ICAR is a small independent centre set up to collect, compile and disseminate up to date, comprehensive and academically credible information about refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. It responds to the need for authoritative, independently generated information on which to base democratic discussion of this serious subject, and for an effective counterweight to the misinformation and stereotyping which is a feature of some press coverage and political discussion. Its overall aim is to promote understanding of asylum and refugees in the interests of everyone in the community.
It will bring together and synthesise local and national statistics, and information and data from universities and public policy institutes, refugee and other voluntary sector agencies. It will publish attributable up to date easily usable information which helps to put issues of current concern into perspective and campaign for better data and more comprehensive statistics where these are needed to raise the level of public debate. ICAR will only draw conclusions and state opinions where it believes the data justifies doing so, and will challenge misstatement and manipulation of statistics on the same basis. It will disseminate its information on a website which is tested for its accessibility to a wide range of users, in print, and in ways which promote information based public discussion.