It’s a funny time to be celebrating our own freedom. As we approach Pesach, each day in the news seems to bring more stories of repression, of people denied liberation. And around the world, we know that 122 million people – the highest ever in history – will be spending the festival displaced from their homes.
When writing this article, I became curious: when was the last year that global displacement didn’t reach a new record level? Not 2023 – or, in fact, any year this decade. You’ve instead got to go all the way back to 2010. That’s a startling reflection of the world we find ourselves in, but also a call to act.
But hope must prevail. Two years on since we launched HIAS+JCORE, I’m more determined than ever that we build a Britain where refugees, too, can be free – a society where displaced people have that fair chance for a better future.
This work isn’t easy. Since I began leading the organisation, we’ve fought back against the Rwanda plan, stood with the vulnerable young refugees we work with through last summer’s appalling riots, and challenged the dangers of rising right-wing populism.
And 2025 has brought new challenges; most notably a US administration that’s turned its back on the world’s most vulnerable. Here in the UK, we saw initial positive steps from the Labour government, before some recent worrying steps in the wrong direction. Legislation criminalising refugees and cuts to international aid aren’t what voters asked for. We’d hoped for better.
Rabbi David Mason
Yet Pesach’s core message must drive us forward. This is a festival of resilience after all. When we recall how we were strangers in a strange land, let’s also commit to ensuring that others are welcomed. So as governments close their doors and journeys to safety are made harder, we must stand true to our Jewish values of compassion and show solidarity. The need has never been greater.
Of course it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the statistics, and the sheer size of the job at hand. But for me, it’s crucial that we can remember the human behind the numbers. All too often, our asylum system here in the UK fails to do so, and can’t seem to recognise the humanity of those within it.
This is something we see every day with those we support here at HIAS+JCORE. The young people on our JUMP befriending project are incredible, their resilience and dignity so inspiring. We should be proud to welcome them as new Brits.
Yet the UK’s policies present them with so many barriers. We know that they want nothing more than to integrate, rebuild, and restart their lives here in London. But how are they supposed to do so when they are banned from working while their cases are reviewed, forced to survive on meagre Home Office support, and made to live in often shameful quality accommodation?
All we are calling for is fairness. I believe this is a goal that our government shares – but we need far more action to make it a reality.
So where to start? One urgent step is reversing the deeply unjust refugee citizenship ban. This policy makes it nearly impossible for people seeking asylum through irregular routes – and there is no safe or legal way to do so otherwise – to ever become British citizens. While our own community faced many challenges here as refugees, gaining citizenship has been a key part of our positive story within British society.
Ahead of this year’s Pesach, I urge the Government to ensure refugees have that chance to thrive, and for our community to join us in this mission. If we can do so together, we’ll give today’s refugees the opportunity we would wish for ourselves.
Next year, may all who seek freedom find it.
- Rabbi David Mason, Executive Director, HIAS+JCORE
