Get Involved
What you can do
AIUSA's Refugee Program has many opportunities for Amnesty members to help in our work. We train interested members for key tasks, such as going into prisons to interview asylum-seekers, sending human rights documentation to asylum-seekers, and speaking to groups about the situation of refugees since Sept. 11.
Learn about us and speak for us.
Find out what the refugee program is doing in your region by contacting your regional refugee coordinator.
We are always looking for members who wish to learn about refugees and asylum-seekers, and about the work of our program, so that they can educate other Amnesty members and the public at large. We encourage you to begin by reading through the information on our website and signing up for our e-newsletter (sign up for Action Center refugee actions?). The next step is to attend a Refugee Program class or workshop at your next regional or national Amnesty meeting.
As much as possible, the Refugee Program staff travels to speak to Amnesty and other groups, but we also rely on well-informed members to give talks on refugees and on our work. We can also suggest films on asylum-seekers and refugees. Link to films? Chasing Freedom?
Get our materials.
Our tongue-in-cheek brochure says, "Welcome to America" and then, on the other side, "Now Go Away." That is a shorthand version of the way the United States, especially since Sept. 11, reacts to would-be refugees. The brochure also opens up into a poster depicting the Statue of Liberty with an asterisk next to her torch. "Some restrictions apply," the ‘fine print' at the bottom of the poster begins. "Freedom will be approached on a selective basis." See the entire brochure (link). Contact your regional Amnesty office, or our program office, for copies of the brochure. We will soon have full-sized posters and t-shirts as well return to this page to check for them.
Join our steering committee.
We have a seven-member steering committee that actively guides and advises our program. When openings arise on the committee, they will be advertised on this page, and in the Amnesty member newsletter Connect.
