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Refugee Integration and Employment Service

Refugee Action operates the Refugee Integration and Employment Service (RIES) in three UK regions: the north west, the south west and the south east / south central (not including London).

What is it?

This new service provides support to recent refugees to help them to settle into UK society and to find employment. General advice and support regarding issues such as housing, benefits and access to English classes is available for six months. Specialist employment advice and help to assist refugees in job searches, job applications, CV-writing and interview techniques is available for up to a year. A mentoring service, which matches refugees with local mentors who can assist them in the achievement of specific employment or social goals, is also available for up to a year.

Who is it for?

The service is available to all refugees who have been granted "Refugee" status or "Humanitarian Protection" status since 1 October 2008 and whose asylum claim was dealt with under the New Asylum Model (i.e. those who lodged an asylum claim since March 2007).

For those refugees who were granted discretionary leave under the New Asylum Model or who were granted any type of leave by the legacy case resolution team in Croydon, Move-On advice for a more limited period of time is available through our One-Stop asylum advice service at the Bristol, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Liverpool, Manchester, Leicester and Nottingham offices.

Regional offices

RIES in the north west

In the north-west, the service is operated directly from our Liverpool and Manchester offices and as outreach in Bolton, Blackburn, Bury and Wigan. The service is also supported by Manchester Refugee Support Network which provides volunteer advocates. For general enquiries about RIES in the north west please call us on 0161 233 1200.

RIES in the south west

In the south-west, the service is operated directly from our Bristol and Plymouth offices and through partner organisations in Gloucester and Swindon. In Gloucester the service is provided by Gloucester Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (GARAS) and in Swindon by Swindon Citizens Advice Bureau and the Harbour Project. We also work in partnership with Bristol and Plymouth Citizens Advice Bureaux on some cases. For general enquiries about RIES in the south west please call us on 0117 941 5960.

RIES in the south east

In the south-east and south central, the service is operated directly from our Portsmouth office, an outreach in Southampton, and through partner organisations in Ashford, Brighton, Milton Keynes, Reading, Swanley and Slough. Our partner organisations are Ashford Citizens Advice Bureau, Brighton Voices in Exile, Milton Keynes Citizens Advice Bureau, Reading Refugee Support Group, Slough Refugee Support and Swanley & Sevenoaks Citizens Advice Bureau. For general enquiries about RIES in the south east please call us on 02392 857 561.

RIES throughout the UK

The Refugee Integration and Employment Service is funded by the UK Border Agency in all 12 government office regions. Other organisations provide the service in other regions.

Further resources

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