Editorial: Medical care, not border…

Editorials

Editorial: Medical care, not border control

The NHS identity check system that forces thousands of patients to pay upfront costs for treatment is claiming its first victims – and unknown numbers of others are becoming trapped in a process devoid of common sense or compassion. And British citizens aren’t immune. Former British Army corporal Jellian Mitchell discovered that when her mother Evette White visited from Jamaica and suffered a severe stroke. They are victims of a dysfunctional system that deters patients from seeking care and turns frontline NHS staff into unwilling border guards and agents of…

The NHS identity check system that forces thousands of patients to pay upfront costs for treatment is claiming its first victims – and unknown numbers of others are becoming trapped…

Editorial ‘Britain’s forgotten immigration scandal’

No, Minister, this scandal won’t go away. On 4 September Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes sat through a parliamentary debate on the ruined lives of tens of thousands of international students whose visas were cancelled four years ago because of allegations of cheating in a pre-university English-language test. After 4 years of the students fighting for justice – in the last year together with MV - finally we had a parliamentary debate. That is why it is even more disheartening for us to hear the Immigration Minister indifferently refuse the evidence…

No, Minister, this scandal won’t go away. On 4 September Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes sat through a parliamentary debate on the ruined lives of tens of thousands of international students…

Editorial: Learning the hard way

Tens of thousands of international students who were wrongly accused of cheating and written off by the government have refused to disappear and are keeping alive the fight to clear their names at enormous cost to their own wellbeing. They are demanding their future back. This is why July 10 we are launching a campaign to redress a Home Office decision that has wrecked the lives of the students. It’s a Windrush-style example of disastrous decision-making, another toxic effect of the government’s ‘hostile environment’ policy towards migrants. The handling of…

Tens of thousands of international students who were wrongly accused of cheating and written off by the government have refused to disappear and are keeping alive the fight to clear…

Editorial: Data – No protection

Future Windrush-type scandals can now be covered up thanks to the new two-tier system of human rights called the Data Protection Act. As of 25 May we no longer have the right to know what data the Home Office hold on us when it comes to immigration. From now on, groups like the Windrush victims would not be able to access justice as they would be denied access to immigration information held on them. The Data Protection Act is meant to ensure our personal data is better protected and…

Future Windrush-type scandals can now be covered up thanks to the new two-tier system of human rights called the Data Protection Act. As of 25 May we no longer have…

Editorial: Home truths

The Home Office, ministers and civil service are now fighting over whether the Windrush scandal could have been avoided, was a one-off error, or was inevitable with warnings issued but left unheeded. But the government must realise that this is not about one group. The pioneering Caribbean men and women who accepted an invitation to help rebuild our still war-stricken country have been shockingly treated. But the appalling treatment of many migrants has been evident for several years. They, too, have been locked up, wrongly deported, denied healthcare and, in…

The Home Office, ministers and civil service are now fighting over whether the Windrush scandal could have been avoided, was a one-off error, or was inevitable with warnings issued but…

Make migration a success story

Welcome to our new website. It’s a symbol of our continuing growth and development, and of our determination to carry on with our mission of ensuring that migrants have a louder voice in the media. That’s why the first call in one of the website’s new features, Call to Action, is an appeal for readers to use our platforms to share interesting migrant stories. Your suggested story may simply be the name of a migrant who is quietly doing good work in the community. Or it might be about a…

Welcome to our new website. It’s a symbol of our continuing growth and development, and of our determination to carry on with our mission of ensuring that migrants have a…

Cruel, unjust and a national disgrace

Migrant Voice stands in solidarity with the group of women at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Detention Centre who began a strike on 21 February. Last week we expressed that this was shocking because of the existence of inhumane conditions that have driven them to this extreme action, and because similar complaints were raised years ago by hunger-strikers at another removal centre, Harmondsworth. Now what is even more shocking is the most recent development, where the Home Office have threatened the women with accelerated deportation process if they continue their hunger strike.…

Migrant Voice stands in solidarity with the group of women at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Detention Centre who began a strike on 21 February. Last week we expressed that this was…

The UK Must Guarantee Their Rights Now

The latest ONS immigration stats show a fall in EU net migration with an upsurge in EU nationals leaving the UK – the highest in a decade. We are not surprised at the numbers of EU nationals who have decided to leave. The reason people have left and more will be leaving is due to the ongoing uncertainty and anxiety about their rights and future in the UK. This is worrying as we know EU workers fill jobs in important industries which are already having shortages of workers and struggling…

The latest ONS immigration stats show a fall in EU net migration with an upsurge in EU nationals leaving the UK – the highest in a decade. We are not…

Immigration policies that work for all

We welcome the Scottish Government’s discussion paper that outlines an immigration policy tailored for Scotland. It is a policy that benefits both the host population and migrants, and is based on attitudes and principles that would benefit the UK as a whole. Most important of all, it shifts the current mean-spirited controversy about migration numbers in these islands onto a more confident, open-hearted, generous-spirited plane: “Migrants contribute to our economy by bringing new skills and fresh approaches. Without their contribution Scotland's economic growth will suffer.” Furthermore, it recognises that attitudes…

We welcome the Scottish Government’s discussion paper that outlines an immigration policy tailored for Scotland. It is a policy that benefits both the host population and migrants, and is based…

Base policy on people, not fences

The tragic experience of one refugee - Aram Sabah Xalid - trying to get from France to the UK was sufficiently sensational to make media headlines. It came after three refugees were killed on the roads outside Calais port in December, a month after a 15-year-old refugee was run over by a truck. Dramatic deaths make news and are shocking. But so are British and French government policies towards refugees and migrants in Calais. France is to blame for the phenomenon of Calais and other camps that have sprung up along the border. The French cannot blame…

The tragic experience of one refugee - Aram Sabah Xalid - trying to get from France to the UK was sufficiently sensational to make media headlines. It came after three refugees were killed on the roads…

Editorial: Medical care, not border control

Editorials