During the past nine months, a group of 50 incredible university students have joined HIAS+JCORE to stand against rising anti-migrant rhetoric and growing division.

As participants of our first Student Refugee Ambassador Programme (SRAP), they have taken this unique opportunity to put Jewish values into action, and forge solidarity.

Run in partnership with the Union of Jewish Students, the project brought together Jewish students from more than 25 universities across the UK.

Throughout, our cohort explored connections between Jewish history and the context for displaced people today. Together, they also learned how to challenge misinformation, confront hateful rhetoric, and build support for people seeking safety.

To celebrate this group’s achievements, a special graduation ceremony was held yesterday (Sunday 14 June, 2026) in London. Attendees heard remarks from Adrian Cohen, Senior Vice-President of the Board of Deputies, Rabbi David Mason, HIAS+JCORE’s Executive Director, and people with lived experience of the asylum system who are supported by the Hendon drop-in centre.

SRAP’s ambition is to build the next generation of Jewish activists. Over the past academic year, participants have learned directly from refugees about the challenges of the UK’s asylum system. Crucially, they have also met with MPs and policy experts, hearing about how to effectively advocate for fairer policies. This knowledge was then put into action: students took our advocacy priorities to MPs across the country through a letter writing campaign, and organised a series of events for Refugee Shabbat 2026, with 12 activities run through the UK.

With the need for this work never higher, HIAS+JCORE and UJS are delighted to be extending SRAP to the 2026/27 and 2027/28 academic years.

The project has been deeply impactful for our first cohort. Phoebe, a master’s student from King’s College London, shared that “It’s important to me that we as the Jewish community reach out because so many of us are descended from refugees ourselves.”

Stressing the global nature of this Jewish movement, she added: “There’s a lot of overlap between the rise of xenophobia and antisemitism in the US and the UK right now, and that’s why it’s important to me to have these conversations with people in both countries, so we can work towards combating it together.”

At a time of increasing xenophobia and antisemitism in the United Kingdom and across the world, advocating for displaced people can bring pushback. HIAS+JCORE was therefore delighted to have UJS’ staunch support for the programme, at a time when the need to act for people seeking safety has perhaps never been greater.

Reflecting on this, Samantha Leibowicz, the recent Sabbatical Officer for Social Action and Holocaust Education at UJS, shared: “There is still so much more advocacy work to be done for refugees and asylum seekers, and this program is only the beginning of achieving a society where refugees and asylum seekers feel welcomed in our communities.”

The programme has also given a positive outlet for Jewish students to explore their identity – at a time which has often been challenging on campus.

“With this program, we provide students with knowledge about refugees, but also we teach them to be proud of being Jewish,” said Yael Peleg, HIAS+JCORE’s Community Engagement Director. “They understand our responsibility as Jews and our commitment to creating communities of welcome.”

“My hope is that the SRAP graduates will take their knowledge and share it with others,” Yael added. “Our voices aren’t loud enough at the moment. We need advocates for refugees, and my aspiration is that SRAP will grow in numbers from year to year, continuing to create student grassroots advocacy on campuses and building a growing movement across the UK.”