Insights into Power and Racism in the Refugee and Migration sector

Section 1: Personal perspectives and experiences of power and racism

• 88% of respondents believe the refugee and migration sector needs to address issues of unequal power distribution
• 90% of respondents have reflected on the power they hold and how this shapes their work and daily experiences‍
• 67% of respondents reported having experienced violence, discrimination or oppression based on their personal identity

Where does power sit in the refugee and migration sector?

1. The Government, Home Office, policymakers and local authorities (40%)
2. White people/white-led organisations (23%)
3. Organisational Leaders and Boards (20%)
4. Large UK organisations (16%)
5. Funders (15%)

A minority of respondents (8%) mentioned that power sits with people with lived experience.

What is shifting power?

• The phrase “Shifting Power” has a multitude of interpretations from respondents. Mostly the focus is on creating more opportunities for meaningful inclusion of people with lived experience, especially in leadership and decision making roles, as well as steps towards wider systemic change to tackle the root causes of inequality.

What does shifting power look like?

• Increased work opportunities for people with lived experience
• Leadership and decision-making roles are occupied by people with lived experience
• Organisational change to increase inclusion and equity
• Increased collaboration and co-production
• Recognising and addressing power dynamics 
• People with lived experience shaping policy change

"Shifting power is about creating opportunities for individuals with lived experience to play a greater role in the governance, direction and delivery of services that they and their communities require."

What does shifting power result in?

• Refugee and migrant communities feel a stronger sense of belonging and empowerment to shape decisions that affect their lives; there is increased recognition of their skills and potential; greater equity overall and changes in the narrative around migration.

Section 2: Organisational perceptions and experiences of power and racism

Discussions and Definitions

• 66% of organisations (40) have had discussions around power and racism internally. These have ranged from informal discussions, to workshops and external training
• 22% of organisations (13) have created definitions around the topics of power and racism (56% have not created definitions and 23% do not know). 

Staff experiences and organisational efforts

• Many organisations reported how their staff have experienced instances of racism and hostility 
• 60% of organisations (36) have already expressed a commitment to addressing power imbalances and racism. Actions to do this include - changing recruitment policies and practices, setting up safe reflective spaces for staff and supporting wider anti-racism campaigns. Others highlighted that not enough was being done and that policies were not enough to drive forward changes. 

Key challenges for organisations include: 

• Struggling to gain buy-in and support from trustees, issues with recruitment of people seeking asylum and those with lived experience to trustee positions, lack of resources and funding to work on these issues.
• Most organisations believe the lack of staff time/ capacity to engage due to ongoing crisis/ workload is the main factor that gets in the way of organisational efforts to shift power or address racism. 
• Most organisations believe the lack of funds for this work and lack of sector cohesion and collaboration on these issues are the main challenges to organisations being able to work on structural issues of power imbalances and racism.

Engagement with service users

• 55% of organisations (33) have engaged service users in their work to tackle racism and shift power
• This has included setting up consultation and co-production spaces, engaging service users in influencing spaces and developing guidelines and charters
• Over 50% of respondents (31) are fairly satisfied with the progress of their organisation on these issues. 13% (8) are not at all satisfied, and 3% (2) are very satisfied. 

Support needs

Organisations shared the support they would like to help with their journey around shifting power and anti-racism:

1. Training - mentioned by 38% of respondents (23)
2. Facilitated discussions - mentioned by 26% of respondents (16)
3. Resources - mentioned by 18% of respondents (11)
4. Peer support groups - mentioned by 13% of respondents (8)
5. Funding - mentioned by 10% of respondents (6)

"More time and funding needs to be dedicated to anti-racist work, including anti-racism training for staff and volunteers, antiracist reflective practice, cultural cohesion/ awareness work etc. This is difficult when service delivery is a priority and resources are already stretched, however, space needs to be deliberately made for it."