What we do
As a new and developing organisation, our focus is currently on building our tools and strengthening our network.
At the heart of the work we do, is the desire to ensure that all those witnessing violations and harmful treatment know how to record is, so as to ensure the admissibility of this information, that this process is accessible to all, And, that this information then goes on to inform our advocacy, campaigning and potential legal challenges.
What do we do now?
We are working on a comprehensive training package to ensure volunteers have all the information they need in order to record abuses and identify them. Including how to document incidents using photo and video
We are strengthening out network of lawyers and experts in order to make best use of the information we receive.
We have developed a template for use in taking testimonies. Once training is complete, this form will be accessible by partners who are able to take testimonies
We currently work with a number of organistaions in France, in order to assist them with documentation
By sharing testimonies that we receive, we aim to shed light on the
We advocate and expose the situation faced by many in France
We spend time in Calais gathering evidence and working with the community to better understand their needs regarding bearing witness.
Build capacity of orgs and volunteers enabling an increase in documentation.
How to take testimony and what should and must be recorded
Work with communities to engage people in the opportunity to give testimony should they wish.
Work to obtain justice and redress for those effected by exploring legal avenues and mechanisms.
What do we want to do?
Directly reach displaced people, by focusing on the parts of the digital documentation toolkit that can be used by the effected population directly.
We are working towards having a permanent presence in Northern France.
We are developing our digital documentation system for use by volunteers, NGOs, and displaced people
Expand our operation in the UK and other areas in France to ensure more people have access to a means to bear witness.
The System
We are in the process of developing a digital tool kit, for use by refugees and volunteers in documenting the incidents and conditions that they are forced to endure and witness.
Our digital reporting system will make the process of recording accessible to all, regardless of situation. By developing a system that is accessible by mobile phone, with minimal need for connectivity, we hope that people will feel empowered to record what they are witnessing and experiencing, In a way that is convenient and sensitive to their needs. Not everyone meets a volunteer, or passes through a location where there is a group able to take testimony or gather other forms of evidence. We believe that it is imperative to develop our system so as to give the power back to those enduring these violations. Our intention is to use existing chat platforms so as to minimize the need for additional applications or processes.
To prevent info being lost, being stored in our phones, computers and in our memories, and begin to gather the evidence we need in order to end these violations.
The information submitted could be in the form of a video, photograph, audio recording or written report. We are in the process of working with refugees in the field to determine how best to proceed with this part of the project.
Training
We are building a training package for use by witnesses
We are helping to provide the refugee population; with the information and resources they need to report and record these violations, through giving testimonies and the use of photo and video.
With an emphasis on education and training regarding human rights and refugee law through our own resources and links to existing resources, we want people to feel empowered to join our network, and work together to realize that together we have the power to ensure the rights of displaced people are respected.
We will focus on how to spot a violation, what to record and how to do so in order for the information gathered to be used as evidence.
These include:
Widespread police brutality
Lack of access to adequate and preventative medical care
Lack of access to education
Lack of information regarding and access to asylum
Arbitrary arrest and detention
Inhuman and degrading treatment
Then what? (what will we do with this evidence?)
We are led by the evidence that we gather, As we gather this evidence, we will gain a clearer understanding of what we should be advocating for and how we need to do this.
Outputs and Uses.
Policy
We will be collecting information to represent comprehensively and accurately what is happening in regards to human rights violations. Due to our independence as an organisation, our intention is not to lay blame, but to expose what is actually happening, and to ensure as many people as possible are able to speak out about these violations. We aim to use this information collected to inform changes to policy, to see prevention of such abuse, and further protection of the system.
We are not policy makers or politicians, but we do have unprecedented access to situations in need of action. The relationships we, as a grass roots community hold with those displaced, are second to none. We will work to bring to light the systematic human rights violations carried out across Europe, so as to inform those that are unaware, as well as to ensure pressure is placed upon those that are in positions of power and influence.
We must work to oblige any country to take interim measures to safeguard refugees from the risk of serious and irreversible harm. Such harm may include division of society, mental health issues, breakdown of community cohesion, deterioration of the health of the population as a whole, i.e. squalid conditions breeds disease that can spread within countries.
In the absence of a reaction to the demands of governments, we will campaign for additional funding for grass roots groups who are working to fill the voids left by the misdistribution of funding, resulting in slow resettlement and appalling living conditions.
Media and the Public
We aim to present information to the public in such a way as to change their views on the situation and to gain support to aid changes to policy.
We aim to inform, via media output, and by campaigning to increase awareness and change public opinion.
Campaigning and Advocacy
Campaigning and advocacy is key to Legal, policy and media outputs. We use the collected information to inform campaign strategies both public and policy facing. The specifics of each campaign will rely on the information that is collected. However, the message is at its core the same.
As human beings, we are responsible to protect the rights of all. Those carrying out these abuses must be held accountable and solutions must be created to limit unnecessary suffering.
We aim therefore to improve the European asylum system, the speeding up of family reunification, to support adequate living conditions, education for all children and health care for all those waiting for asylum decisions.
We will campaign for funding for smaller organisations on the ground, exposing misspending of EU funding by larger NGO's so as to allow, for example, housing of a small group living in a warehouse in Belgrade, or materials for a baby room in a camp in Greece. These are simple solutions, with real impact, if funding is made available to those that have the ability to act directly and effectively.
Legal
Our work is about a bigger picture than would be achieved by taking and individual case to The European Court of Human Rights. Actions of legal professionals will depend on the kind of information that they receive or collect.
We intend to create a network of lawyers working across Europe, improving their ability to work together and their access to documentation of Human Rights Violations within Europe. This network will work effectively together to protect current legal instruments, or to create new ones where needed.
By creating a network of lawyers, the hope is that if patterns of abuses should emerge, lawyers will be able to work across the continent to come up with long-term solutions.
Lawyers will be able to see what other challenges and mechanisms, are being used by others to strengthen cases and highlight specific issues.
Why are we doing it?
The first step to bringing about change; is to expose a situation for what it really is.
Those responsible for these violations must be held accountable.
The incidents that those seeking asylum In Europe are suffering will have an untold impact upon each and every individual suffering or witnessing these abuses. Without an accurate and truthful exposure of this situation, there will never be justice, and the mistreatment of those in need of protection, will continue.