1980s & 90s

A FOCUS ON GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS STRUGGLES

Praxis was created in the context of apartheid in South Africa, occupation in Namibia, military rule and disappearances in Argentina and Chile, civil war in El Salvador and a military coup in Ghana. With a focus on solidarity for global human rights struggles, Praxis once served as a steadfast support system for diaspora groups in London and beyond. In the early years of its life, Praxis acted as a home and a convener for these groups.

Praxis became a second home for people from all over the world. People who had fled dictatorships and authoritarian regimes in the Global South and found sanctuary in London. As they rebuilt their life in the UK, maintaining links with the communities they had fled from was crucial. They advocated for their rights as new residents in the UK and for those of the people remaining in their home countries.

Praxis played a vital role in the life of these groups, offering a much-needed home, and supporting members according to their needs. Whether that was to provide a classroom where children in the Rwandan community could attend Kinyarwanda language lessons, or hands-on support with organising peace building activities in Namibia. Praxis sought to provide what these groups needed.

The groups learned from and supported each other, sharing insight into their culture and struggles, building support across communities.

Read more about the Rwandan and Sudanese community groups:

“I’m Perrico, and I’ve served as a Trustee of Praxis for decades. I joined when the organisation had just been established and when there was a strong presence of refugees escaping Latin American dictatorships needing support.  In the 1970s Chileans started arriving in the UK, fleeing Pinochet’s dictatorship and seeking safety. Their presence brought a different perspective on refugees' situations in the country. Solidarity for refugees was strong during those times, and the community in the UK offered significant support.  

As a refugee and former political prisoner myself, I knew that what migrants and refugees need is both professional support and someone who recognises their humanity and can understand their situation – someone who can understand why they’re depressed, what they have go through and what they need. What has always made Praxis the outstanding organisation it is, is both its high level of professionalism and its ability to recognise and talk to the human beings sitting at the other side of the desk. This is the ‘hidden benefit’ that Praxis’ service users receive: when they come here they find someone who is a friend.”

Perrico Rodriquez, Former Trustee

SUPPORTING PEOPLE IN PRISON

For decades Vamos Juntos, one of the groups that were members of Praxis, acted as a vital support for people held in London prisons. Vamos Juntos was one of the only charity groups in the country providing support to migrant communities in prisons. Through them, Praxis had developed extensive knowledge about the circumstances of people serving time and set up advice and casework project to support them with immigration and welfare advice.

Migrants in British prisons often had no support outside the prison. Many were vulnerable to homelessness, destitution, and criminal exploitation when they were released with no social networks, no money and nowhere to go.

Praxis started to offer support with their migration status and support to reintegrate into their communities.

It was pioneering work; Praxis rapidly became the go-to agency supporting migrants in prisons. 

A long running project in collaboration with Probation Services which lasted around 20 years was established. We supported them with training, development of best-practice and information sharing. This expanded our reach well beyond London. Courts, Prisons and Probation Officers all over the country used training materials and procedures developed by Praxis when working with migrants held in prison or serving probation sentences. 

2000s-10s

In 2002, the then Labour Government passed the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act which restricted entry to the UK and reduced citizenship rights for people seeking asylum. The idea of ‘managed migration’ was introduced and people seeking asylum lost the right to work.

Praxis’ international work continued into the new millennium, partnering with the National Human Rights Center of Liberia from 2003-2007 to provide advocacy support during a time of resistance against the Charles Taylor regime.

In 2004 Praxis developed a national accredited training course for nurses and midwives and contributed to national strategies to enable the NHS to be better equipped to receive the talents of overseas qualified nurses.

A PROUD HISTORY OF SUPPORTING COMMUNITY GROUPS

ATTENTION TURNS TO DESTITUTION & HOMELESSNESS

The financial crash in 2008 and years of austerity pushed hundreds of thousands of families into poverty. In response, we turned our attention to the destitution and homelessness of migrants. As well as legal advice and support, we increased small grants to vulnerable people in crisis by 37% in this period. There was a dramatic shift in who needed support, away from the mainly political refugees in the 1980s, to people forced into vulnerable circumstances.

As well as providing expert legal advice, we established and ran a successful hosting scheme for young people.

When young people reached the UK on their own, they would often find themselves with nowhere to turn. That’s why we set up the hosting scheme. Finding and recruiting, providing training and support to host families across London. Families who opened their doors and lives to these young people. Many of the host families were of migrant and refugee background themselves.

The hosting scheme offered a safe home to young people and supported them in their integration process. With the help and support of their host families, young refugees gained a closer insight into the UK society and ways to adapt to it. They learnt how to get a job, where to find support, and how to navigate the city’s hectic life.

THE HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT

In 2012, Theresa May, the Conservative Home Secretary introduced the ‘Hostile Environment’- a policy response aiming to make life as difficult as possible for people without regular immigration status to live in the UK. Doctors, landlords, police officers and teachers were tasked with questioning people’s immigration status. Today, the ‘hostile environment’ refers to the overarching approach and numerous policies which aim to make it as difficult as possible for migrants. It is in the context of the ‘hostile environment’ that the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ in Europe began in 2015 with millions of people fleeing from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

EXPANDING ADVICE WORK

As migration policies became increasingly harsh, it became almost impossible for those building a life in the UK to navigate the migration system without specialist support. Life for migrants became gradually more difficult, and things got worse when then Home Secretary Theresa May orchestrated her so-called ‘hostile environment’.

As migration policies tightened, people would find themselves unable to submit vital applications without expert casework and legal advice. Witnessing mounting need in the communities it was working with, Praxis began to expand its support services and importantly set up a dedicated immigration advice service.

Over the years Praxis’ advice team grew significantly and it helped thousands of people get the vital documents that would enable them to live, work and thrive in the UK.  By 2024, free, expert immigration advice had been provided to more than 22,000 people.

With so many facing isolation and exclusion due to these policies, Praxis and community members founded three new peer-led groups: WINGs for mothers and children, GIANTS for men, and Brighter Futures for young people. Praxis continues to host these groups and they are accessed by around 130 people each year. Through groups people forge friendships, learn new skills, and build community.

AWARD-WINNING HOUSING PROJECT

Between 2015-2021 Praxis ran an innovative and award-winning housing project providing safe accommodation for people with no access to the welfare safety net. By default, many people who migrate here do not have access to any government support because of a condition on their visa called No Recourse to Public Funds, even if they are facing crisis or homeless. The project gave vulnerable people in this situation a safe and supportive space to stay as well as expert legal advice to resolve immigration issues.

Hear from Maria, a previous resident of Praxis accommodation, about how the project helped her and her family.

THE WINDRUSH SCANDAL EXPOSED

In 2018, the Windrush Scandal broke. It was exposed that thousands of people from the Windrush generation, and in some cases their descendants, were being denied legal right to live in the UK. They were denied basic rights, such as the right to work, to rent their homes, to have a bank account and to healthcare. Many were detained or deported to countries they didn’t know and where they had no family or friends. Others faced huge financial hardship and lost their homes because of the wrongdoings of the Home Office.

Once public, the injustices he faced attracted large-scale attention and the Windrush Scandal was brought into the political domain. For months, we kept on advocating for the victims of the scandal, asking the Home Office to put in place a fast, fair and free system so they could obtain the vital papers they needed to get their lives back on track. We kept exposing the impact that the scandal had on the people we supported.

2020s-today

For migrants and refugees in the UK, the last few years have been tough. The Covid pandemic and the cost of living crisis hit already marginalised groups the hardest. Read Sayeda’s and Michelle’s stories navigating complex immigration issues through the pandemic.

Whilst this period has seen global displacement continue to rise with armed conflict and wars in Ukraine, Sudan, and Afghanistan, inflammatory and harmful rhetoric about migration has become more and more commonplace amongst politicians and in the media. This ultimately led to shameful anti-refugee bills, the Nationality and Borders Act and the Illegal Migration Act, becoming law. These laws have created a two tier system of protection depending on how you arrive in the UK. They allow for the mass detention of people seeking sanctuary and essentially remove the right to asylum.

NAVIGATING THE IMPACT OF BREXIT

After the Brexit vote in 2016, the UK officially left the European Union in 2020. Suddenly millions of new people had to navigate the hostile environment and Praxis legal advisors faced a new challenge.

NEW RESEARCH: WINDRUSH SCANDAL NOT OVER

In 2023 it became clear the Windrush compensation scheme, set up to provide financial compensation to those harmed by the Home Office in the Windrush Scandal, was failing. The Praxis frontline team was still seeing people barred from accessing work because of “the wrong paperwork”.

Others have been made destitute after years of financial hardship and no compensation. In fact, when we asked people who were affected only three out of 20 victims of the Windrush scandal surveyed had received compensation four years after the compensation scheme was set up.

PUBLIC CAMPAIGNING & ADVOCACY

By 2020, the hostile environment approach had become further entrenched. People had to navigate an increasingly bureaucratic and costly legal maze in order to settle in the UK in safety and security. An increasing number of people were pushed to the margins of society.

Whilst it is essential to provide advice and support for those facing problems with their immigration status or destitution, it is vital to also work to tackle the root causes and put our energy in system change.

That’s why Praxis began public campaigning with the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) Action Group, a group of migrants affected by hostile immigration policies. No Recourse to Public Funds is a government policy which means you are denied access to any kind of welfare safety net and affects 2.6 million people.

In 2021 we achieved our first campaign win: all children, no matter their parents’ immigration status, gained access to free school meals. Hear from campaigners on why this campaign matters.

Looking forward in 2024, we will remain steadfast in our dedication to migrant justice and our approach of working with migrants and refugees to provide services that best support people. Praxis may take different forms in the next 40 years but we will always remain a safe place for anyone to seek support and belonging.

Thank you to everyone who has built and supported Praxis over the years. It is from your strong foundations that we continue the fight for human rights.