Editorial: Use your voice this election

Editorial: Use your voice this election

“It’s actually designed to isolate you, to bring you down, to make you want to give up and pack your bags and just go… You have to know your rights and without that … you’re headed for downfall.”

That’s Diana (not her real name) talking about the UK immigration system in a new book published by writer and researcher Maya Goodfellow.

Diana is a member of Migrant Voice – one of many who spoke to Maya during her research for ‘Hostile Environment: How Immigrants Became Scapegoats’, and one of several whose voices and experiences are shared in that book (see an extract here).

It’s a necessary intervention – and could not have come at a better time. We are heading towards a general election – a time for real public debate on the issues that matter, and a chance for us all to speak directly to those standing for office and influence the actions and goals of the newly elected as they enter Parliament.

We urge every candidate in this election to read this new book about the hostile environment, to listen to the voices of its victims, and to make a pledge to fight for fundamental reform of the immigration system. If you are elected, we urge you to be a voice for migrants in Westminster, to lobby for the urgent dismantling of the hostile environment and the destruction of its foundations, and to help build an immigration system founded on fairness.

And to everyone else – seize this chance to make your voice heard. Register to vote if you’re eligible and use that vote (info here); go along to your local hustings and ask your local candidates what they will do about the hostile environment (or EU citizens’ rights, extortionate visa fees, the injustice facing international students, detention, right to work for asylum seekers, family migration); or if you prefer, write them an email.

We can all do something to make sure that those 650 MPs who enter the House of Commons in December understand the problems migrants are facing in this country and are committed to making real change happen.

Get in touch with us by email or phone to find out what you can do. Let’s make our voices heard this election.