Salvation Army EU Affairs Office - The Salvation Army (UK) will welcome its first refugee family under Community Sponsorship scheme

14 February 2017
by Catherine MALLET

In September 2015 the UK government pledged to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees. The Community Sponsorship is its scheme which aims to enable community groups to become involved in supporting the resettlement of vulnerable people fleeing conflict. The Salvation Army has been leading momentum, along with a number of other groups, in supporting the government’s pledge to resettle Syrian refugees through its Community Sponsorship scheme and will be welcoming its first refugee family to London next month.

Refugee Coordinator Major Nick Coke, explained: “The Salvation Army is committed to transforming the lives of the most marginalised people and that includes refugees who have been left extremely vulnerable as a result of traumatic experiences. The Community Sponsorship scheme can give safe passage to the UK helping to ensure refugee families do not fall prey to exploitation. As a charity we work with victims of modern slavery and have seen an increase in the number of victims who have escaped from war-torn countries only to be tricked and trafficked into slavery – the exploitation and trafficking of vulnerable refugees into slavery is always a big concern’.