RAPAR (Refugee & Asylum Participatory Action Research)

About our organisation

The life-events that displaced people experience in the course of becoming, and often remaining, displaced can be disempowering to the point of dehumanisation. Over time, RAPAR has learned that if the feeling of profound disempowerment or dehumanisation is present, a particular environment is essential for the person to re-connect with the self-belief that all of us need to take constructive action about our lives. In this environment, everyone’s fundamental right to equal treatment as human beings is explicitly asserted and conscientiously sustained. RAPAR has found that even if we come from extremely different social, economic, cultural and linguistic situations, traditions and life experiences, members who commit to interpersonal equality as they work together will assume attitudes and demonstrate behaviours that establish, grow and sustain practical forms of constructive action and learning. RAPAR members who opt to become active volunteers commit to working with, not on or for, each other, as equals. RAPAR is a membership organisation.

The change we want to see

For all the best possible reasons, we don’t want RAPAR to have to exist in its current form i.e. doing what it does because there are so many human right violations occurring that must be interevened upon. RAPAR wants the world to be one where all people are equally able to work together to uphold, sustain and continuously explore human rights.