UK charity which connects those with a spare room in their home to refugees and people seeking asylum who are in need of somewhere to stay.
Requests for help in Northern Ireland have doubled since last year, and they only have a handful of hosts ready to help out. They are desperately seeking more hosts in Northern Ireland.
Please share this invitation through your networks, ESOL teachers, foodbank volunteers, Churches etc. We fully expect to see a high number of refugee grants in the coming months (similar to last year) and it would be wonderful to have a bank of welcoming hosts ready to support people in need of short-term support. I have copied organiser Areej Osman from Refugees At Home should you wish to reach out directly.
REGISTER: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYpcuGppz0tEtFot4Ckl8v_Yifaje68XIvh#/registration
Recent violence and riots: Advice for people seeking asylum and refugees:
Click Here: https://hopenothate.org.uk/2024/08/12/migration-security-advice/
Asylum Matters, Praxis and Refugee Action have come together to produce guidance for people concerned about far-right violence targeting people in temporary asylum accommodation or with refugee status living in the UK.
If you work in service delivering for refugees and people seeking asylum, you may wish to download and share the guidance. Attached is the guidance in English, but it is also available in the following languages:
- Farsi
- Dari
- Arabic
- French
- Somali
- Ukranian
- Mandarin
- Amharic
- Pashto
- Oromo
- Tigrigna
- Urdu
- Kurdish Sorani
MEMORIAL SERVICE
SUNDAY 19TH NOVEMBER 2023 AT 3:00 PM
EMBRACE NI 20th ANNIVERSARY
Greetings,
EMBRACE is 20 years old.
Please see attached our invitation to you to join us in marking our anniversary with lunch at City Hall.
We need you, please, to RSVP for catering purposes.
We also want you to share this invite with someone you know who has a connection with EMBRACE so we don’t miss anyone who would like to be there.
I look forward to seeing you on 19 October.
God Bless,
Scott
Scott Boldt – Chairperson
*EMBRACE REFLECTIONS Summer 2023*
The fourth edition of Embrace Reflections 2023 is now available!
Please click the link below for a PDF copy
https://www.embraceni.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/EMBRACE-REFLECTIONS-SUMMER-2023-5.pdf
Latest News from EMBRACE
EMBRACE NI – Report Launch February 2023
Thanks for coming to our Embrace event last week to launch Dr Emma Soye’s study Embracing the Stranger Challenges and Opportunities for NI Churches, led by our chairperson Scott Boldt. We had a fantastic turnout (over 50 attendees) to listen to Emma talk in more detail about the outcomes of her research.
We hope you enjoyed the experience and gained more insight into how your church community can continue to welcome refugees and people seeking asylum, working together to build relationships.
Please click the link below for a PDF copy of her study.
https://www.embraceni.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Embracing-the-Stranger-Report-2023.pdf
We look forward to seeing you at the next EMBRACE NI event!
Ukraine Crisis Support and Resources
List of Informal English Language Classes
A new list of Informal English Language Classes in Belfast has been prepared by Johanne Martin and Angie Russell. For more information, contact the ESOL coordinator for Northern Ireland, Ligia Parizzi, at the Belfast Metropolitan College (See our Ways You Can Help page for contact details). Click here for the list (current as of February 2022).
Welcome Churches UK
We support the initiative from Welcome Churches UK to welcome Afghan refugees into the UK, including Northern Ireland. Visit the Welcome Churches website here to find out more about the work this organisation is doing, or to see how your church can join their network. Click on the link below to learn about the Afghan Welcome initiative.
Ways You Can Help
We have taken reasonable measures to check the accuracy of the information on this site and trust that it is useful. However, it is intended as a general summary of information and should not take the place of written law or regulations.
The inclusion of links to organisations in any section is not an endorsement of these groups. We cannot take responsibility for information contained on other websites.
