Editorial: Put people before numbers

Editorials

Editorial: Put people before numbers

A work-based immigration system matching the vision laid out in the recently published Migration Advisory Committee report would be a dismal one – and we call on the Government to reject these recommendations and design a system that truly works for all. The report – the result of studies commissioned by the Home Office into the salary threshold and a possible future points-based system – recommends a post-Brexit system that combines these two approaches. While we do welcome some of the MAC’s recommendations – such as lowering the general salary…

A work-based immigration system matching the vision laid out in the recently published Migration Advisory Committee report would be a dismal one – and we call on the Government to…

Editorial: Make 2020 a year of reform

“I keep asking myself, how long am I going to live like this?” These are the words of Espoir, one of our members in Birmingham, who is originally from Cameroon and is claiming asylum here. Like many migrants and asylum seekers in the UK waiting for an immigration or asylum decision, Espoir is subjected to long delays and an attitude of suspicion, and she’s forced to live an undignified life while she waits. These issues epitomise the chronic problems with the current Home Office and immigration system – problems of…

“I keep asking myself, how long am I going to live like this?” These are the words of Espoir, one of our members in Birmingham, who is originally from Cameroon…

Editorial: Post-election, we continue the fight

After this general election we stand in solidarity with our members and with all migrants in the UK, many of whom are already suffering the daily dehumanising consequences of current policies and may be fearing what lies ahead. But we who believe in a fairer society, one where migrants and refugees are embraced as equal members of the community, where rhetoric on immigration is characterised by humanity and backed up with policies to match, and where opportunity and rights are not determined by skin colour or income level – we…

After this general election we stand in solidarity with our members and with all migrants in the UK, many of whom are already suffering the daily dehumanising consequences of current…

Editorial: Dear candidate...

The UK will soon have a new government. We want to see one that shares our vision of a society where migrants and refugees have full equality – where they are heard, respected, have rights, and are embraced as equal members of our community – and we need your help on this. We have three specific asks at this election, and we’re writing to prospective parliamentary candidates across the country urging them to support those asks if they are elected: 1. End the injustice faced by thousands of international students…

The UK will soon have a new government. We want to see one that shares our vision of a society where migrants and refugees have full equality – where they…

Editorial: Unsettling

“I know I should apply but can’t bring myself to do it. I’m furious, I have been here for 24 years, have paid my taxes for all those years, have three children who were all born here. This is my home! Why do I need to apply to stay in my own home? I still have hope it might all not go ahead, I guess that’s partly why I’m waiting […] The whole thing makes my blood boil.” These are the words of one person who completed our recent…

“I know I should apply but can’t bring myself to do it. I’m furious, I have been here for 24 years, have paid my taxes for all those years, have…

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…

“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…

Editorial: Missing the point

The famed “Australian-style points-based system” is being hailed by some at the top of the Government as the answer to everything (well everything related to work-based immigration anyway). Without any details – which are scarce to non-existent – it’s difficult to judge this potential future immigration policy. However, we are concerned that such a system could wrest power away from employers and employees (surely those best placed to decide who should fill a job vacancy), handing it to a Government that has so far been hostile to all migrants who…

The famed “Australian-style points-based system” is being hailed by some at the top of the Government as the answer to everything (well everything related to work-based immigration anyway). Without any…

Editorial: Justice put on hold

Amidst the current chaos of UK politics, tens of thousands of international students watch in despair as their futures are suspended once again. They are amongst many groups in the UK who are losing out on their fight for justice due to the parliamentary paralysis. Their voices are not being heard, their problems are not being addressed – and this must change. In 2014, nearly 60,000 international students were flung into limbo by the government amid a flurry of unfounded allegations and have been battling for more than five years to…

Amidst the current chaos of UK politics, tens of thousands of international students watch in despair as their futures are suspended once again. They are amongst many groups in the UK…

Editorial: A policy of chaos

The announcement from the Home Office this week that freedom of movement will end on 31 October in the case of a no-deal Brexit is both callous and potentially catastrophic and the government must immediately and loudly withdraw this policy, even if it turns out that the announcement was no more than a particularly crude negotiating tactic. In the last three years, the government has shown time and time again that it is prepared to toy with the lives and livelihoods of more than three million citizens in this country,…

The announcement from the Home Office this week that freedom of movement will end on 31 October in the case of a no-deal Brexit is both callous and potentially catastrophic…

Editorial: A Home Office fit for today

A new government brings a welcome opportunity for a new approach to immigration in this country. And we certainly welcome what seems to be a shift away from migration targets that reduce people to statistics and equate success with fewer migrants. But we’re concerned by some of the approaches suggested so far by the new Prime Minister and his Home Secretary, which are fundamentally incompatible with the realities of our modern world, and which perpetuate the anti-foreigner sentiment in which decades of UK immigration policy are rooted. “Highly-skilled” migrants are welcome,…

A new government brings a welcome opportunity for a new approach to immigration in this country. And we certainly welcome what seems to be a shift away from migration targets…

Editorial: Put people before numbers

Editorials