As Jews, it is our responsibility to welcome the stranger

Next Shabbat, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide will have grown to a record 122.6 million, and the rights of refugees are less secure than ever before.

Recently, the United States, which is the world’s largest funder of international development, has recalled thousands of workers from around the world and frozen funding for most humanitarian assistance.

The impact of this on the lives of displaced people is disastrous. Closer to home, the UK Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, introduced in January, is a disappointing continuation of the hostile approach towards refugees and asylum seekers that many hoped had been left behind.

While the Bill does contain some positive measures, notably scrapping the Rwanda plan – a policy which many in our community found unconscionable – in many ways, it is also a missed opportunity. Its failure to mention or commit to desperately needed, new and safe routes is of particular concern. Its sole focus on deterrence alone will not do enough to prevent people making dangerous cross-Channel journeys.

Moreover, the Bill also fails to fully abandon the Illegal Migration Act 2023, retaining harmful measures that enable powers to detain children for up to 28 days. So far, 2025 is not set to see a marked improvement for displaced people. Sadly, it would seem, things are going to get a lot worse.

At HIAS+JCORE, we are deeply committed to creating a world in which refugees find safety and community. We exist to enable refugees and asylum seekers to flourish as part of a society, free from xenophobia and racism. Despite the challenges displaced people face, we remain optimistic about this vision – and we know that the UK Jewish community can, and does, play a key role in reaching it.

Our refugee befriending programme, community engagement activities and public affairs work provide a small but critical function in ensuring that refugees in the UK are supported in their search for home, safety and community. One of the most heartening things I’ve seen since becoming chair is the dedication of the HIAS+JCORE team – a dedication that is rooted in our deeply held Jewish values of compassion, responsibility, solidarity, and partnership.

As a Jewish community, our collective historical experiences mean that we are all too familiar with understanding what it means to be a stranger in a foreign land and have experienced the worst consequences of government orders that do more harm than offer protection. But we also know first-hand the contributions refugee communities can make, and the positive impact they can have.

February 28 to March 1 is Refugee Shabbat. It is an opportunity for us to renew our commitment to showing solidarity towards refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people.

We do not show that solidarity because of politics, but because we understand, we have compassion and we know our responsibility, dating all the way back to our forefather, Abraham, to welcome the stranger.

Raising awareness of the plight of refugees doesn’t always mean standing up to speak in front of crowds, broadcasting thoughts on social media or handing out leaflets on the street. Sometimes, just asking a question or starting a conversation with people close to you is enough to spark action. Next Shabbat, it is up to each one of us to ask a simple question of each other: “How do we honour our responsibility to support refugees and ensure they have the safety and community they so desperately seek?”

Do not underestimate the power of asking that question. The Shabbat is your annual reminder that these small acts of solidarity and compassion can make the world of difference to people who face such significant and bleak institutional challenges and restrictions.

Let’s use it to celebrate the fact that we have a supportive community, somewhere we can call home, and find time to reflect on how to support those without that basic need and immense privilege.

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Judith Flacks-Leigh is chair of HIAS+JCORE

For more information or to sign up to HIAS+JCORE’s Refugee Shabbat, click here