Why do we call for Status Now Archives

January 29, 2024January 29, 2024

Exporting people seeking asylum – Rwanda

27 January 2024: Guardian: Revealed: UK granted asylum to Rwandan refugees while arguing country was safe

Home Office said refugees’ fear of persecution was ‘well-founded’, undermining Rishi Sunak’s claims about East African country

Four Rwandans were granted refugee status in the UK over “well-founded” fears of persecution at the same time as the government was arguing in court and parliament that the east African country was a safe place to send asylum seekers.

January 24, 2024January 24, 2024

Concerns about the use of barges, army barracks, hotels, offshoring etc etc. continued 2023

This post follows on from the initial post which became very long, but can be found here Here we update the post with reports of atrocities around the army camp accommodation and hotels, and other Home Office plans to accommodate people in new sites. These are the consequences of the hostile system that leaves people languishing without a decision for long periods of time.

See also posts regarding ‘Detention Centres‘ such as such as Hassockfield/Derwentside, and also the post regarding plans to export people seeking asylum to Rwanda

Re: children: https://statusnow4all.org/article-39-seeks-legal-protection-for-highly-vulnerable-children-housed-in-home-office-hotels/

StatusNow4All: our campaign: ‘Indefinite Leave To Remain’ for people who are undocumented, destitute, and those in the legal process #HealthAndSafetyForAll

https://statusnow4all.org/status-now-4-all-this-is-our-call/

24 January 2024: Open Democracy: Torture victims being housed on Bibby Stockholm in possible breach of rules

Revelation comes weeks after death of Leonard Farruku on board the controversial asylum barge

Vulnerable people including victims of torture are being housed on the Bibby Stockholm in a potential breach of the government’s own guidelines, those on board have told openDemocracy.

The allegations come just weeks after the death of a man on board. Leonard Farruku, an Albanian man, is thought to have killed himself in December. Speaking to us, his former roommate warned Farruku’s death was “just the beginning”.

Current residents of the barge spoke on condition of anonymity and included a man from the Horn of Africa, who told openDemocracy that he was a victim of torture. The man, who had previously been housed in a hotel and receiving psychological support, has been on the barge in a shared room since November 2023. Members of local residents’ organisation Portland Global Friendship Group, which offers informal pastoral support and activities for dozens of people on the Bibby Stockholm, told openDemocracy that they knew of at least two other victims of torture – one from Russia, another from Iran – who were also on board.

October 17, 2023October 17, 2023

Spotlight on the impact of Statelessness

Updated 17 October 2023: European Network on Statelessness: Are Stateless Claimants Disadvantaged Within Asylum Procedures? New Evidence from the UK Context

Thomas McGee, PhD researcher at Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness (Melbourne Law School) and the MENA Statelessness Network (Hawiati)

This blog post introduces new research, conducted as part of the #StatelessJourneys project, into the challenges faced by stateless claimants within asylum procedures in the UK context. The study focuses on the experiences of stateless Kurds from Syria in the UK, revealing hurdles related to civil documentation, cultural understanding, and language analysis. These findings emphasize the need for more statelessness-sensitive procedures and policy changes, both in the UK and within other countries of asylum across Europe.

September 19, 2023September 26, 2023

Detention Centres — IRCs

See also updates about the tireless campaigning of Daisy and family here: https://statusnow4all.org/enabling-nurse-daisy/

See posts regarding contingency accommodation which is sometimes quasi-detention

19 September 2023: Guardian: I warned ministers about our disgraceful UK detention centres. Their solution? Stop the inspections….

David Neal

The report on Brook House mirrors concerns I raised as chief inspector, but Suella Braverman’s Home Office lacks the will to address them

David Neal is the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration

The Home Office and Government must be held accountable for this, and for all the work that is carried out in its name:

Brook House Inquiry: The Brook House Inquiry Report

On 19 September 2023, Kate Eves, the Chair of The Brook House Inquiry, published her report into the mistreatment of individuals who were detained at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre. You can download the Report or view it online on the website.

Inquiry’s report reveals “toxic” culture at Brook House IRC
The Brook House Inquiry, established to investigate the mistreatment of individuals detained at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre (IRC), published its report on the 19 September 2023. The Chair, Kate Eves, makes 33 important recommendations which she said, “need to be implemented to ensure that other detained people do not suffer in the same way as those at Brook House did.”

July 21, 2023September 5, 2023

Destroying hopes, dreams and lives: How the UK visa costs and process impact migrants’ lives

21 July 2023: Migrants Organise/Medact: Unions unite with migrant organisations to call out government plan to fund pay rise with higher migrant fees.

Major trade unions – including the BMA, NEU, NASUWT, GMB and PCS – have come together with over 50 migrant organisations, to call out the government’s plan to fund a public sector pay rise through higher NHS and visa fees for migrants.

Joint Statement

As trade unions and migrant organisations, we stand against this Government’s attempts to pit worker against worker. We know that an injury to one is an injury to all.

All workers deserve decent pay, safe working conditions and protections if our bosses seek to take advantage of us. Public sector workers deserve pay rises, but we strongly oppose any decision to fund this by further taxing migrants, by hiking visa costs and NHS fees. This is a blatant attempt to sow division within the labour movement and our communities.

Increasing the Immigration Health Surcharge by 66% and increasing visa costs will push ever more people into destitution and poverty. The UK already effectively taxes migrants twice for healthcare, and has some of the most extortionate visa fees in Europe – a migrant family of four often has to pay around £50,000 over 10 years for the right to stay. This massive increase is simply unaffordable – it will price workers out of being able to afford a visa and force thousands further into poverty during the cost of living crisis, or out of the country.

June 30, 2023September 16, 2023

Stop the deportations

Updated 30 June 2023: Twitter: NUJ @NUJofficial Thank you @grahamemorris for writing to the Immigration Minister to seek an urgent intervention in journalist Ghazi Gareeb Zorab’s case. There are credible threats to Ghazi’s safety if he is returned to Iraq.

June 15, 2023September 16, 2023

A brief history of managed migration (and why it isn’t an easy alternative to free movement)

15 June 2023: Don Flynn’s Migration Commentary: A brief history of managed migration (and why it isn’t an easy alternative to free movement)

‘Managed migration’ has been the official goal of government policy since the late 1990s. It has gone down a confused, stumbling road, requiring constant revision and return to legislation in order to resolve its innumerable internal tensions and conflicts.

The central idea is that migration is linked to strategies for economic growth, with the numbers of people being admitted linked to perceptions about what the jobs market needs at any point in time. It is possible to see ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ versions coming into play over the years. The period 2001-05 – associated with David Blunkett’s time at the Home Office – provides the example of soft managed migration, led by the assumption that the strong economic growth of the period would absorb all newcomers into the labour market in a virtuous cycle promoting higher levels of prosperity for all.

April 20, 2023September 16, 2023

Opening Hearts through the Arts

See Life Seekers Aid:

Life Seekers Aid is a charity for asylum seekers and refugees, run by asylum seekers and refugees.

Founded in 2021, Life Seekers Aid is a successor to Camp Residents of Penally—CROP—an organisation established in 2020 by asylum seekers inside Penally Camp in Wales.

CROP worked for the welfare and rights of asylum seekers housed in this military camp during the pandemic, cooperating with local and national charities, legal and medical organisations, and official bodies.

Read more and see the artwork: https://www.lifeseekers.org/

Updated 27 June 2022: ‘Adopt a Refugee’ – Loraine Masiya Mponela

April 7, 2023September 16, 2023

Reckless ‘Nationality & Borders’ legislation

We continue to campaign for those who have precarious status to be granted Indefinite Leave to Remain and for there to be discussions about how to move forward with the banners of #StatusNow4All and #HealthAndSafety4All.

When the will is there, it can be done – that is our point: there is hope yet … We will collate reports and legal challenges here.

See more information about the Illegal Immigration Bill here: https://statusnow4all.org/illegal-immigration-bill/

Updated 7 April 2023: Gov.uk : This is just mean and unnecessarily cruel to a destitute person: Gov.uk: New crackdown to prevent illegal migrants accessing bank accounts

Data sharing with the financial sector will begin today as the government cracks down on illegal migrants accessing banking services.

Making it more difficult for unlawful migrants to access financial services is an important tool to help deter illegal migration by preventing people from working illegally and profiting from services they are not entitled to.

Having access to a current account can assist those here unlawfully in obtaining work illegally and securing credit. It can help those without permission to be in the UK gain a foothold in society, regardless of their immigration status.

Identifying an unlawful migrant’s current account may also provide evidence of illegal working, helping identify and stamp this out.

March 12, 2023March 13, 2023

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”.

StatusNow logo

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.

March 7, 2023March 7, 2023

‘A punishing process’: Experiences of people on the 10-year route to settlement

2 March 2023: Guardian: Half of people trying to get permanent UK residency by 10-year route struggle to afford food

Effects of ‘devastating and punishing’ Home Office system introduced in 2012 now being felt, experts say

More than half the people trying to secure permanent residency in the UK through the Home Office’s “devastating and punishing” 10-year route struggle to afford food and pay bills, a survey has indicated.

The 10-year route to settling permanently in the UK was one of a series of deliberately tough measures introduced in 2012 by Theresa May when she was home secretary, as part of drive to cut net migration. Researchers say the full effects of the policy are only now starting to be felt.

February 25, 2023October 5, 2023

Barriers and Bridges to Wellbeing

Updated 25 February 2023: Vulnerable asylum seekers ‘prisoners in their own homes’ after fleeing war zones

As many asylum seekers say they have been placed in unsuitable properties littered with tripping hazards, an expert blamed the system which she says ‘creates a hostile environment’

Alimony Bangura, a disabled asylum seeker from Sierra Leone, is living in Manchester (

Disabled asylum seekers who fled war zones for the safety of Britain say they have been left as prisoners in their own homes.

Many claim they have been placed in unsuitable properties that are littered with tripping hazards and have broken lifts.

One disabled man told how he fell while trying to reach his upstairs bathroom.

And a blind refugee said he could only go out once a week with the aid of carers.

Their misery continues despite a 2020 court case which found the Government failed to provide disabled-friendly digs.

Campaigners say they have warned Home Secretary Suella Braverman of a string of cases across the country.

Worryingly, there is no official record of how many asylum seekers are disabled.

February 21, 2023March 12, 2023

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.

February 1, 2023September 16, 2023

Channel Crossings

Updated 1 February 2023: Gov.uk: Leadership of small boats operations returns to the Home Office

The Small Boats Operational Command (SBOC) will bring together the government’s response to small boats with 730 additional staff.

Telegraph: Stop migrant boats or face defeat, Suella Braverman tells Tories

Home Secretary tells The Telegraph the party’s reputation for competence is ‘on the line’ and crossings must be tackled to win election