UK’s missed opportunity at UN…

Editorials

UK’s missed opportunity at UN summit

The world’s leaders gathered on 19 September at the UN Summit for refugees and migrants with the aim of bringing countries together behind a more humane and coordinated approach. However, as one headline put it, ‘World leaders met at the UN to discuss refugees, but they mostly talked about keeping them out’. That’s not the whole story: millions of dollars were pledged, including $100 million by China; promises to take in more refugees were made. And the UN itself said the declaration at the end of talks "expresses [world leaders']…

The world’s leaders gathered on 19 September at the UN Summit for refugees and migrants with the aim of bringing countries together behind a more humane and coordinated approach. However,…

Keep families together

Cheers greeted Omar when the Syrian teenager arrived at London’s St Pancras station last week – the 50th child to arrive under a scheme enabling unaccompanied children to join relatives already in Britain. Fifty! Out of 2.5 million who are living as refugees in neighbouring countries or are on the run in search of safety. Migrant Voice shares the joy of Omar and his waiting relatives: having travelled across land and sea, he had been held up in Calais for months before getting the final go-ahead. But we are extremely…

Cheers greeted Omar when the Syrian teenager arrived at London’s St Pancras station last week – the 50th child to arrive under a scheme enabling unaccompanied children to join relatives…

The UK is complicit in their vulnerability

European Union action to tackle the refugee crisis has been described as "too little, too late” in a report by MPs, and nothing is littler and later than the British Government’s lack of urgency in fulfilling its promise to bring unaccompanied child refugees to the UK. The offer was made reluctantly after action was demanded by MPs and Lords, as well as rare but welcome press pressure. Later, the Home Office said it was involved in active discussions to speed up mechanisms to identify, assess and transfer children to the…

European Union action to tackle the refugee crisis has been described as "too little, too late” in a report by MPs, and nothing is littler and later than the British…

Migrant Voice holds emergency meetings

Hate crimes have escalated since the UK voted to leave the EU. In response, Migrant Voice has organised emergency meetings in Birmingham and London which were attended by dozens of migrant and other minority groups, faith leaders, the police and civil society organisations. We are working with other migrant-led groups to come up with joint responses and actions to combat hate crime and create a more positive climate for migrants. Participants at the meetings shared many incidents of hate crime in their communities, affecting both religious and ethnic…

Hate crimes have escalated since the UK voted to leave the EU. In response, Migrant Voice has organised emergency meetings in Birmingham and London which were attended by dozens of…

Politicians must condemn hate crimes

In the wake of the referendum vote to leave the EU, and the surge in the number of racist and xenophobic incidents which followed, Migrant Voice calls on politicians on all sides to rally in support of the rights of European migrants living in the UK, using a tone which does not stir prejudice and hostility. This is important because the debate about migration inevitably will intensify still further as the changes which politicians plan to put in place come under scrutiny in the coming months and years. …

In the wake of the referendum vote to leave the EU, and the surge in the number of racist and xenophobic incidents which followed, Migrant Voice calls on politicians on…

European migrants have rights, too

In the wake of the referendum vote to leave the EU, Migrant Voice calls on politicians on all sides to rally in support of the rights of European migrants living in the UK, using a tone which does not stir prejudice and hostility. This is important because the debate about migration inevitably will intensify still further as the changes which the Leave campaign plans to put in place come under scrutiny in the coming months and years. Politicians and public bodies will be addressing public anxiety, but it is equally…

In the wake of the referendum vote to leave the EU, Migrant Voice calls on politicians on all sides to rally in support of the rights of European migrants living…

A Syrian refugee on UKIP poster

Joumana is a Syrian asylum seeker who has made the journey across Europe just like those in the UKIP’s latest campaign poster. She is a mother of 3 children, one of whom lives with her in the UK. The other two are still in Syria as she could only afford to pay for one of them to come with her. She is hoping that one day she will be able to have all her children with her again. “As an asylum seeker, I live in isolation. I have no TV,…

Joumana is a Syrian asylum seeker who has made the journey across Europe just like those in the UKIP’s latest campaign poster. She is a mother of 3 children, one…

we need to speak out

The European referendum has got Britain talking. But our European members feel they have been left out of the debate - even as their future hangs in the balance. At our meetings in London, Birmingham and Glasgow, Europeans living and working in the UK told us that migrants are being reduced to economic figures rather than contributors with individual lives and stories. There are not enough stories of the day to day lives of Europeans in the UK in the national press, or the fact that migrants are often aspirational…

The European referendum has got Britain talking. But our European members feel they have been left out of the debate - even as their future hangs in the balance. At…

Let the children in

Across Europe 90,000 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum last year. Responding to this situation requires solidarity between EU members. Migrant Voice are deeply concerned at the argument made by the UK government that bringing in some of these children may result in more children being sent on a risky journey into Europe. We can’t let children die or fall into the worst kinds of exploitation just so that we can send a message back to others. Do we want a dead or trafficked child as our message? The Director of…

Across Europe 90,000 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum last year. Responding to this situation requires solidarity between EU members. Migrant Voice are deeply concerned at the argument made by the…

Hearing the people at the centre of it all

As Europe was negotiating the ‘one in, one out’ deal with Turkey, and two days after Macedonia shut its border, I went to Athens to find out more about the situation and to speak to what I thought to be the last groups of refugees reaching the shores of Greece. My first destination was the Piraeus seaport, 20 minutes by train on the Green Line from Monastiraki station in Athens city centre. I followed directions there from Voula Antwan, who with her husband founded the humanitarian organisation ‘Bridges’. She told…

As Europe was negotiating the ‘one in, one out’ deal with Turkey, and two days after Macedonia shut its border, I went to Athens to find out more about the…

UK’s missed opportunity at UN summit

Editorials