Quaker Council for European Affairs Launches Handbook on Migration Policy Based on Positive Peace

The Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) has launched a handbook, *Moving with Dignity: A positive peace approach to migration*, at a time when the source describes migration as a tense and fearful subject in the UK. It cites flights to Rwanda, small boats in the Channel, and the ongoing debate over “illegal” and “legal” migration as shaping public and political conversation.

The handbook asks readers to approach migration not as a “crisis” to be managed but as a human experience to be understood with empathy and peacebuilding in mind. According to the source, it is built on the concept of positive peace, which goes beyond the absence of violence to examine the conditions that allow people and societies to thrive. That includes not only war and direct violence but also structural and cultural systems that cause harm, such as racism, poverty, exclusion and injustice.

Rather than treating migration as a security threat or a policy problem, the handbook presents it as a human reality shaped by systems that can be governed differently. The source describes it as rooted in peacebuilding theory and practical in approach, with examples including labour mobility schemes that connect displaced people with jobs, community-led peacebuilding in countries of origin, and programmes that welcome and integrate refugees.

QCEA argues that the UK, though often discussed as part of an EU conversation, is still a major part of the wider migration picture and a key player in shaping policy across the continent. The source identifies the Illegal Migration Act, the Rwanda plan and increasingly hostile language around asylum and refugees as signs that the UK’s migration system is at a turning point. It asks whether the country is moving in a direction that reflects its values or “doubling down” on fear-based, punitive responses. Faith groups, community organisations and cities of sanctuary are cited as already showing that a more humane approach is possible, and the source questions whether national policies will follow.

The source states that Quakers have long stood for peace, equality and justice, and that in a period when migration is used as a wedge issue, Quakers are called to speak up for a different approach. Speaking up for those with little voice reflects the call to protect the vulnerable (Proverbs 31:8-9). QCEA says it hopes the handbook will serve policymakers, communities, advocates and Quakers, and it points to upcoming elections and rising global displacement as reasons to act now.

Events connected to the handbook include an official policy and launch event in Brussels on 13 May. A London launch is being planned for 18 June, and a recording of the online launch is available to watch.

The Quaker Council for European Affairs and Quaker Peace & Social Witness are also inviting Friends from across Europe to a joint conference, “Faith in action in an age of permacrisis,” to be held on 20-22 June 2025, to learn about and explore contemporary Quaker work.

Source: Read the original report