MP activity Archives - Status Now 4 All

November 10, 2022November 10, 2022

Human Rights of Asylum Seekers in the UK

UK Parliament: Inquiry Human Rights of Asylum Seekers in the UK

Wednesday 16 November 2022, Start times: 2.45pm (private) 3.00pm (public) Formal meeting (oral evidence session): Human Rights of Asylum Seekers in the UK Committee Human Rights (Joint Committee)

At 3.00pm: Laura Dubinsky Barrister at Doughty Street Chambers

Rachel Bingham Clinical Advisor at Medical Justice

Rudy Shulkind Policy and Parliamentary Manager at Bail for Immigration Detainees

At 4.00pm: Charlie TaylorHM Chief Inspector of Prisons at HM Inspectorate of Prisons

Information about watching this can be found here: https://committees.parliament.uk/event/15701

April 12, 2022October 6, 2022

Status Now campaign : EDM (Early Day Motion)1098

EDM #1098 Tabled by Claudia Webbe MP for Leicester East, on 21 March 2022

Motion text: That this House recognises the important campaigning work of the Status Now network on their two year anniversary; notes that there are currently an unknown number of persons in the UK who are not citizens and who do not at present have leave to remain in this country, who lack any entitlement to support from the state and are therefore entirely without funds to feed, clothe and house themselves and their families; considers it essential that the Government takes immediate action to ensure that Leave to Remain in the United Kingdom is granted to all such persons who are within the UK but are not citizens, irrespective of their nationality or immigration status, so that they can access healthcare, food, housing and other essential human rights; notes that asylum support allowance is a mere £39.63 per week which is a miserly and inadequate amount on which to be able to survive; laments the prohibition on asylum seekers being able to work while their claim is being processed, which leads to further impoverishment; welcomes the recent progress made in Ireland through the regularisation scheme for long-term undocumented people, launched in January 2022, which will offer an amnesty for 17,000 undocumented migrants; and calls on the Government to follow suit and ensure that all undocumented, destitute and migrant people in the legal process be granted status now, or indefinite leave to remain, to guarantee that every human being, irrespective of their nationality or citizenship can access the essentials to live.

We thank Claudia Webbe MP for her continuing support for the StatusNow4All campaign

Please ask your MP to sign this EDM. If they do not sign EDMs then you can ask them to talk with others about concerns raised above.

February 8, 2022July 31, 2022

EDM #1442: Undocumented migrants and covid-19 vaccination

Early Day Motion 1442 tabled on 3 February 2021: Undocumented migrants and covid-19 vaccination

Motion text: That this House believes that access to essential healthcare is a universal human right; regrets the continued existence of structural, institutional and systemic barriers in accessing NHS care experienced by undocumented migrants and those awaiting determination of their asylum, visa and immigration applications; considers that an effective public health response to the covid-19 crisis requires that the most vulnerable can afford to access food, healthcare, and self-isolate where necessary; understands that some of the most vulnerable people in society will not access vaccination against the virus, since to disclose their identity to the authorities would risk their arrest, detention and deportation; fears that without urgent Government intervention this will lead to further avoidable premature deaths, especially in the African, Asian and Minority Ethnic population; and therefore calls on the Home Office to grant everyone currently in the UK at this time who are undocumented migrants and those awaiting determination of their asylum, visa and immigration applications indefinite leave to remain, and to be eligible in due course to receive the covid-19 vaccination.

January 31, 2022September 16, 2023

Ireland: MASI welcomes the decision by the minister to offer once in a generation Amnesty for 17000 undocumented migrants

Updated 31 January 2022: Migrant Rights Centre Ireland@MigrantRightsIr

What a historic day!

The Regularisation Scheme for Undocumented people is open for applications!

Today is truly the victory of the Justice for the Undocumented campaign group and all the brave undocumented people who came forward and fought for justice! #undocIrl

Find out more about undocumented scheme at http://mrci.ie/scheme21

October 20, 2021September 16, 2023

Is personal data of those seeking access to NHS services shared with immigration enforcement authorities.

Updated 20 October 2021: The Information Commissioners Office has commented recently about The Data Sharing Code of Practice, which is a statutory code made under section 121 of the Data Protection Act 2018 that was first published by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in December 2020 and came into force on 5 October 2021 saying that “data sharing must engender trust in how personal data is used in order to drive innovation, economic growth and the delivery of more efficient and targeted services.

In the ICO’s view, data sharing will be central to the United Kingdom’s recovery from the covid-19 pandemic.”

Status Now notes that the absence of firewall between health and immigration data and the Government’s drive to implement its ‘status checking’ project undermines any potential for engendering trust.

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-sharing-information-hub/

August 18, 2021June 5, 2023

We Need Practical Resources that Enable Positive Acts of Compassion with Everyone who Needs Them

“The support that is being offered to Afghans highlights the lack of help and resource being given to people fleeing similar threat and oppression elsewhere.”
Sir Peter Soulsby, City Mayor for Leicester

The plight of the Afghan people who are now fleeing from their homes is prompting positive and compassionate responses from a wide range of bodies and groupings across the UK. Councils such as Abergavenny, and conurbations such as Greater Manchester and Liverpool are receiving some additional monies via the Home Office to house people. However, as Sir Peter Soulsby, City Mayor for Leicester, an organisational signatory to the Status Now Network has observed to us this morning:

“As we have always done, Leicester will welcome those seeking refuge from conflict and oppression. We will be taking the opportunity to participate in the resettlement scheme announced today as a response to the truly awful situation in Afghanistan. We expect that resources will be provided to local councils so that we can provide and co-ordinate the support that will be needed. Leicester will proudly offer sanctuary and a new home to Afghans fleeing the Taliban. The support that is being offered to Afghans highlights the lack of help and resource being given to people fleeing similar threat and oppression elsewhere. These people too are welcome in Leicester and deserve better from the government.“

July 19, 2021November 13, 2021

MPs call for Status Now for Migrants: Simultaneous Rallies throughout England

StatusNow4All press release.

Updated 19 July 2021: Claudia Webbe, Member of Parliament for Leicester East, will today call for Status Now for all undocumented migrants.

On the evening of 19^th July 2021 Parliament’s Westminster Hall will debate a petition of 103,440 signatures that calls for the urgent regularisation of undocumented migrants with a safe pathway to citizenship after five years. A demonstration is planned outside of Downing Street to coincide with the debate and amplify the calls for justice for all undocumented migrants.

Ms Webbe has been leading a parliamentary campaign for a secure immigration status for all undocumented migrants. The Member of Parliament for Leicester East tabled the ground-breaking EDM 658 that called for Indefinite Leave to Remain for the first time in the history of the British Parliament. This was followed in February 2021 with EDM 1442 to reinforce this need.

July 19, 2021September 6, 2021

Rising Calls for Health and Safety 4 ALL

StatusNow logo

19th July 2021: PRESS RELEASE: Rising Calls for Health and Safety 4 ALL
Debate in Parliament today coincides with simultaneous demonstrations

“As a health worker, I must be enabled to do my job to the best of my ability, not be confronted with this abuse and distress and trauma and expected to keep on working, keep on raising my children safety, while my man is threatened with this great danger”. Front Line Nurse, Daisy Motlogwa

“It is incredible that we let unknown numbers of people languish without documentation, forced into the “unofficial” economy or worse. People who can work, want to work and pay taxes should be brought into the mainstream.” Tony Lloyd MP for Rochdale

May 13, 2021April 12, 2022

EDM #7 – Regularisation of undocumented migrants

StatusNow4All welcomes the following EDM #7, and we remind readers of EDM #1442: https://statusnow4all.org/edm-1442-undocumented-migrants-and-covid-19-vaccination/

EDM #7: That this House recognises that there are many barriers that prevent people from accessing and maintaining stable immigration status even when they were either born in the UK or have lived in the UK for many years; further recognises that the majority of undocumented migrants have lost their status through no fault of their own, including through an inability to pay application fees, lack of access to legal advice, mistakes on the part of decision-makers and complexity of immigration rules; understands that the harm done to individuals through hostile immigration policies extends to family members and the communities that they are part of; notes that the UK has one of the most complex and expensive routes to regularisation in Europe; further notes that all current routes to regularisation and settlement are far too long, complicated and inflexible, leaving people with no options but to live undocumented; understands that migrants who do not have access to the public safety net or the right to work are vulnerable to exploitation and; and calls on the Government to support recommendations made by Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants in its report, We Are Here: routes to regularisation for the UK’s undocumented population, published in April 2021 by introducing new routes to regularisation and removing barriers which cause migrants to become undocumented.

https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/58432

April 16, 2021July 31, 2022

UK Asylum System and Asylum Seekers’ Mental Health

#ICIBI The Mental Health Foundation has found that the increased vulnerability to mental health problems that refugees and asylum seekers face is linked both to their pre-migration and post-migration experiences. People who have fled persecution, violence and war hope to find safety and security in the UK. Tragically, the current UK asylum system often exacerbates their suffering, with long waits for asylum decisions, poor accommodation and a ban on working all contributing to this situation.

March 10, 2021September 6, 2021

Please write to your MP: EDM 1442

StatusNow logo

Please bring this Early Day Motion – EDM #1442 to the attention of your MP and request that they sign it.

This is a suggested text:

February 22, 2021March 25, 2022

The Right to Food: Liverpool and Manchester

Food poverty: Food poverty is commonly defined as ‘the inability to acquire or consume an adequate or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways, or the uncertainty that one will be able to do so’.

It can have a detrimental impact on physical and psychological wellbeing so it’s important for a person to have access to and the choice of an affordable, acceptable and healthy diet throughout their life

Public Health Scotland http://www.healthscotland.scot/health-inequalities/fundamental-causes/poverty/food-poverty

December 18, 2020December 19, 2020

EDM (Early Day Motion)1263: Migrant Workers’ Rights

What can you do? Please ask your MP to sign EDM #1263, and to talk about it with colleagues. Thank you

Tabled on 10 December 2020: That this House would like to thank migrant workers who have been at the forefront of the UKs response to the pandemic; believes that recovery from covid-19 must level up migrant workers’ rights; further recognises that the Hostile Environment, particularly No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) and the “illegal working” offence, forces migrants to continue go into work even when it is not safe to do; is concerned that the illegal working offence pushes undocumented migrants to look for employment among exploitative employers who know they are unable report abuse in the workplace for fear of immigration enforcement; expresses further concern that the illegal working offence disincentivises employers from hiring migrant workers and creates a culture of discrimination in employment practices; notes that the exploitation of migrant workers in the labour market drives down labour standards and protections for all workers; and calls on the Government to implement the recommendations in the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants “Work It Out” campaign by scrapping NRPF and repealing the “illegal working” offence.

November 21, 2020November 22, 2020

‘We are only as safe as the most vulnerable in our society’

19 November 2020: During this pandemic, the government has handed out £18 billion to private companies, many of which had little or no experience in public health and whose only qualification seem to be a close personal relationship with a member of the government. This is a government that is frivolous when it comes to handing public money out to Tory donors or private companies, but penny pinching when it comes to bailing out communities across the country.

September 16, 2020November 2, 2020

Status, Safety and Solidarity event 22 September 2020

[Updated 22.9.2020] Many thanks to everyone who attended or took part in this energising event.

You can watch the Zoom meeting here:

Status, Safety and Solidarity Now 4 All on Tuesday 22nd September with participation from MPs, trade unions, campaigners and those with lived experience, the focus being:

Building solidarity and dismantling the false divide between all workers, undocumented workers and the Trade Unions movement.

Valuing the lives and livelihoods of all undocumented migrants and people with insecure status, as migrant rights are human rights.