News

Migrant Voice’s campaign update on international students

A Westminster Hall debate on the international students affected by the English Language test scandal will now take place on Tuesday 4 September. We are delighted with this development following the earlier promise of up to Eight MPs to press for a parliamentary debate in support of Migrant Voice’s campaign to clear the name of tens of thousands of international students accused of cheating by the Home Office. A member of the House of Lords, Baroness Uddin, joined the MPs – seven Labour and one Scottish National Party – in…

A Westminster Hall debate on the international students affected by the English Language test scandal will now take place on Tuesday 4 September. We are delighted with this development following…

I am not a criminal - just an immigrant - Mark's story

Mark was arrested at home in London and detained in 2015. During his two-and-a-half-month incarceration he was questioned about why he came to Britain from East Africa, and was examined by a Home Office doctor. The wound on his back was confirmed as a stab wound. He was moved between three immigration removal centres: Brook House and Colnbrook, in southeast England, and The Verne in the southwest (since closed and turned into a prison). “When you are detained it’s like you have no rights,” he says. “We are mixed with…

Mark was arrested at home in London and detained in 2015. During his two-and-a-half-month incarceration he was questioned about why he came to Britain from East Africa, and was examined…

Windrush - Movement of a People

Windrush! It’s a powerful name, isn’t it? Rushing wind. A force of nature. It’s fitting for the Caribbeans who arrived in Tilbury in June 1948 on the Empire Windrush full of hope and inimitable Caribbean energy. The 70th anniversary should be a time for celebration. It remains to be seen what effect the recent scandal concerning the government’s handling of Windrush elders will have on these celebrations. I’m a Windrush Baby, I came to London with my mother in the 1960s when I was a baby. My collection of short…

Windrush! It’s a powerful name, isn’t it? Rushing wind. A force of nature. It’s fitting for the Caribbeans who arrived in Tilbury in June 1948 on the Empire Windrush full…

I am myself. What changes is how others see me

Xiaoxia Yin was born in China, moving between Shenzhen and Hong Kong while her parents worked there, enrolled in a US college, took an internship in Hong Kong and last summer worked at Migrant Voice in London. Now she's in Japan for a term. “Though I feel I am always myself with the same identity,” she says, “I have realised that how others see me may change when I travel to different places.” In this article she reflects on her experience of movement and migration. Before I attended primary…

Xiaoxia Yin was born in China, moving between Shenzhen and Hong Kong while her parents worked there, enrolled in a US college, took an internship in Hong Kong and…

Children born in the UK to EU parents will struggle to get documentation

Eurochildren researchers have found that children born in the UK to EU parents will struggle to get documentation in the UK after Brexit. Thousands EU citizens and their family members living in the UK are at risk of ‘falling through the cracks’, and their rights of future residence after Brexit are in question. Children are particularly at risk since their status is dependent on their parents. “Where neither of the parents is British at the time of the child’s birth, a child will later struggle to prove the British…

Eurochildren researchers have found that children born in the UK to EU parents will struggle to get documentation in the UK after Brexit. Thousands EU citizens and their family members…

The deals we make to control migration...

Britain complains about “illegal immigration” but its own policy – like the policy in other European Union countries – is to put a squeeze on legal routes to entry. For example, the UK’s refusal rate for Syrian visa applications has more than doubled from less than 30 per cent before the conflict started to more than 60 per cent in 2016. “I didn’t try to apply for visa. Nobody gets a visa,” a Syrian traveller recently told a study. “I wish we could pay the embassy instead of the smuggler…

Britain complains about “illegal immigration” but its own policy – like the policy in other European Union countries – is to put a squeeze on legal routes to entry. For…

Lenny Henry’s home truths

The third in an occasional series about TV and radio programmes about migrants and migration in Britain. In Lenny Henry: Commonwealth Kid the British comedian says “The Commonwealth made me who I am”. That’s a bit far-fetched, I thought – and then realised that it was because of the existence of the post-colonial “club” of nations that some of his family were able to emigrate from Jamaica to Britain. Most of the hour-long BBC1 programme is taken up with his trip to Jamaica, in which he veers between good-natured banter…

The third in an occasional series about TV and radio programmes about migrants and migration in Britain. In Lenny Henry: Commonwealth Kid the British comedian says “The Commonwealth made me…

He fought for England but is not allowed to stay.

Bilal Fawaz is a champion in the ring “but I need that one thing that will unlock everything,” he told Migrant Voice, “that thing that allows you to live as a normal person.” He represented England as a boxer but he's not allowed to stay here. That's why his biggest fight is not against adversaries in the ring but against Home Office rulings that he must go home. But Kelvin, as he is known, says he's already home. “This country is my home. I have no other place. I speak…

Bilal Fawaz is a champion in the ring “but I need that one thing that will unlock everything,” he told Migrant Voice, “that thing that allows you to live as…

Laura: 'I'm happy to say I'm a migrant'

Despite the regular vilification of migrants in the British media, Laura Timm is unafraid to embrace the label. “I’m happy to say I’m a migrant," says the 32-year-old Estonian who moved to London eight years ago. "It comes from inner confidence, because I know that I’m here to add value … personally and in the business field as well.” “I’m very blessed to have that inner confidence,” she admits. She’s now a London-based business consultant and motivational speaker. She lives with her partner and her cat a few minutes walk…

Despite the regular vilification of migrants in the British media, Laura Timm is unafraid to embrace the label. “I’m happy to say I’m a migrant," says the 32-year-old Estonian who…

Giovanna’s story - A life devoted to migration

Migration characterises the life and identity of Giovanna in several different ways: she comes from a migrant family, is a migrant herself, and migration has always been her field of work. “I think I ended up working in the migration field because of my personal background in some way. I was interested in it”, says Giovanna, in her office at the Open Society Foundation. Giovanna comes from a multiethnic and migrant family: her Italian father emigrated to Portugal where he married a Portuguese woman. They lived there for several years…

Migration characterises the life and identity of Giovanna in several different ways: she comes from a migrant family, is a migrant herself, and migration has always been her field of…

News

News

Migrant Voice’s campaign update on international students

A Westminster Hall debate on the international students affected by the English Language test scandal will now take place on Tuesday 4 September. We are delighted with this development following…

I am not a criminal - just an immigrant - Mark's story

Mark was arrested at home in London and detained in 2015. During his two-and-a-half-month incarceration he was questioned about why he came to Britain from East Africa, and was examined…

Windrush - Movement of a People

Windrush! It’s a powerful name, isn’t it? Rushing wind. A force of nature. It’s fitting for the Caribbeans who arrived in Tilbury in June 1948 on the Empire Windrush full…

I am myself. What changes is how others see me

Xiaoxia Yin was born in China, moving between Shenzhen and Hong Kong while her parents worked there, enrolled in a US college, took an internship in Hong Kong and…

Children born in the UK to EU parents will struggle to get documentation

Eurochildren researchers have found that children born in the UK to EU parents will struggle to get documentation in the UK after Brexit. Thousands EU citizens and their family members…

The deals we make to control migration...

Britain complains about “illegal immigration” but its own policy – like the policy in other European Union countries – is to put a squeeze on legal routes to entry. For…

Lenny Henry’s home truths

The third in an occasional series about TV and radio programmes about migrants and migration in Britain. In Lenny Henry: Commonwealth Kid the British comedian says “The Commonwealth made me…

He fought for England but is not allowed to stay.

Bilal Fawaz is a champion in the ring “but I need that one thing that will unlock everything,” he told Migrant Voice, “that thing that allows you to live as…

Laura: 'I'm happy to say I'm a migrant'

Despite the regular vilification of migrants in the British media, Laura Timm is unafraid to embrace the label. “I’m happy to say I’m a migrant," says the 32-year-old Estonian who…

Giovanna’s story - A life devoted to migration

Migration characterises the life and identity of Giovanna in several different ways: she comes from a migrant family, is a migrant herself, and migration has always been her field of…

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