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.
People from 37 of the Commonwealth countries were removed by the Home Office in 2021and families remaining behind lost their bread winner. The number of people threatened with removal/deportations was far higher, but the figure was reduced by the intervention of the Courts on a case-by-case basis.
Citizens of Commonwealth countries who have made their homes here are living in UK with precarious status because they do not have the right of abode.
We find this shocking
What can you do?
We ask you to pressure the UK Government to accept Commonwealth citizens as having the right to settled status/Indefinite Leave to Remain in UK. Please contact the Prime Minister of UK
Loraine Mponela,
Co-Chair, StatusNow4All
This letter was sent by email on 25 July 2022 to the Heads of Commonwealth countries through their Embassies
You can download a copy of this letter here