Category: News

Another Europe is Possible: Report: Uniting Europe Against Islamophobia

In a time of rising racism, this crucial report details practical strategies to empower Europe’s Muslim communities.

‘Uniting Europe Against Islamophobia’ is a pathbreaking report from a delegation of UK Muslim women activists and politicians to Cologne, Germany, that took place in May-June 2023 to discuss empowering the Muslim community and tackling Islamophobia and xenophobia across all our societies. The delegation was part of an ongoing collaborative partnership between Another Europe Is Possible and the German political education foundation, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

Continue reading “Report: Uniting Europe Against Islamophobia”

November 2023: Rethinking Security: Alternative Security Review: Roundtables on Human Security

During the research phase of the Alternative Security Review, we held a series of roundtable discussions with representatives of UK civil society groups to learn more about what human security might mean in a UK context, what insecurities exist, what organisations are doing to address these insecurities, and what they would recommend for a Human Security Strategy for the UK.  

The discussions acted as consultations, comparable to those that the government carries out for security and other reviews. However, our aim was to invite representatives of groups who experience insecurity or do not have automatic access to policy-making spaces in order to develop an understanding of the insecurities faced by people in the UK that often go unheard in elite circles.

The collective message from these roundtable discussions is that, across all sectors, human and environmental security is not prioritised by government. Instead, traditional ideas about national security prevail, as does a commitment to neoliberalism and the built-in insecurity that creates for many.

Continue reading “Alternative Security Review”

16 November 2023: Tribune: The Rwanda Ruling Was a Victory – Here’s Where We Go Next

Yesterday, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled the government’s Rwanda policy unlawful. It was a victory for the PCS Union and others who initiated the legal challenge — but the fight for dignity for refugees is far from over.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeal’s ruling that the UK government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful. The court ruled that there was a real risk deported refugees could have their claims wrongly assessed and that they could be returned to their country of origin to face the very persecution which had forced them to flee in the first place. 

This was not only a win for the rights of refugees to seek safety in the UK and a stinging political defeat for the Tories — the judgment was also vindication for all workers and campaigners who see the demonisation of refugees for what it is: a ruse to mask the catastrophic failings on living standards overseen by the Tories. 

It is not refugees who have driven down wages and starved public services of the resources they need – it is the fault of successive Tory governments who have presided over a decade of brutal austerity cuts. 

Continue reading “The Rwanda Ruling Was a Victory – Here’s Where We Go Next”

16 November 2023: Open Democracy: Braverman had no evidence for ‘fake gay asylum seekers’ claim

Home Office forced to admit it held no information to support allegation made by then home secretary

Suella Braverman had no evidence for her claim that “many” people pretend to be gay in order to “game” the UK asylum system, the Home Office has been forced to admit.

The sacked former home secretary made the allegation in September as she sought to shore up support for her flagship policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda. The plan was deemed unlawful in the Supreme Court earlier today in a rare reprieve for hundreds of people who had been threatened with offshoring before their claims were decided.

Continue reading “Braverman had no evidence for ‘fake gay asylum seekers’ claim”

14 November 2023: Open Democracy: Supreme Court Rwanda ruling is a victory – but not the slam dunk you think

The courts won’t save us from the Home Office’s cruelty. Those who defend refugees must get bolder – fast

he UK Supreme Court has ruled that the government’s flagship Rwanda deportation plan for refugees is unlawful – a decision that will bring relief to thousands of men, women and children seeking asylum in this country who are trapped in the government’s backlog in crummy hotels or on the prison barge.

The Supreme Court found unanimously that there were clear grounds to believe refugees would not be safe in Rwanda, where 100% of people from Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan have had their asylum claims rejected, and where the government itself is accused of torture, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances. The real and serious danger in which our government was aiming to put people who came to us seeking protection is unthinkable and must never be forgotten.

Continue reading “The courts won’t save us from the Home Office’s cruelty.”

14 November 2023: Guardian: Migrant workers face exploitation as result of post-Brexit scheme, says report

Analysis by Work Rights Centre finds Home Office system prioritises immigration control over workers’ rights

Thousands of migrant workers are at risk of exploitation because of multiple failures in the government scheme that allows them to come to the UK, a report has found.

The way the Home Office has set up the employer sponsorship system to replace freedom of movement after Brexit has prioritised immigration control over workers’ rights, according to the report, Systematic Drivers of Migrant Worker Exploitation in the UK, from the Work Rights Centre.

It analysed 40 cases of migrant workers at risk of exploitation, along with documents connected with their cases. According to the latest government figures in the year ending June 2023, 321,000 work visas were granted, a 45% increase on the previous year.

“The exploitation of migrant workers is not coincidental but the outcome of a system, an inadequate and increasingly hostile national policy environment,” the report said.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/14/migrant-workers-face-exploitation-as-result-of-post-brexit-scheme-says-report

6 November 2023: The Bureau Investigates: New report urges stronger protections for UK’s seasonal workers

House of Lords report citing TBIJ evidence demands clampdown on abuse, poor living conditions and illegal fees

The House of Lords has published a new report urging the government to clamp down on the abuse that seasonal workers face on UK farms. This follows revelations by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) that hundreds of migrant workers in the UK’s agriculture sector have raised welfare issues including threats, wage theft and racism.

The Horticultural Sector Committee’s report, published on Monday, recommends a number of new measures including that the government split up labour inspectors from immigration enforcement. Citing concerns that workers are often deterred from reporting abuse for fear it might affect their immigration status, the report advises the government to “provide an official source of redress to seasonal workers that is not linked to immigration”.

Read more: https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-11-06/new-report-urges-stronger-protections-for-uks-seasonal-workers

FRIENDS OF STATUS IN-PERSON MEETING TO PROMOTE ITS ‘LEARNING TO WORK TOGETHER’ ACTIVITIES

This event took place on Thursday 12^th October, from 12:00 until 3:00pm. The report by Loraine Masiya Mponela follows:

A group of migrants and asylum seekers with precarious immigration status met in Birmingham to discuss a campaign strategy in the run up to elections.

The meeting was hosted by Birmingham Asylum and Refugee Association (BARA) which is a signatory organisation for the campaign. 

“We are resilient, we are strong. We can build a new life here. Let us work together to achieve this” said the chairperson for BARA Faith Ngcobo.

Continue reading “Friends of StatusNow in-person meeting 12 October 2023”

18 October 2023:  The British Red Cross 

The British Red Cross’ State of the Nation report on the UK asylum system brings together the latest data on the asylum and modern slavery systems.

It covers who is claiming asylum in the UK, how they are arriving, how they are being supported while they wait for a decision and who is being granted protection. It also presents data on survivors of modern slavery in the UK.

Read the report

Facts at a glance

2 October 2023: Guardian: In one vulgar swoop, Suella Braverman has humiliated every single migrant in the UK

The home secretary’s assertion that multiculturalism has ‘failed’ would have been considered beyond the pale even decades ago

Even by this government’s standards, last week was bleak and this one, as the Tory conference gets under way, promises to be no less dispiriting. It is clear that Conservative party policy proposals and rhetoric are now nothing but wild last-ditch attempts to renew chances at the next election, but Suella Braverman’s latest assertion that multiculturalism has “failed” proved that when it comes to immigration, we have moved away from dog whistles and back towards the sort of Powellite language that, even decades ago, was considered beyond the pale.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/02/suella-braverman-migrant-uk-multiculturalism

These are direct attacks by Home Secretary – Suella Braverman on the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights are not in our name:

26 September 2023: Guardian: UN rebukes Suella Braverman over her attack on refugee convention

UNHCR defends 1951 convention after UK home secretary’s speech on ‘uncontrolled and illegal migration’

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/26/un-suella-braverman-refugee-convention-unhcr-migration

---

Guardian: Braverman to ask world leaders to make refugee rules ‘fit for the modern age’

Home secretary’s address in Washington will urge reform of UN convention and has already prompted concern from charities

Suella Braverman will appeal on Tuesday to world leaders and political thinkers to consider rewriting key refugee rules so they are “fit for the modern age”.

In a move to alter an agreement that undermined UK plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, the home secretary will argue that the United Nations 1951 refugee convention must be reformed to tackle a worldwide migration crisis.

Continue reading “Direct attack on UN Refugee Convention and ECHR”

18 September 2023: Public Law Project: LORD CHANCELLOR FACES LEGAL CHALLENGE OVER LEGAL AID CRISIS

Public Law Project has taken the first step in bringing legal proceedings against the Lord Chancellor, Alex Chalk KC, arguing that he is in breach of his constitutional duty to make legal aid available for immigration and asylum issues.  

Explore our report written with Haringey Migrant Support Centre: ‘An Ocean of Unmet Need’

In a pre-action letter for judicial review, PLP claims that access to legal aid for immigration and asylum is now so poor that many people are being denied access to justice, which it is the Lord Chancellor’s duty to uphold.

Continue reading “LEGAL AID CRISIS”

People are tragically dying and being seriously injured because their e-scooter battery has exploded, or they are trapped by this fire and are trying to get away.

People in asylum accommodation may not come across the warnings that are being sent out to help us all understand the risks. The batteries can explode when they are being charged – here are some safety points from the fire service.

Can we get this to as many people as possible, including those in hotels: https://www.manchesterfire.gov.uk/your-safety/fire-safety/house-maisonette-or-bungalow/electrical/e-bikes-and-e-scooters/

Thank you

---

Key messages:

Continue reading “e-scooter batteries exploding”