Fellowship Programme

The René Cassin – AJA Fellowship Programme (RCFP) brings together a cohort of exceptional professionals to explore human rights issues through a unique Jewish lens.

What does the RCFP entail?

  • Five knowledge based evening sessions looking at current human rights issues.
  • A trip to European city.
  • Four skills based evening sessions looking at the tools needed to make positive change.
  • A project using all of the above knowledge and skills to create change.

Who is the RCFP for?

The programme has no fixed age limit – the cohort benefits from a real mixture of age and experience. If you are interested in increasing your knowledge of human rights and Jewish visions of a just society, the RCFP is right for you.

What are the programme’s objectives?

  • To deepen and broaden participants’ knowledge and understanding of human rights principles and Jewish visions of a just society – through the study of Jewish experience and values and contemporary international human rights issues.
  • To galvanise a movement of Jewish social activists who will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to promote social justice and human rights in the UK.
  • To create a group of deeply committed human rights advocates who are actively involved in René Cassin’s campaigning and mobilisation work
    Religious observance.
  • René Cassin is a pluralist organisation, and we welcome applicants from all levels of religious observance. If you observe Shabbat or any level of kashrut, please let us know and we will be delighted to accommodate this.

 

Session four reflection

By Jade Weiner, 2020 fellow

The topic of discussion for this session was immigration detention, with Sam Grant, Policy and Campaigns Manager at Liberty.

The UK is the only country in Europe without a maximum time limit on immigration/asylum detention. Approximately 25,000 people per year go through the immigration detention system. Liberty, a civil liberties organisation, has opposed the UK’s discriminatory immigration regime since 1974. Sam’s presentation showcased Liberty’s campaigns that educate people about immigration detention issues and lobby for regulatory reform including for a 28-day time limit on detention.

Detention not only harms the person detained but also their families and loved ones from whom they are separated. Beyond the physical and psychological ramifications of detention, the uncertainty of when a case will be considered and decided makes this indefinite detention even more unconscionable.

A further presentation by Varda, a fellow in the programme, highlighted how an indefinite detention regime is a flagrant disregard for human rights and globally acceptable legal principles.  Social justice demands as well as efficient economic concerns (detention in its current form is costing in excess of £100m per year) require that alternatives be investigated. Pilot projects which include permitting the seeker to continue to reside in their home while their application is pending, are currently being considered.  Reforms have been slow but progress is promising with the number of detention institutions, as well as people being detained, both decreasing.

Matters of asylum and immigration are central to Judaism. Throughout ancient and modern times, the Jewish nation has been exiled, banished and expelled, not only from their original homeland but from so many other lands that we have endeavoured to build and call home. Having been strangers in foreign lands, we can empathise with those in need of refuge. Through developing community-based alternatives to detention and promoting awareness, we can fulfil our Torah obligation to “love the strangers among us and to avoid causing them harm.”

Reflection on session 1

By Jade Weiner The 2020 René Cassin-AJA Fellowship Programme began with an exciting and inspiring introductory...

read more

Budapest – May 2019

Hungary is a country of poignant contradictions – a case study in the challenges of contemporary human rights. e learned about Jewish life and social action in Budapest, and the trip shone a spotlight on Hungary’s Roma community.

read more

2019 Fellows

Hear all about our 2019 fellows and the work they achieved.

Learn more…

2018 Fellows

Hear all about our 2018 fellows and the work they achieved.

Learn more…

2017 Fellows

Hear all about our 2017 fellows and the work they achieved.

Learn more…

2015 Fellows

Hear all about our 2015 fellows and the work they achieved.

Learn more…

2014 Fellows

Hear all about our 2014 fellows and the work they achieved.

Learn more…