STAR is a national charity of 27,000 students welcoming refugees to the UK. Together we:
Volunteer at local refugee projects
Campaign to improve the lives of refugees
Educate people about refugees and asylum
STAR is made up of 46 groups at universities and colleges across the UK and a national team which co-ordinates and supports the groups. STAR groups are students’ union societies which are affiliated to the charity. The charity is governed by STAR’s Board of Trustees, elected annually by the students themselves.
The world is in the grip of one of the worst forced displacement crises ever. Over 68.5 million people around the globe have had to flee their homes – that’s like the entire British population having to leave. Millions have had to leave their country entirely and have become refugees. Fortunately most of us in Britain have grown up in safety, but if we were ever to become refugees, we’d all hope that another country would welcome us. The UN’s Refugee Agency estimates that 85% of the world’s refugees are sheltered by developing countries. Given the world is facing the greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War, comparatively few people make it to Britain in their search for safety. Britain offers no asylum visa. In fact, there are very few, legal ways for refugees to safely escape their country and claim asylum in another country. The truth is, when war breaks out, countries like Britain often close down refugees’ legal escape routes. Refugees don’t place their lives in smugglers’ hands because they want to. They do it because they often have no other choice. This lack of safe and legal routes for refugees to reach safety and claim asylum has deadly results. Already this year 1,549 men, women and children have lost their lives during their desperate attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea. Every death was a tragedy.
