Summary: <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Offering hospitality to strangers is a common need for many faith traditions.<br> <br> <br> <br> Many faith groups and individuals live and work alongside refugees and asylum seekers. They often work in partnership. Those partnerships include people of other faiths and the voluntary and statutory agencies.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Many of us remember the spring and summer of 2015. The media coverage of refugee issues, particularly in the Mediterranean was intense. In September 2015 the Church of Scotland established a refugee coordination project. The project goal was to harness the outpouring of goodwill and the desire to act expressed by many across the country. <br> <br> <br> Scottish Faiths Action for Refugees<br> <br> <br> That project is the Scottish Faiths Action for Refugees (SFAR). It comprises Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Interfaith groups. They all share in the work of coordination and supporting our New Scots. <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> For this podcast, we spoke to David Bradwell, the project coordinator for SFAR. David works for the Church of Scotland. SFAR work with the all the major faith organisations in Scotland. They share good practice and help with intercultural interfaith dialogue. The dialogue often extends overseas. Many faiths have international partners helping refugees in places across the world.<br> <br> " It is quite humbling to see where we are at with our place in the world. "<br> <br> <br> David visited Lampedusa the epicentre of some of the refugee arrivals. From January to April 2015, about 1600 migrants died on the route from Libya to Lampedusa, making it the deadliest migrant route in the world. The island has a small population and David talks about the challenges they face such as: <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> He observes that people might be embarrassed by what they think they know about another culture or another religion. People also might think that they would have to give up some of their own beliefs. <br> <br> " A lot of evidence that suggests that when you engage in interfaith dialogue you not only learn more about another person's religion, you gain more confidence in your own beliefs."<br> <br> <br> The SFAR website has a page for each of the local authority areas in Scotland. Including details of the Edinburgh Weekend Club.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Sanctuary in Scotland <br> The Weekend Club brings refugees and asylum seekers together once a month for local activities. David kindly gave us a copy of the <a href="http://www.sfar.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Sanctuary-in-Scotland.pdf">Sanctuary in Scotland</a> booklet. It is a fantastic resource filled with information and ideas for things groups can do. There is also an extensive list of contact information for refugee and asylum seeker support projects around Scotland. It is free to download as a PDF on the SFAR website (link below).<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Contact David Bradwell if you have a project, faith or non-faith based on the Scottish Faiths Action for Refugees website. We are inspired by the number of refugee and asylum seeker initiatives in Scotland and a huge thanks for all your messages about our podcasts so far. Are you a refugee or an asylum seeker who has something on your mind? Do you run a refugee or asylum seeker support project and want to tell us about it in our podcast?<br> <br> <br> Contact us on <a href="https://twitter.com/refvoicesscot">twitter</a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWJT4O1ef_Z1TUnJRwDojlQ"> YouTube</a> and<a href="https://www.facebook.com/refugeevoicesscotland/"> facebook</a> . You can email us using refugeevoicesscotland at gmail.com .<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>
