| Welcome to this edition of SNN newsletter where we are covering a number of items that will be of interest to everyone involved in migrant and refugee solidarity work. The first article comments Sunak’s ‘stop small boats’ plan with the ‘illegal migration bill’. The second highlights how the government’s aim is not to ‘stop the small boats’, but to stop people asking for refugee status in the UK and invite the workers’ and antiracist movements to further mobilize together against the government’s cruel antirefugee policy. Our third article reports the result of a recent research that shows how the 10-year route is a ‘punishing process’ that reduces immigrants in misery. Children and the hostile environment is the topic of our fourth article that invite to a webinar organized by our signatory Social Scientists Against the Hostile Environment. Finally, we publish a call from our signatory Migrant Voice to contribute to their forthcoming report on the conditions of asylum seekers in London hotels. |
Sunak’s ‘stop small boats’ plan is a desperate gamble he seems unlikely to win
12 March 2023: The “illegal migration bill” places a legal duty on the home secretary to remove anyone who arrives on a small boat, either to Rwanda or another “safe third country”, “as soon as reasonably practicable”.
For this plan to work it will be necessary to detain each and every person arriving in a small boat until their removal can be affected. The logistical problems here are immense. Last year the total entering by this route was 45,756. The figure for the current year is likely to be as high, with over 3,000 arriving since January.
According to the Oxford University Migration Observatory the immigration removal centre estate has a capacity for detaining people in the region of 2,500 places. A further 500 people have been detained in regular prison establishments but the scope for making greater use of these facilities is limited. The statistics provided for the UK in the World Prison Brief shows the prison system already in an overcrowded state, with more than 83.000 people being held across an estate with an official capacity of just over 77,000.
Continue reading “Sunak’s ‘stop small boats’ plan is a desperate gamble he seems unlikely to win”StatusNow4All Newsletter February 2023
| Welcome to this edition of SNN newsletter where we are covering a number of items that will be of interest to everyone involved in migrant and refugee solidarity work. The first article analyses the government ‘s responsibilities for the racist riot in Knowsley. The second highlights how four reviews of the hostile environment recently published by the Home Office show that this policy is racist. The fight for antiracist workplaces and our call for status now for all is the focus of our third article, while the fourth article shows the strong support of the BFAWU (Bakers, Food & Allied Workers Union) to our campaign and reports an important motion approved by its executive committee. |
Status Now Network and the fight for antiracist workplaces
20 February 2023: Status Now Network and the fight for antiracist workplaces
Status Now Network joined the Stand Up to Racism and TUC’s national conference Fighting for Anti-Racist Workplaces held at SOAS, University of London, last February 4th. The conference highlighted the role of the trade union movement to combat racism in the workplace, the hostile environment that targets migrant workers and refugees, and the various community interventions to prevent the rise of the far-right movement across the UK.
Refugees and SNN campaigners Loraine Masiya Mponela and Rogelio Braga were invited to participate in the workshop session #Stop Rwanda #Refugees welcome -don’t let scapegoating divide us , where Braga was one of the speakers. He highlighted that the plight of undocumented migrant workers should also be at the agenda of the British union movement. Undocumented migrants with their precarious migration status are subjected to exploitation, racism, and unfair labour practice with limited protection and support from institutions.
Below is Braga’s speech in the Conference.
Continue reading “Status Now Network and the fight for antiracist workplaces“Years of refugee policy failure laid the grounds for the Knowsley riot
20 February 2023: Years of refugee policy failure laid the grounds for the Knowsley riot – the government should be made to own it
The scene outside The Suites hotel in the Liverpool suburb of Knowsley earlier this month provided a powerful summary of where the politics of immigration are in the UK at this moment in time.
It is sadly a feature of anxious times that segments of the population will look to simplistic explanations for the threats to their living standards which place the blame on ‘foreigners’ and other minoritized people.
Continue reading “Years of refugee policy failure laid the grounds for the Knowsley riot“Home Office review of the hostile environment concedes that it is racist
20 February 2023: The home office published a series of reviews of its hostile environment policies at the beginning of February.
An attempt was made to rebrand the approach after the details of the Windrush scandal became public in 2017 as ‘complaint environment’ policies but the older term has remained current.
The four reviews published do far are:
Continue reading “Home Office review of the hostile environment concedes that it is racist“The Bakers, Food & Allied Workers Union’s support to the call for status now for all
20 February 2023: The president of BFAWU (Bakers, Food & Allied Workers Union), Ian Hodson, was one of the participants in the Status Now Network strategy weekend (held on 27th – 29th January).
He found it to be ‘a very inspirational event meeting real leaders and fighters for justice, people who are suffering real hardship but show incredible strength and resilience’.
He wrote this contribution announcing the motion approved by the BFAWU executive committee and stressing their strong commitment to the status now for all campaign:
Having recently attended the Status Now strategy weekend, I was pleased to report back to my national executive about the positive time I spent taking part in developing how we build the campaign and solidarity. I am pleased that our executive has adopted the following motion which will now go to our conference in June this year. It reads as follows:
Continue reading “The Bakers, Food & Allied Workers Union’s support to the call for status now for all”Migration Health and Care
PICUM: FINLAND: NEW LAW EXPANDS HEALTH CARE FOR UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS
A new law has recently come into force in Finland that expands health care for undocumented migrants living in the country. Under this law, undocumented people can now access necessary care – that is, care that health care professionals deem necessary. This covers, for instance, conditions like diabetes or asthma that, if left untreated, would constitute a risk to the person’s health and increase the likelihood of urgent care being needed in the future.
Continue reading “Migration Health and Care”StatusNow4All Newsletter January 2023
| Welcome to this edition of SNN newsletter where we are covering a number of items that will be of interest to everyone involved in migrant and refugee solidarity work. The first article analyses the renewed government attacks on the rights of migrants and invites all movements for migrant justice to come together and intensify our campaigns to defeat them. The second article reports the launch of the antiracist network promoted by the Trade Union Congress. A call for the rights of domestic workers by our signatory Waling Waling is the topic of our third article, while a contribution by our signatory Migrant Voice denounces the horrible conditions experienced by asylum seekers in London hotels. Finally we welcome our new signatory Migrant Democracy Project. |
Welcome to 2023, as the government renews its attacks on the rights of migrants
StatusNow4All: Welcome to 2023, as the government renews its attacks on the rights of migrants
The New Year was underway before the prime minister offered up his ‘five pledges’ to the nation, one of which being to stop “small boats” crossing the Channel. The use of phrase is intended to put a benign gloss on a political programme which aims at a final end to the right to seek asylum in the UK.
The right wing of Mr Sunak’s party sees a renewed attack on the rights of migrants as the only chance the Conservative party has of digging itself out of the deep hole of its current unpopularity and winning a general election sometime in 2024. They are prepared to throw everything they have got at the task of ending all vestiges of migrant and refugee rights and returning to the hostile environment policies which produced the ‘Windrush generation’ scandal of 2017.
Continue reading “Welcome to 2023, as the government renews its attacks on the rights of migrants”StatusNow4All Newsletter December 2022
| DECEMBER 2022 NEWSLETTER Welcome to this edition of SNN newsletter where we are covering a number of items that will be of interest to everyone involved in migrant and refugee solidarity work. The first article analyses the change of tone in the public debate about immigration and invites to work together to make 2023 a year marked by the progression toward a progressive, rights-based immigration policy. The second reports a conference on housing justice and highlights the challenges faced by migrant women. Finally we update on the Status Now Network’s strategy weekend, now definitely planned on 27th -29th January 2023. We wish you a restful winter holiday and a happy new year. |
StatusNow4All Newsletter November 2022
| Welcome to this edition of SNN newsletter where we are covering a number of items that will be of interest to everyone involved in migrant and refugee solidarity work. The first article calls for a discussion to re-launch our campaign for migrants’ rights in the present political turmoil The second highlights the important outcomes of the Trade Union Congress and their relevance to further develop solidarity and union between the workers’ movement and the anti-racist movement. Our third article reports a network meeting in London to discuss the impact of cost of living crisis on migrants. The meeting was organized by our signatory Migrant Voice and a representative of Status Now for All was one of the speakers. The last article reports an event organized by Status Now North West in Manchester to celebrate Black History Month. Finally we update on SNN plan for an away weekend strategy event. |
StatusNow4All Newsletter October 2022
| OCTOBER 2022 NEWSLETTER Welcome to this edition of SNN newsletter where we are covering a number of items that will be of interest to everyone involved in migrant and refugee solidarity work. The first article reports the People’s Assembly against deaths at borders attended by representatives of Status Now in Brussells. More than 200 people from several countries took part in the conference and a demonstration in defence of migrants’ rights was organized outside the European Parliament. Our second article is dedicated to Friends of Status Now and its first online meeting. Finally we update on SNN plan for an away weekend strategy event and welcome our new signatories Bridging Change and Waling Waling. |
StatusNow4All newsletter September 2022
| SEPTEMBER 2022 NEWSLETTER Welcome to this edition of SNN newsletter where we are covering a number of items that will be of interest to everyone involved in migrant and refugee solidarity work. Our first article reports the Runnymede Trust “We Move” conference that was attended by more than 500 people at the University of Leeds in early September. Status Now Network contributed to it with a panel discussing why and how we want to organize a people’s tribunal to bring the government to account on its hostile environment. The second article is focused on the forthcoming People’s Assembly against deaths at borders that is going to take place in Brussels and members of SNN will be attending.. Finally, the third article announces SNN plans for an away weekend strategy event open to representatives of all our signatories. |
Open letter to the Heads of Commonwealth countries:
25 July 2022: Welcome to Birmingham 22
The Commonwealth Games welcomes you to Birmingham 22 – but the Government with its ‘hostile environment’, its laws and Immigration Rules prevents your citizens from staying
The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, is an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth to be held in Birmingham between 28 July – 8 August 2022.
People from over 30 countries are coming to compete.
In UK your citizens are welcome as athletes, administrators, trainers and supporters. However, many people who have lived here for decades have been subject to deportation orders. Others live a precarious existence. We ask all Commonwealth Heads to support our call for equal rights and grant indefinite leave to remain for all Commonwealth Citizens irrespective of the status of your nation. We also request an end to deportations.
Continue reading “Open letter to the Heads of Commonwealth countries:”