Yasmine Nahlawi from Rethink Rebuild Society spoke at an event in the House of Lords on 14 June. The event was hosted by Baroness Sally Hamwee and chaired by Jonathan Brown from the group Lib Dems for Syrian Freedom, Peace and Reconstruction.
We issued a statement on 10 June regarding our views on the upcoming EU referendum, specifically on the use of the immigration issue by the 'Leave' campaign as a scare tactic to influence British citizens to vote to leave the EU.
Our Refugee Support Coordinator, Mr. Amaf Yousef, participated in a National Refugee Welcome Board meeting on 9 June 2016. Activists from all over the country gathered to discuss best practice and experiences in supporting refugees and asylum seekers. The meeting was also attended by representatives of civil society, Home Office, and local refugee support groups.
Our Refugee Support Coordinator, Mr. Amaf Yousef, represented the 'Syrian Charities and Associations Network in the UK' (SCAN-UK) in a meeting with the Syrian resettlement team at the Home Office on 8 June 2016.
After two weeks of complaining and applying pressure on the BBC Newsnight team, it has offered a formal apology for its misleading news piece on Aleppo on 24 May. Its official apology:
We participated in a joint statement dated 8 June with the 'Save our Syria' group, calling 'on the members of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) to follow through on their commitments to break the sieges across Syria and execute airdrops to Syrians in need.'
Following BBC Newsnight's shameful coverage of the situation in Aleppo on 24 May (for which Rethink Rebuild Society assisted them in finding people on the ground to interview), and following its failure to address our concerns through a joint letter submitted on behalf of ten UK-based Syrian organisations, we issued a formal complaint on 2 June to expose their shameful pract
We attended the 4 June event 'Syria, Sarajevo, Manchester: Beyond the Statistics' hosted by a group of community volunteers as part of the Manchester Heritage Festival. This event featured two survivors from the Bosnia genocide and one speaker from the Syrian community of Manchester.
We had a very warm and productive meeting with Mary Robinson MP on 3 June in her office in Cheadle. We discussed various issues pertaining to Syria, including humanitarian aid drops on besieged areas, protection of civilians (and highlighting that Assad is the root cause of the problem), as well as bank account issues for Syrian residents and charities in the UK.
We hosted a volunteer appreciation lunch on 2 June for our wonderful team of volunteers. We enjoyed a meal of traditional Syrian foods and sweets and pampered our volunteers!
Rethink Rebuild Society
First Floor
Discovery House
Crossley Road
Manchester
SK4 5BH
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 161 222 9779
Mobile: +44 7730 194083