We take our call for torture survivor services to Parliament

MPs from across the political spectrum joined Freedom from Torture for its 30th anniversary Parliamentary reception and congratulated the charity on its unique clinical and advocacy work with torture survivors on Tuesday, 8 December.

Emily Thornberry, Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, kindly hosted the meeting, and Sir Keir Starmer QC, (Labour, Holborn and St Pancras), Stuart C McDonald (SNP, Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East), Ann McLaughlin(SNP, Glasgow North East), the Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC (Conservative, Beaconsfield) and James Berry (Conservative, Kingston and Surbiton) were among the endorsing MPs. Jeremy Corbyn, the constituency MP for Islington North, where Freedom from Torture's central office and London centre are based, also joined the speaker platform.

Freedom from Torture used the event to urge MPs and Peers to hold the government to account on its promise to resettle Syrian torture survivors in the UK and to raise awareness of the growing need for the services of Freedom from Torture for all torture survivors, including the newly arrived Syrian refugees, some of who will be survivors of torture.

The MPs heard presentations from torture survivors, including Kolbassia Haoussou of Survivors Speak OUT torture survivors' network and Thamer, a Syrian lawyer who was imprisoned and tortured by the Assad regime and has been supported by the charity's Scottish centre based in Glasgow. The event ended with a showing of the new A-Z of Poverty film by Write to Life, the torture survivors' creative writing group, and presentations by two members of the group who focused on how the asylum system experience can hinder rehabilitation of torture survivors.

After the platform programme MPs and Peers had the opportunity to meet members of Survivors Speak OUT and Write to Life and trustees and staff of Freedom from Torture.

Susan Munroe, Freedom from Torture's Chief Executive, also spoke at the event. She said:

"We welcome the government's decision to resettle vulnerable Syrian refugees. We need to ensure that torture survivors and their families continued to be prioritised, and once they arrive here, have access to the specialist psychotherapeutic services they need to rebuild their lives."

Our MPs are a vital channel to ensuring that government remains accountable. We hope all the MPs who attended will help to ensure the government provides humane and appropriate support for torture survivors, whether from Syria or other repressive regimes."