Memo to our new PM:…

Editorials

Memo to our new PM: Migrant issues need migrant voices

As our new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak has a chance to make a difference to the lives of every migrant in the UK. It is up to him, now, to set the country on a new course by framing migrants and migration as a powerful, positive force for good, as a crucial contributor not just to the health and care services, but to sport, hospitality, education, to overall economic and cultural vitality and growth. The public debate on migration in the last few years has been exceedingly negative. The conversation…

As our new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak has a chance to make a difference to the lives of every migrant in the UK. It is up to him, now, to…

An open letter to the next Prime Minister

Dear Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, We are very concerned that throughout the Conservative Party leadership election hustings, including the media interviews and briefings, migration has been almost entirely absent. Equally regrettably, the few occasions migration has been mentioned have been couched in negative language. Both of you have expressed support for the plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda, and one of you even wants to extend the scheme to other countries, even though the legality of the scheme has not yet been decided and packing people off…

Dear Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, We are very concerned that throughout the Conservative Party leadership election hustings, including the media interviews and briefings, migration has been almost entirely absent.…

A new PM must end the hostility towards migrants

Britain is in flux and so is Europe: another new prime minister in the UK - the third in three years, an election 30 months away at most, the effects of Brexit still impacting politically and economically, a major war in Europe with more national boundaries threatened and millions of people already displaced. Times are changing faster than governments can handle and certainly faster than the prime ministerial hopefuls appear to have realised. There’s rarely been greater need for tolerance, cohesion, stability and inclusive leadership. Yet the country continues to…

Britain is in flux and so is Europe: another new prime minister in the UK - the third in three years, an election 30 months away at most, the effects…

Drop the Rwanda deal

The grounding of the first deportation flight to Rwanda at the 11th hour was a win for justice. No one was deported: the asylum seekers are still in the UK, where they should be. Still, it was a very precarious win and we can’t let our guard down, as the government has announced that it will challenge the decision, determined to push through no matter what. Let’s be clear about what the Rwanda plan really is. A variety of public figures have called it “appalling.” 25 bishops and archbishops described…

The grounding of the first deportation flight to Rwanda at the 11th hour was a win for justice. No one was deported: the asylum seekers are still in the UK,…

10 years of hostility must end

In May 2012 the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, ushered in the “really Hostile Environment”, aimed at making life impossible for undocumented migrants. In the ensuing decade it has been spread like a cancer, contaminating everything and everyone it touches - including all of us who live here, together with our laws, politics, media, culture and values. Indeed, perhaps no other policy in living memory has left such a malign mark, a stain like an oil slick. By design or consequence, it is racist, xenophobic, immoral, illegal, unfair, punishing, divisive,…

In May 2012 the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, ushered in the “really Hostile Environment”, aimed at making life impossible for undocumented migrants. In the ensuing decade it has been…

Protection by invitation only

The government’s admission that it will send people seeking safety in the UK all the way to Rwanda, even those who might be persecuted there – such as LGBTQI+ asylum seekers – shows just how vicious is the thinking behind the plan. The government is willing to send a message of deterrence at any cost, whether human or financial. Almost all cultures around the world respond to people in distress by offering a helping hand. It’s what you would expect if you were fleeing conflict or dangerous prejudice, if you or your…

The government’s admission that it will send people seeking safety in the UK all the way to Rwanda, even those who might be persecuted there – such as LGBTQI+ asylum seekers –…

Reduce visa costs now

A “living hell”; “difficult to survive”; unable to lead a “normal” life; “I can’t feed my kids”; “terrible”; “hopeless”; “mental torture”, “ruined life”. Through a Migrant Voice report on the impact of visa fees and the visa application process, migrants are saying what the rest of the country seems not to know: that visa fees are exorbitant, unfair, financially punitive and a threat to health and well-being. The report shows that migrants are charged more than seven times the administrative cost of a visa and that two-thirds of migrants who…

A “living hell”; “difficult to survive”; unable to lead a “normal” life; “I can’t feed my kids”; “terrible”; “hopeless”; “mental torture”, “ruined life”. Through a Migrant Voice report on the…

From protection to deterrence

The UK Government’s plan to turn people into human cargo and send them against their will to Rwanda is chilling. It would effectively end the UK’s participation in the United Nations Refugee Convention, moving Britain away from protecting refugees to deterring them. The Government is seeking, by any means and at almost any cost, to avoid its international responsibilities while demanding other countries take theirs. Much of the Government’s rhetoric is about legal routes for those seeking asylum, but safe legal routes are not available to all who need them.…

The UK Government’s plan to turn people into human cargo and send them against their will to Rwanda is chilling. It would effectively end the UK’s participation in the United…

War of words

WEDNESDAY 9 MARCH, 2022 Words heal, explain, inform, enlighten. They can also hurt, muddle, mislead, misinform. And as reactions to the 2 million - and still rising - Ukrainian refugees show, they can reveal. Many responses have been heartwarming and helpful: scores of Germans holding placards offering rooms in their homes to people they’ve never met; Poland taking in 1.2 million refugees by 8 March backed up by small cash payments for each newcomer from a specially created £1.3 billion fund. Others have been slow, confused, and ill-considered. Sadly, the…

WEDNESDAY 9 MARCH, 2022 Words heal, explain, inform, enlighten. They can also hurt, muddle, mislead, misinform. And as reactions to the 2 million - and still rising - Ukrainian refugees…

Eight years of injustice: It's time for the Home Office to face up and pay up

THURSDAY 24 FEBRUARY, 2022 A second BBC Newsnight programme, broadcast on 23 February, again highlighted the huge miscarriage of justice affecting tens of thousands of international students due to the Home Office's insistence on using flawed evidence to take action against them. Eight years ago, tens of thousands of students were wrongly accused of cheating on an English-language test and were forced to return their countries because, overnight, they were barred from their courses and from working in Britain, renting accommodation or using the NHS. Some were detained. Some were deported. Those who stayed…

THURSDAY 24 FEBRUARY, 2022 A second BBC Newsnight programme, broadcast on 23 February, again highlighted the huge miscarriage of justice affecting tens of thousands of international students due to the Home Office's…

Memo to our new PM: Migrant issues need migrant voices

Editorials

Memo to our new PM: Migrant issues need migrant voices

As our new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak has a chance to make a difference to the lives of every migrant in the UK. It is up to him, now, to…

An open letter to the next Prime Minister

Dear Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, We are very concerned that throughout the Conservative Party leadership election hustings, including the media interviews and briefings, migration has been almost entirely absent.…

A new PM must end the hostility towards migrants

Britain is in flux and so is Europe: another new prime minister in the UK - the third in three years, an election 30 months away at most, the effects…

Drop the Rwanda deal

The grounding of the first deportation flight to Rwanda at the 11th hour was a win for justice. No one was deported: the asylum seekers are still in the UK,…

10 years of hostility must end

In May 2012 the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, ushered in the “really Hostile Environment”, aimed at making life impossible for undocumented migrants. In the ensuing decade it has been…

Protection by invitation only

The government’s admission that it will send people seeking safety in the UK all the way to Rwanda, even those who might be persecuted there – such as LGBTQI+ asylum seekers –…

Reduce visa costs now

A “living hell”; “difficult to survive”; unable to lead a “normal” life; “I can’t feed my kids”; “terrible”; “hopeless”; “mental torture”, “ruined life”. Through a Migrant Voice report on the…

From protection to deterrence

The UK Government’s plan to turn people into human cargo and send them against their will to Rwanda is chilling. It would effectively end the UK’s participation in the United…

War of words

WEDNESDAY 9 MARCH, 2022 Words heal, explain, inform, enlighten. They can also hurt, muddle, mislead, misinform. And as reactions to the 2 million - and still rising - Ukrainian refugees…

Eight years of injustice: It's time for the Home Office to face up and pay up

THURSDAY 24 FEBRUARY, 2022 A second BBC Newsnight programme, broadcast on 23 February, again highlighted the huge miscarriage of justice affecting tens of thousands of international students due to the Home Office's…

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