The Refugee Council launched its new campaign ‘Don’t believe the type’ at Glastonbury today. A virtual launch of the “Don’t believe the type” (http://www.dontbelievethetype.org.uk/) website also took place.

On Saturday 25 June at 19:51, the ‘19:51 Glastonbury Declaration on the Right to Asylum 2005‘ written exclusively for the Refugee Council by the award-winning writer Patrick Neate, will be performed at the Left Field stage at the Glastonbury Festival.

It marks the launch of the Refugee Council’s groundbreaking new campaign, ‘Don’t Believe the Type’. The charity aims to draw attention to the state of the public debate on asylum and start a major fight back for one of the UK’s most marginalised and vilified groups.

The Declaration will be performed on the Left Field stage at 19:51 on Saturday 25 June to reflect the year the United Nations Refugee Convention was signed, and is supported by the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, who will also be at the festival.

At the Refugee Council’s stand in the Left Field tent, there will be an opportunity to stamp out some of the worst of the myths and lies written about asylum seekers and refugees, and to stand up for the right to asylum in Britain.

The Refugee Council also launched a new website to support the campaign. The website encourages the public to sign up to help campaign and gives tips on how they can help. There is also a special section on the events at the Glastonbury Festival.

The Refugee Council is the leading charitable organisation in the UK working with asylum seekers and refugees. It provides practical support and advice to asylum seekers and refugees, and campaigns for their rights in the UK and abroad.

Maeve Sherlock, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council said:

“We are all fed up with the myths and lies peddled about asylum seekers and refugees, and now it’s time to fight back. We need facts and figures about asylum, not scare stories. And we couldn’t have hoped for a better place to launch our campaign than in the Left Field at Glastonbury. The spirit of the festival, plus the feistiness of the Left Field, combine to make for a brilliant weekend where people will be able to stand up and show their support for refugees. Asylum is a human right we should be proud to uphold.”

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For further information, please contact Hannah Ward at hannah.ward@refugeecouncil.org.uk or 020 7346 1213/6702 .
For urgent or out of hours inquiries ring 0870 0555500 & ask for pager 865169.

Notes to editor:

1. ‘Don’t Believe the Type’ is officially launched at Glastonbury Festival, 24-26 June 2005, in the Left Field. It will be officially marked by the performance of the declaration on Saturday at 19:51 on the Left Field stage. The Refugee Council’s campaign stall will be located in the Left Field for the duration of the Festival.

A copy of the declaration is available on the Don’t believe the type website.

Patrick Neate, music journalist and poet, is the acclaimed writer of Musungu Jim and London Pigeon Wars. His novel Twelve Bar Blues won the 2001 Whitbread Novel Award. For more information please go to www.patrickneate.com.

2. The Don’t believe the type website is launched on Friday, 24 June 2005. People can go online to sign up to help campaign and find out about how they can help. There is also a special section on the events at the Glastonbury Festival.

2. The Refugee Council is at Glastonbury as a junior partner with the Left Field. The Left Field aims to reaffirm the spirit of political debate among festival-goers, promoting the value of trade union membership and collective campaigning. The Left Field is owned and promoted by Battersea and Wandsworth Trade Unions Council. For more information go to www.leftfield.coop.

The Love Music Hate Racism campaign aims to use the positive energy of the music scene to fight back against the racism being pushed by Nazi organisations. More information is available at www.lmhr.org.uk.

In its third year at Glastonbury UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) are seeking to promote the public’s understanding of refugees, their flight to safety and their plight in countries of asylum.

3. The full declaration is available at the Refugee Council stall in the Left Field at Glastonbury.

4. For further information about the Refugee Council at Glastonbury, please contact Hannah Ward on 020 7346 1213 or hannah.ward@refugeecouncil.org.uk.

5. More information about the Refugee Council can be accessed at www.refugeecouncil.org.uk.