“BOMBS! BOMBS! BOMBS!” These are the only words uttered by 6 year-old Damir, after a harrowing 5-day journey to flee his home in South-East Ukraine to the Polish border.

One year ago, the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused families to flee from their homes. Within days, families were broken apart and lives changed forever. Now nearly twelve million refugees fleeing Ukraine have been recorded across Europe, while an estimated eight million people have been displaced within the country.

At the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association, we have more than 20 years of experience supporting the integration of refugees and asylum seekers into mainstream British society through the provision of social, cultural and educational services. 

We're already supporting hundreds of Ukrainians but with the UK Government having issued 155,500 visas so far, the UK is set to host many more malnourished, sick and traumatised refugees in 2023.

With your help, we want to support even more Ukrainian people and give them the welcome they deserve. Now we're raising £10,000 to launch a dedicated Ukrainian Crisis Support Programme.

Please donate what you can - every little helps- and share this page far and wide on social media and via email and WhatsApp!

What we're going to do?

Using our well-developed and successful model of crisis and integration support, ACAA will work closely with East European charities and refugee organisations, to ensure the needs of newly arrived refugees from Ukraine are met.

Our Ukrainian Crisis Support Programme will include:

• Initial Crisis Support - orientation, provision of essential goods, help during their temporary hotel-stay/home stay ‘Homes for Ukraine Scheme’, information and advice, medical help if needed and initial counselling for urgent mental health issues.
• Face-to-Face Resettlement Support to refugees in London - immigration and financial information and support, English language classes, IT skills training, Work skills training and support into paid employment, longer-term mental health counselling, sports and arts activity clubs, and community integration support.
• Outreach Resettlement Support to refugees across the UK - via local partners and  a telephone/web-based helpline.

Why is this support so essential? 

If the right help is not provided now, we’ll risk the resettlement not working for many refugees, leading to all sorts of financial and social issues preventing them from starting new lives in the UK.

About the ACAA 

Our charity was founded by Dr Nooralhaq Nasimi, who fled Afghanistan with his young family in 1999, travelling for three months across Europe before finally arriving in the UK in the back of a refrigerated lorry to claim asylum. 

The challenges he faced trying to integrate into British society motivated him to create the ACAA and focus on the needs he found were missing when first arriving as a refugee. Most staff and volunteers working at the charity also share lived experience of life as a refugee in the UK.

Dr Nasimi’s son, Darius Nasimi, who is currently Head of Development is himself a Ukrainian-born Afghan refugee, bringing both understanding of the needs of Ukrainians and refugees to the charity. As such, ACAA has always had strong links with Ukraine and people and organisations there and will use these links now to provide the strongest possible response.