#GE2017

#GE2017

With a hung Parliament and new Government set to be in place, we must all continue to make our own voices clear, and hold our representatives to account.

Nowhere is this more important than the migration debate, where with Brexit negotiations ongoing, we face a potential complete rewrite of huge parts of UK migration policy.

In the twenty first century, migration is a fact of life - there will always be people whose skills and expertise Britain desperately needs, those who came to work or study or be with family and have made Britain their home, and there will also always be those in desperate need who deserve what assistance we can render.

We don’t believe anyone has to be shoved to the back of the queue - the created concept of a race for resources between migrants and citizens has been a race to the bottom for both. It is investment to rebuild neglected communities - not expensive border controls - that will provide the homes, school places, and hospital beds that Britain needs.

We want to see the end of Home Office bureaucracy that keeps families apart for no reason - like the spousal visa cap which effectively bans any Briton on a low wage from marrying overseas. We can manage a sustainable migration system without breaking up families.

The push to bring down migration at any cost has led to an inefficient, unaccountable system which deports people to countries that have abused them, buys uninhabitable housing at high prices for asylum seekers, and operates harmful detention centres. Border control duties have been farmed out to teachers and doctors to cope with strain caused by Home Office cuts, turning our communities into checkpoints. The financial and human cost of the current system is too great.

It should be replaced with a sustainable system that provides support to both newcomers and host communities through a fund that promotes integration - bringing people together, getting new migrants active and included, and giving resources to councils and civil society to manage population change in the interests of all.

For too long our migration debate has been dominated by scaremongering and short-termism. With a new government in place, there is an opportunity to do things differently. They should seize it.

To read our full alternative migration manifesto: https://medium.com/@MigrantVoiceUK/an-alternative-migration-manifesto-for-ge2017-790a4917d0a2