Enver Solomon
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CEO @refugeecouncil. 2023 Charity Times CEO of the year. Passionate about social justice. Proud Mancunian and internationalist. Tweeting in a personal capacity
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Articles by Enver Solomon
Releasing prisoners won't solve the crisis in English and Welsh jails. Here's what will
The flipchart in the corner of the staff meeting room, deep inside a prison in the south-east of England, tells its own story about what our overcrowded jails are having to deal with, day in day out. Under the heading “Challenges”, it lists gangs, the destruction of cells, prisoners exploiting each other and complex behaviours. Committed, hard-working staff talk about the high levels of psychosis, often combined with drug abuse.
Releasing prisoners won’t solve the crisis in English and Welsh jails. Here’s what will
‘Ministers need to be much more transparent about the importance of rehabilitation as well as punishment.’ Photograph: Mark Harvey/Alamy The flipchart in the corner of the staff meeting room, deep inside a prison in the south-east of England, tells its own story about what our overcrowded jails are having to deal with, day in day out. Under the heading “Challenges”, it lists gangs, the destruction of cells, prisoners exploiting each other and complex behaviours.
I never thought I'd see an asylum hotel on fire, or worry about my staff's safety. The past five years changed that
It is difficult to think of another area of government policy that has weathered as much legislative hyperactivity as asylum and migration. I have been chief executive of the Refugee Council since 2020, and I am struck by the fact that there have been four bills that have become law since I started.
Enver Solomon: 'When we hear the word ‘refugee’ do we think ‘giver’?'
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OPINION - Enver Solomon: 'When we hear the word ‘refugee’, do we think ‘taker’ or ‘giver’?'
You need only walk through any London neighbourhood to see that refugees, as they have always done, continue to quietly shape the fabric of London life. From restaurants in Camden to hairdressers in Greenwich, small businesses across the capital are run by people who came here seeking safety. Others are driving buses, caring for older people, or working in the NHS. Yet too often, the national conversation about refugees tells the opposite story.
There are plenty of ways to humanely control British borders. So why isn’t Keir Starmer using them?
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There are plenty of ways to humanely control British borders. So why isn’t Keir Starmer using them?
A small boat carrying people thought to be migrants arrives to collect more people in Gravelines, France, 19 September 2025. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Just 24 hours after he described providing asylum as the “mark of a decent, compassionate country”, Keir Starmer said the UK had been too “generous” towards refugees, and announced a plan to end what he described as the asylum “golden ticket,” which allows people to resettle their families in Britain.
Asylum seekers are being targeted – and so are those who help them. It’s a disturbing new reality
Sign being displayed by protesters outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, 27 July 2025. Photograph: Jack Dredd/Shutterstock In today’s social media age, one version of events spreads like wildfire. So it is fast becoming accepted in the national conversation that all men risking life and limb to cross the Channel in flimsy vessels are dangerous people who are likely to abuse women and girls.
why is the government making Deportation TV
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'Not allowing asylum seekers to work is an extraordinary own goal - we must unlock their potential'
Why are there so many refugees sleeping on the streets? That is a question that more and more people are asking me. Rough sleeping is on the rise among refugees in the capital and it is an issue that is often strikingly visible. Earlier this month, the Standard reported on refugees who’d set up “tents and makeshift kitchens” in the shadow of London’s square mile “in an image that could have been ripped straight from a Dickens novel”.
Tension Escalates as DRC Summons Ugandan Envoy
Tensions between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have intensified following Kinshasa’s summons of Uganda’s charge d’affaires, Matata Twaha Magara. This move comes amid allegations that Uganda has been providing support to the M23 rebels, a claim detailed in a recent UN Security Council report.
As PM, Starmer will have to revamp the asylum system. Here are four ways to make a start
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New entry fees at UWEC-Entebbe Zoo start July 1st, 2024.
Summary Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) will implement new entry fees starting July 1st, 2024, aimed at enhancing visitor experiences and supporting animal welfare Earlier this year, Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) revised its entry fees structure, slated to take effect on July 1st, 2024.
The Lords have pulled apart the cruel and Orwellian Rwanda bill – yet still, the Tories press on | Enver Solomon - NewsBreak
‘The idea that Rwanda will achieve any serious deterrent effect is unfounded. Instead, there will be more deaths in the Channel.’ Migrants cross the Channel on a small boat, 6 March 2024. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA Not surprisingly, in his budget the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, made no mention of the fact that the government’s flagship plan to send refugees to Rwanda will cost taxpayers overall more than £500m.
To use the case of chemical assault suspect Abdul Ezedi to ideologically attack asylum is so wrong
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To use the case of chemical assault suspect Abdul Ezedi to ideologically attack asylum is so wrong
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To use the case of chemical assault suspect Abdul Ezedi to ideologically attack asylum is so wrong
Microsoft Cares About Your Privacy Microsoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
To use the case of chemical assault suspect Abdul Ezedi to ideologically attack asylum is so wrong
The appalling chemical attack, suspected of being perpetrated by Abdul Ezedi, an Afghan who is understood to have come to the UK in the back of a lorry in 2016, and was granted asylum in 2020, has led to a predictable outcry from Conservative politicians, who insist that the UK is a “soft touch”. They demand tough measures.
Enver Solomon: Some solutions to the migration crisis are practical and humane. The Rwanda plan is not one of them.
Enver Solomon is Chief Exective of the Refugee Council. It is hard to believe that it is almost two years since the Government announced the Rwanda deal. On 14th April 2022, in a speech in the Rwandan capital, Priti Patel, then Home Secretary, presented the UK and Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership to the world as a ground breaking agreement.
A life is lost aboard the Bibby Stockholm. Do these posturing politicians even care? | Enver Solomon
In all the political drama and legal argument over the Rwanda bill, the lives of the people affected are too easily forgotten. Ministers, politicians and legal experts give media interviews without even talking about who they are: the men, women and children – our fellow human beings – who come to our shores seeking safety from countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan and Syria. Countries ravaged by war or run by totalitarian regimes that willingly torture their opponents.
A life is lost aboard the Bibby Stockholm. Do these posturing politicians even care?
In all the political drama and legal argument over the Rwanda bill, the lives of the people affected are too easily forgotten. Ministers, politicians and legal experts give media interviews without even talking about who they are: the men, women and children – our fellow human beings – who come to our shores seeking safety from countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan and Syria. Countries ravaged by war or run by totalitarian regimes that willingly torture their opponents.
Ministers urged to abandon Rwanda policy and Illegal Migration Act
Sacha Deshmukh, the human rights charity’s chief executive, said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s administration should use Wednesday’s verdict to “draw a line under a disgraceful chapter in the UK’s political history”. He said: “This policy has made complete chaos of the UK’s asylum system and this shameful deal has simply exacerbated the mess.
Annual refugee cap to launch in January 2025, Home Office says
An annual cap on the number of refugees accepted in the UK will launch in January 2025, the Home Office has said. Local authorities are being invited to set out their “capacity” to accommodate people coming to Britain via safe and legal routes in order to determine the limit, the department said. Campaigners accused the Government of “passing the buck to underfunded councils” to justify the plan.
Starmer must do more than reverse the Tories’ cruelties. He should lead a global rethink on refugees
There are moments in a political cycle that become defining on the back of issues dominating the headlines. Yesterday, having been reticent to speak out boldly on asylum, Keir Starmer drew a clear dividing line between his party and the government, making clear its proposed approach to people crossing the Channel in small boats.
‘Refugees being driven to homelessness by shorter eviction notice periods’
Shorter notice periods for people to leave asylum support accommodation after being granted refugee status are driving some into “destitution and homelessness”, charities have warned. A raft of major organisations insisted all refugees must be given a minimum of 28 days before they are required to move on from their accommodation, to give them a chance to find alternative housing and try to get a job.
We know people seeking asylum die in the Channel, but callous hardline policy kills them too
After days of headline-grabbing announcements as part of the government’s stop the boats week, the stark human reality of what it means to take the dangerous journey across the world’s busiest shipping lane was brought home to us all with the news that at least six people died that way in the early hours of Saturday morning. The flimsy vessel was overloaded with about 60 people, including children, desperate to get to the UK to be safe.
Ruling over child asylum seekers in hotels ‘landmark day for children’s rights’
In a ruling on Thursday, Mr Justice Chamberlain said the practice is unlawful and had been used since at least December 2021.
Enver Solomon: Illegal immigration. There is an alternative to the Government's Rwanda plan. Here it is.
Enver Solomon is Chief Exective of the Refugee Council. Last week the Illegal Migration Act became law. While there was some much-needed scrutiny and attempts at amendments by Members of the House of Lords from all parties, it left Parliament pretty much unscathed. Now the Government will have to show its new flagship legislation will deliver. It’s very easy to put “stop the boats” on the front of a podium – it’s much harder to actually do it.
London passes tough new immigration law
21 July 2023 The British House of Commons has passed a new immigration law under which people who have entered the country irregularly can be denied the right to asylum. According to the UN, the new law violates international asylum and refugee regulations. A symbol of the new rules is the Bibby Stockholm, a huge barge which is set to house 500 asylum seekers and has now been towed into Portland Port in Dorset, southern England.
children lost, abused and exploited
"Anxious" locals of the "beautiful bay" in which the Bibby Stockholm migrant barge is docked have shared their outrage over its arrival, with one branding it a "recipe for disaster". Pressure has been mounting to send the giant floating vessel, which will house over 500 single adult male migrants, away from Portland - a beautiful tourist landmark with a rich maritime history.
Jenrick attacks ‘humanitarian nimbyism’ as he defends Illegal Migration Bill
He insisted the Bill – which is progressing through Parliament and would change the law to make it clear people arriving in the UK illegally will not be able to remain in the country – “does not turn our back on those in genuine need”. Instead he presented it as “undoubtedly the morally just thing to do” and branded it the “single most significant piece of immigration legislation of modern times” to bring the way the country’s asylum system works into the 21st century.
Enver Solomon: Sunak won't stop the boats. I know it. You know it. So we need a less harsh, more compassionate alternative.
Enver Solomon is Chief Exective of the Refugee Council. In his interview with Conservative Home last week, Rishi Sunak acknowledged that delivering on his pledge to stop the boats is no easy task. “It is a complicated problem, where there’s no single, simple solution that will fix it,” he said, admitting “it won’t happen overnight”. The Prime Minister may well be seeking to purposefully play down expectations about what his Government will be able to deliver.
Local Tories issue legal threats over military base plans for asylum seekers
Despite opposition from within the Cabinet, he confirmed that up to 3,700 people will be housed at RAF Wethersfield in Essex and RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, with an extra 1,200 going to a separate site in East Sussex. The third location is a former prison in Bexhill that went on to be used as a training facility by the United Arab Emirates, the PA news agency learned.
Ministers warned over ‘eviction notices’ being given to Afghan refugees
Veterans minister Johnny Mercer said the £1 million daily cost of housing around 8,000 Afghan refugees, half of them children, in hotels is unsustainable. “Long-term residency in hotels has prevented some Afghans from properly putting down roots, committing to employment, integrating into communities and (is) creating uncertainty as they look to rebuild their lives in the United Kingdom long term,” he said.
Afghan refugees ‘evictions plan’ deeply concerning, say campaigners
It comes after a report in The Times newspaper suggesting that between 8,000 and 9,000 Afghan refugees living in UK hotels will be given a few months’ notice to move out. There are fears some will become homeless, with the Refugee Council saying they were promised a “warm welcome” by the UK.
‘Cost of detaining and accommodating migrants could hit £9bn in three years’
The charity said its policy experts came up with the estimates as part of an impact assessment of the consequences of the first three years of the Bill, assuming it comes into force on November 7, six months after it was introduced in Parliament. Its calculations are based on the Home Office being able to remove 10,000 people to Rwanda in each of the three years, detaining people for an average of 28 days and accommodating those who are not detained.
United Nations refugee agency condemns Sunak’s small boats legislation
“We urge the Government, and all MPs and peers, to reconsider the Bill and instead pursue more humane and practical policy solutions,” the agency said. The legislation “would be a clear breach of the Refugee Convention and would undermine a longstanding, humanitarian tradition of which the British people are rightly proud”, the UN agency said.
Campaigners brand Bill to curb Channel crossings ‘unethical and impractical’
The plan is simply “not the British way of doing things” according to the Refugee Council. Its chief executive Enver Solomon suggested the plans are “more akin to authoritarian nations” such as Russia and insisted the proposals will not stop desperate people crossing in small boats but will instead leave “traumatised people locked up in a state of misery being treated as criminals and suspected terrorists without a fair hearing on our soil”.
Suella Braverman’s small boats crackdown is performative cruelty at its worst
Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Here we go again. Just 20 months ago, the then home secretary stood up in parliament and declared new legislation that would crack down on Channel crossings. “Anyone who arrives illegally will be deemed inadmissible and either returned to the country they arrived from or a safe country” said Priti Patel.
Small boats legislation will leave thousands in limbo, refugee campaigners warn
The charity said figures show that of all those who crossed the Channel last year, two-thirds would be granted asylum, as it warned the plans are “unworkable” and “costly”. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday vowed to put an end to “immoral” illegal migration, with the legislation set to place a duty on the Home Secretary to remove “as soon as reasonably practicable” anyone who arrives on a small boat, either to Rwanda or a “safe third country”.
The UK’s asylum questionnaires plan has inflamed left and right alike. All the while, lives remain in limbo
Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA The range of media and political responses to the government’s plans to reduce the asylum backlog by replacing some interviews with questionnaires – in English – is striking. For most, the aim is a good one. But sceptics believe it may lead to people getting permission to stay in the UK without their asylum claim being properly examined.
The UKs asylum questionnaires plan has inflamed left and right alike. All the while, lives remain in limbo
2023-02-24 12:02:52 The Guardian By Enver Solomon The range of media and political responses to the governments plans to reduce the asylum backlog by replacing some interviews with questionnaires in English is striking. For most, the aim is a good one. But sceptics believe it may lead to people getting permission to stay in the UK without their asylum claim being properly examined.
Government urged to ‘rethink’ after just 22 fleeing Afghans resettled via UNHCR
The Refugee Council said the contrast showed the Government needed to “urgently rethink its approach and expand access to refugee visas”. Home Office"> A pledge had been made to take up to 20,000 Afghan refugees, with as many as 5,000 in the first year, who were forced to flee their home or faced threats of persecution from the Taliban under what the Home Office claimed at the time would be “one of the most generous” resettlement schemes in the UK’s history.
Thousands of asylum cases to be fast-tracked in bid to cut soaring backlog
The Home Office announced the plans, which aim to speed up processing applications for people from nations that typically have a high grant rate in the UK of more than 95%, as figures due to be published are expected to show there are more than 150,000 outstanding asylum cases. It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to reduce the asylum backlog by the end of the year as he vowed to “stop the boats” crossing the Channel.
Charities write to PM urging action over 200 ‘missing’ child refugees
Their letter urges him to end the practice of housing young refugees who have been separated from their families in Home Office hotels, and instead place them with specialist local authority teams who can protect them. Co-ordinated by ECPAT UK and the Refugee Council, the open letter has been signed by charities including the NSPCC, Barnardo’s, Action for Children, Coram, The Children’s Society and National Children’s Bureau.
A feted restaurateur, a senior doctor: Sunak’s cruel plan would have deported both
Because Imad’s Syrian Kitchen in central London has received a lot of critic accolades of late, not least for the “cheerful brightness that suffuses his food”. Yet Imad Alarnab’s story is one of survival, of his perilous, irregular journey from war-torn Syria to reach safety in the UK. There are many others like him.
Enver Solomon: The Government needs to be honest with the nation about Channel crossings
Enver Solomon is Chief Exective of the Refugee Council. In his first major interview since becoming Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak told the Times on Saturday that in the previous 48 hours he had spent more time on small boats and the asylum crisis than anything other than working with the Chancellor on the cost of living crisis.
The identity crisis at the heart of the asylum system
By Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council Every day at the Refugee Council we deal with traumatic stories. The family split by conflict, the mother bringing her child to the UK on a boat across the Channel or the thousands left in limbo while they wait, endlessly it seems, for the outcome of their application for asylum.
The horrific Channel deaths show the UK needs a more humane asylum system
Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters There are moments when the heartbreaking tragedy of those much less fortunate than us should act as a wake-up call to make the world a better place. Yesterday afternoon was one of those. At least 27 men, women and children who, through no fault of their own, were seeking safety in the UK, perished in the cold, unforgiving seas of the Channel – the busiest shipping lane in the world.
Enver Solomon: Cameron regretted trying to 'get tough' on migration and so will Johnson
Enver Solomon is Chief Exective of the Refugee Council. It’s more than a decade since David Cameron, as leader of the opposition, made a pledge to cut net migration to the tens of thousands. His promise shaped British politics for many years and dogged him until his last day in office. Today, with Brexit done, net migration is no longer a hot political issue.
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