The Rights and Dignity of Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Imagine closing the front door to your home behind you, and not knowing if or when you’ll ever return. This is exactly what has happened to the nearly 80 million people around the world who’ve been forced to flee their homes due to war, violence, grinding poverty, and even climate change. That’s the equivalent of 20 people per minute every day, a scale that’s almost unimaginable.

Hopes and wishes aren’t going to solve a problem of this magnitude. Millions of people, many of them children, are seeking shelter and safety. They have been through experiences most of us cannot even begin to imagine. They only want what we all want: A safe place to call home, food on their tables, healthcare so that they can see a doctor if they’re sick.

Working Together for Change

We’re calling for systemic changes in three areas that will ensure all refugees are treated with respect, fairness, and justice.

  • Displacement of communities due to war, violence, climate change is a worldwide problem and so worldwide cooperation is needed to solve it.
  • Every individual country needs to ensure that its asylum process is humane and effective.
  • We need to encourage more understanding between host communities and newcomers.

We know firsthand the tremendous contributions that refugees make to their communities. We’re proud of our partner, Rhino Foods, maker of the amazing cookie dough chunks you know and love, who has been helping refugees find a home right here in Vermont for more than 20 years. Rhino started hiring refugees back in the 1990s when a wave of Bosnian refugees were being resettled in Vermont. The timing was perfect, in that Rhino was doubling the size of their staff to meet the demand for cookie dough. Our friends at Rhino understand that welcoming refugees is the right thing to do. It’s what America has done throughout our history.

We don’t have all the answers, but we do know that if we all work together, we can make a big difference in the lives of millions of people. In the current political climate, your voice is more important than ever. Let’s stand together for refugees, so that all the world’s people have a home, safe home.

The International Rescue Committee

Our friends at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) help people whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and regain control of their future.

Read more about all their amazing work here.

FAQ's

  • Ben & Jerry’s is proud to support the mission of the International Rescue Committee, which is to support people whose lives have been upended by war, conflict and natural disasters. The IRC is working directly in 29 communities around the country to resettle refugees and ensure they have the support to succeed and thrive.

  • Today, there are an unprecedented 65.3 million people around the world have been forced from their homes. In the United States, a nation of immigrants, anti-immigrant rhetoric has become a staple of mainstream political discourse. At a time when policy makers are debating a great wall along our southern border and the constitutionality of the administration’s travel ban has been taken up by the Supreme Court, it’s more important than that we stand together in support of the words inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty “Give me your tired, your poor; your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”.

  • Resettlement offers for refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking, survivors of torture, and other immigrants to thrive in America. Each year, thousands of people, forced to flee violence and persecution, are welcomed by the people of the United States into the safety and freedom of America. These individuals have survived against incredible odds. The IRC works with government bodies, civil society actors, and local volunteers to help them translate their past experiences into assets that are valuable to their new communities.

  • Yes, we believe it can! There are countless examples of when people speaking out in a collective voice has influenced political change and policy. We launched Together For Refugees because we believe there is a huge potential right now for people urge politicians to provide safety for refugees. Our representatives in the EU don’t recieve emails from their constituents very often, and people power and public pressure can make a big difference!

  • If you’d like to do more to support those seeking to rebuild their lives please visit the International Rescue Committee’s page on ways you can help: https://www.rescue.org/how-to-help

  • Although the UK is getting ready to leave the EU, our MEPs still have a huge opportunity to help provide a safe legal home for the most vulnerable refugees. British MEPs are still in their jobs and have influence on the process, including one British MEP, Claude Moraes who chairs the most important committee to pass the progressive piece of legislation!

  • The UK has always had an opt out of EU laws that affect control of our borders, but  this does not stop the government from coordinating rules with other EU countries and applying similar laws in UK legislation.