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NEWS & BLOG
17 June, 2026 - By West London Welcome
Refugee Week: Celebrations and Myth-busting
At a time when public conversations about migration are increasingly divisive, Refugee Week provides an opportunity to pause and focus on the people behind the headlines. To help you when encountering misinformation, we’ve updated our myth-busting resource.
Refugee Week 2026 marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the landmark international agreement that established the legal right of people fleeing persecution to seek protection.
This year’s theme, courage, calls on all of us to engage in difficult conversations about migration and asylum, question assumptions, and challenge misinformation where we encounter it. In an increasingly polarised debate, accurate information matters. That is why we have updated our myth-busting resource, bringing together the latest information on migration, asylum and refugee issues. Our aim is to help you feel informed and confident when discussing these topics and making sure that conversations are grounded in evidence rather than misconceptions.
Creating a welcoming society is a responsibility we all share. Small actions can make a meaningful difference: attending a Refugee Week event, learning about refugee experiences, myth-busting misinformation you hear about migration and asylum, supporting organisations run for and with refugees, volunteering, or simply reaching out to welcome someone new to your community.
Recently, The Chiswick Calendar interviewed our patron, Dame Harriet Walter, for Refugee Week. They discussed the violence in Belfast, did some excellent myth-busting on migration and asylum, and Harriet spoke eloquently about her love and pride of multiracial and multicultural London.
Each year at West London Welcome, we mark this global festival with a party filled with food, fun, and competition! Our volunteers and Afghan chef, Najeem, fired up the barbeque, while a cake-laden table steadily disappeared slice by slice. There were games for all ages, but the highlight was the ever-popular and fiercely competitive West London Welcome Olympics, featuring an egg-and-spoon race, a three-legged race, and the grand finale: the mighty tug of war.
After the Olympics, we had an international disco where we all learned some new moves. This year, Chericoco led an Afrobeats dance class with everyone on their feet and moving their hips. We were also delighted to have the Falafel King, aka the amazing local Sudanese chef, Imad, of Shepherd’s Bush Market return for a third year– a crowd favourite that never disappoints. We have Friends of Brook Green to thank once again for their generosity in funding our party.
Thank you to everyone who made it so special and happy Refugee Week from all of us at West London Welcome!
Nita Gula is Communications and Administrative Officer at West London Welcome.