Accommodation Solutions for Asylum Seekers

Reading Time: 4 minutes Written by James Patricks 20/07/2022 What kind of accommodation does the UK provide for asylum seekers and how do we improve their conditions? I’ve seen people online claiming that we’re soft on asylum seekers in the UK claiming that we give them free hotels to stay in and I was surprised to look it up […]

Roe V Wade, Refugees and Northern Ireland.

Reading Time: 3 minutes By James Patricks 01/07/2022   As a man it sometimes feels wrong to be writing about issues like sexual violence and abortion when they are issues that I will never (or probably will never) have experience. However these are important topics and I’ve done my best to research them thoroughly so I can give an […]

Lift the Ban: A Closer Look

Reading Time: 2 minutes By James Patricks 27/06/2022   Say you’re the Prime Minister. You’re currently overseeing one of the worst economic downturns in recent memory, and across the country we’re experiencing staffing shortages leading to £21 billion loss in the hospitality sector.   Well, there could be a solution to both issues. There are currently 100,000 people in […]

The Rwanda Plan: Intentional chaos and cruelty.

Reading Time: 3 minutes Written by James Patricks, Sona Circle 17/06/22   It’s no coincidence that the Prime Minister’s ethics advisor resigned just a day after a flight taking refugees to Rwanda was set to chart by Privilege Style airlines, an ironic name given the circumstances.   The Rwanda flight was thankfully grounded after each detainee launched legal disputes […]

Fighting for Change: Yeraldine Cabrera

Reading Time: < 1 minute Written by James Patricks, Sona Circle 10/06/22 Stories about love against adversity are popular and prevalent in all cultures because they tell us that with perseverance love can conquer all. A fitting message this pride month and one that it embodied in Yeraldine Cabrera. Yeraldine came out in her late 30s having already had two […]

Fighting for Change: Edafe Okporo

Reading Time: 2 minutes Written by James Patricks, Sona Circle 08/06/22   Edafe Okporo is a Nigerian refugee living in the United States. He came to the USA in 2013 having previously lived fairly comfortably in a Nigerian gay community. However vigilante violence broke out against LGBTQI people in Nigeria and he was beaten in the streets. Edafe decided […]

Don’t fall for the Government’s lies this Pride Month

Reading Time: 2 minutes Written by James Patricks, Sona Circle 06/06/22   Every June it’s the same. The same companies post their same slogans. One multinational corporation will make a big gaff which everyone will laugh at. However, it’s easy to forget how the same wet platitudes are made by our own Government. The official 10 Downing Street has […]

Our Government is failing the people of Ukraine

Reading Time: 3 minutes Written by James Patricks, Sona Circle 01/06/22   14 million people are said to have fled their homes since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. Many governments across Europe have stepped up and taken in refugees in their millions. Poland has been an incredible example to the rest of the world, taking […]

‘Fairness’? A response to the UK Government’s Rwanda asylum plan

Reading Time: 4 minutes Written by Hannah Munday, Sona Circle 04/05/22   Fairness, defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary, is “the quality of treating people equally or in a way that is right or reasonable.” According to the Oxford equivalent, it was archaically used to denote ‘gentleness; kindness’, ‘sometimes contrasted with foulness’. Fairness, was also the word chosen by UK […]

Journey of a Ukrainian Refugee

Reading Time: 3 minutes Written by Hannah Munday, Sona Circle 26/04/22   “It’s 3am,” the car radio announces. You try half-awake to follow the headlines, but hear only blurred clamour, punctuated by words that have peppered the past days like a perpetual barrage of bullets: “… Russia … troops … bombed … wounded … dead …” You switch it […]