Our organisation was established in 2013 as Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London (RAMFEL). Based in Ilford, Redbridge, the organisation ran a foodbank and small advice service. The focus was very much on the local community, providing a holistic service of destitution support and advice. Our immigration advice was heavily in demand and made us fairly unique. Gradually we partnered with other organisations, who could provide wraparound support whilst RAMFEL provided specialist immigration representation. The immigration service grew from a part time position to gradually one of the largest in the country. The hard work of Nick Beales and then Clemence Aymon, followed by Alice Giuliato and Louisa Thomas established an incredibly effective immigration advice service.
In 2019 we moved to our Newham office in Stratford, as part of a partnership with ARHAG (African Refugee Housing Association Group) and to accommodate staff growth.
Despite the growth of the organisation the waiting list for services only grew. No matter how effective our casework was, we knew we couldn't casework our way out of the problem. As one of the largest immigration advice organisations we now had a responsibility to give voice to the injustice and discrimination we witnessed. From 2021 we created a new campaigning position. Nick Beales who had originally established our effective legal work, began forming our ability to campaign.
We established solid data collection for effective evidence, and an experts by experience group. This allowed us to speak with expertise and authenticity about the issues faced by Refugees and Migrants. The gathering of evidence and experience put us in a position to make several successful challenges to discriminatory policy. With PILC we challenged punishing people for rough sleeping, with Bhatt Murphy we challenged the lack of adequate proof of status that was leading to people losing their jobs and homes. With PILC, we ensured the government provided a fee waiver for those applying under the bereaved partner route.
We no longer felt RAMFEL represented who we are as an organisation due to our growth and new strategy. In 2026, we changed our name and brand to Refugee and Migrant Justice to reflect this. We will always have a soft spot for RAMFEL and will continue to support and represent our clients to challenge the hostile environment.
Thank you to our student photographers from SOAS, Sofia and Edilanie for supporting with the imagery and video content for our rebrand. Thank you to Adept Design for all their work on branding and design for this site and rebrand.
