Refugee & Asylum Forum

The Refugee and Asylum Forum (RAF) is a group of organisations that have been meeting since 2012. Forum members have day-to-day expertise in delivering services to asylum seekers and refugees or providing support, policy or advocacy. Our collective expertise is wide-ranging and spans health and social care, accommodation, integration and participation, legal rights, welfare and policy development.

The Forum has no independent existence and therefore is not constituted or registered with any regulatory body. The Forum was coordinated by South Belfast Roundtable 2012-2022 and has been convened by the Migration Justice Project at Law Centre NI since 2022.

RAF consists of almost 200 individuals representing over 100 organisations across Northern Ireland. Membership includes voluntary and community organisations as well as statutory agencies and government departments. Members believe that asylum seekers and migrants have the right to be treated with dignity and respect and advocate for a fair and humane asylum system.

Membership is free and members are invited to contribute by updating the Forum on current activities and opportunities, policy and research updates and events, either through a presentation at one of our quarterly online RAF meetings or through our Members Updates emails.

If you are interested in joining the Refugee & Asylum Forum, please complete this short expression of interest and someone will be in touch, or for anything else please contact Niamh at migrationjustice@lawcentreni.org. We particularly welcome those from refugee/migrant-led groups and organisations to get in touch about how we can support them to engage with the Forum.