The charity hopes to combat negative press coverage of asylum-seekers by running ads in national broadsheet titles. It wants to transform some people's perceptions that immigrants are opportunists who see the UK as a 'soft touch' into one of hardworking individuals forced here by oppression in the countries of their birth.
Created by social marketing agency Whitewater, which also handles The Refugee Council's direct marketing activity, the press ads feature two executions.
The first, 'Stand Up', tells the story of Firat, who seeks asylum because he has been tortured in his homeland. The second, 'Proud', focuses on a range of institutions seen as British despite being introduced to the country by refugees. These include M&S, co-founded by Michael Marks, and the Mini, which was designed by Sir Alex Issigonis.
The campaign's launch comes in the week that Home Secretary David Blunkett announced a series of tough measures designed to keep out all but the most worthy asylum-seekers.
His rhetoric was attacked by The Refugee Council, which said the government needed to do more to offer a safe haven to asylum-seekers.
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