Opinions

Migrant Voice Blogs

20/10/2015

Celebrating the holy cross “Meskel” in the jungle of Calais, France

The Catholic Comboni Sisters Missionary in Chiswick, London, together with other groups and individuals, planned to spend the Eritrean and Ethiopian Holy day of the cross, “Meskel”, with refugees in the “Jungle” of Calais, France. The day was Sunday 28 September 2015. The group agreed to meet in the compound…

12/10/2015

Theresa May’s speech on the 'immigration problem' – setting the stage for the immigration Bill

Theresa May’s shocking immigration speech at the Tory Party Conference left a sinking feeling in my stomach. At least, I thought, she’s gathered all the claims and hyperbole in one place. There’s nothing she said that I hadn’t heard before, but to have it said from the platform where David…

05/10/2015

The ageing population and migration

We need studies on the effect of migration on the ageing population of Western countries. All we know is that the European countries have a birth rate of 1.5 % on average which means that we will not have enough people of working age to sustain the production of goods…

02/10/2015

The shocking reality of the refugee crisis seen from Lesvos, Greece

I have just come back from Lesvos Greece, one of the islands where refugees are arriving every day. I went there with a few others to meet the refugees and the local activists and see for ourselves what is happening and how we can help. We were asking for donations…

25/09/2015

Thoughts on using the terms "Migrants" or "Refugees"

There is a lot to clarify in this debate where sometimes people wrongly apply some odd definitions which do not fit the reality on the ground and circumstances that led people to leave their home countries at the first place. Most of these definitions are inaccurately used as stereotypes to…

15/09/2015

Land of Hope and Glory - Welcomes Refugees!

As a child, a child who had himself arrived as an immigrant, there was nothing so quintessentially British, or should I say English, than watching the Last Night of the Proms. The waving of the Union Jacks amongst the throng marked not only the end of the Henry Wood promenade…

24/08/2015

UK Government relying on discredited Danish report to process Eritrean asylum applications

Three young Eritrean men recently told me about their journey from Eritrea to the UK, across the Mediterranean, through Calais and on to Scotland where they now live. All had fled forced conscription and random, repeated detention. During the conversation one of them pushed an article across the table. It…

21/08/2015

Higher fences will not solve the Calais migrant crisis

Building ever taller fences and sending in dogs to chase desperate people fleeing war, conflicts and human right abuses will not solve the situation in Calais. It will merely push people to use other routes. What we are seeing in Calais and the Mediterranean is evidence of Europe's asylum and…

06/07/2015

Migrants at sea,a human rights issue

Migration is a fact of life. We have always and will always seek better opportunities in life, trying to find well-paid work, new possibilities to better use our skills, and a better living standard, or just for exploration, education or for love. Therefore, we will always look for opportunities to…

29/04/2015

The decision to save someone's life at sea, should never be determined by their immigration status

The crisis in the Mediterranean is and must be seen as a humanitarian one. Fundamentally, everyone who is in trouble at sea must be rescued according to existing international law. The decision to save someone’s life at sea should never be determined by their nationality, visa or immigration status. Therefore,…