Migration Matters

Show Racism the Red Card launch annual magazine

Show Racism the Red Card is a leading UK charity working towards tackling racism and discrimination, through educational and informative resources that help kids and adults challenge racism. ‘The organisation utilises the high-profile status of football and football players to help tackle racism in society.’ The new annual magazine, explores issues of racism, immigration and homophobic bullying. In the annual the charity also features exclusive interviews with footballers Daniel Sturridge, Cesc Fabregas and Eniola Aluko; as well as, editorials on the role of the media in addressing these issues…

Show Racism the Red Card is a leading UK charity working towards tackling racism and discrimination, through educational and informative resources that help kids and adults challenge racism. ‘The…

New report reveals discrimination

A new report on the impact of the Right to Rent checks on migrants and ethnic minorities in England 'Passport Please' finds that foreigners and British citizens without passports, particularly those from ethnic minorities, are being discriminated against in the private rental housing market. The report, by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants examines the impact of the 'right to rent' scheme a year on from its nationwide roll-out in England. The scheme requires landlords and agents to check the immigration status of all prospective tenants and refuse…

A new report on the impact of the Right to Rent checks on migrants and ethnic minorities in England 'Passport Please' finds that foreigners and British citizens without passports, particularly…

Free ebook application guides for EU citizens

Free ebook application guides for EU citizens Barrister and immigration law expert Colin Yeo has published a short series of ebook guides aimed at EU and EEA nationals wanting to apply for residence documents here in the UK. They are updated and expanded versions of his existing ebook on EU applications, and have been separated out into different guides to try and keep the length and complexity to a minimum. The guides…

Free ebook application guides for EU citizens Barrister and immigration law expert Colin Yeo has published a short series of ebook guides aimed at EU and EEA nationals wanting…

When they won't look at the camera, focus on the ground

What do you do as a photographer when you realise that you are in a place where taking pictures is exploiting people rather than helping them? Point your camera downwards. That was Gideon Mendel’s solution after months of working in the “Jungle” refugee camp in Calais. He went there to teach photography to residents as part of a collaborative documentary project. But many of the migrants were hostile, fearing that photographs might identify them and be used to block their asylum claims. Others were simply cynical, pointing out that the…

What do you do as a photographer when you realise that you are in a place where taking pictures is exploiting people rather than helping them? Point your camera downwards.…

New report offers insight into lives of LGBT migrants

According to recent research, LGBT migrants generally experienced a greater sense of being accepted in Scotland compared to their home countries and this was often the main factor behind the decision to settle in Scotland permanently. The Intimate Migrations Report by the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, involved over 50 migrants from the Central and Eastern European (CEE) and Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries. The study looked at the experience of the participants and the role their sexual orientation played in their migration stories. Focus was…

According to recent research, LGBT migrants generally experienced a greater sense of being accepted in Scotland compared to their home countries and this was often the main factor behind the…

what's love got to do with it?

Feeling a little jaded with traditional theatrical formats? Try Removal Men. It’s a three-hander – two officers and their woman boss (Clare Perkins, so good that she seems to be a manager at work rather than an actor on stage) – set in an immigration removal centre. One of the men has fallen for a Lebanese detainee. It’s an unusual set-up that has its origins in the involvement of one of the writers, Mike Harding, in an attempt to block the deportation of an Indian detainee at Yarl’s Wood detention…

Feeling a little jaded with traditional theatrical formats? Try Removal Men. It’s a three-hander – two officers and their woman boss (Clare Perkins, so good that she seems to be…

Now we are here – but what a time we’ve had

Have you heard the one about three gay men – a Pakistani, a Jamaican and a Burundian – who walk into a theatre? You should – it’s moving. Now We Are Here consists of three stories of refugees who came to the UK to escape war or persecution for being gay. Each man’s story has been shaped into a monologue by poet and spoken word artist Deanna Rodger, woven into the testimony of the others and acted out on the Young Vic stage. The result is…

Have you heard the one about three gay men – a Pakistani, a Jamaican and a Burundian – who walk into a theatre? You should – it’s moving.…

Finding a new home from home

Twelve photographs of refugees in London, 12 interviews about the moment they felt free or safe, the moment the UK became home. It’s a simple idea, a small exhibition, but powerful. Two of them pick a library as background for their portraits. Charles from Senegal chose to be photographed in the British Library: "It's a place where I come very often to reflect, write and study. It's a place full of history." Says 40-year-old doctor F.: “When I am in any place here, the first thing I ask is, ‘Where…

Twelve photographs of refugees in London, 12 interviews about the moment they felt free or safe, the moment the UK became home. It’s a simple idea, a small exhibition, but…

new play set in a container

Cargo at the Arcola Theatre is set in a container – which gives a clue of what the play is about. A stronger clue comes from the recent activities of the writer, Tess Berry-Hart: last year she visited the refugee camp at Calais and became aid and advocacy co-ordinator for Calais Action: “I’ve loaded up a few containers in my life.” So it’s not surprising that her latest play is about unaccompanied children on their way to Europe. In a container. Other people are on the crossing, and some don’t…

Cargo at the Arcola Theatre is set in a container – which gives a clue of what the play is about. A stronger clue comes from the recent activities of…

The best of the worst place I've ever seen

As long as there are people “who, for whatever reason, seek shelter in Britain, Calais will be the primary port of call.” This reminder of Calais’ past and present was given by Robert Tombs, a University of Cambridge history professor, at the opening of a fascinating exhibition in east London, Call Me By My Name: Stories from Calais and Beyond. He recalled that for 200 years Calais was part of England. Today a small part of it is occupied by people trying to live here. Once it was the route…

As long as there are people “who, for whatever reason, seek shelter in Britain, Calais will be the primary port of call.” This reminder of Calais’ past and present was…

Migration Matters