Rethinking Security – alternative security

1 October 2024: Rethinking Security: Alternative Security Review

The Alternative Security Review was undertaken to create public dialogue in the UK on human and ecological security. It aims to show that there are other ways of creating security strategies, centring human and ecological security in policymaking.

Public engagement has been an important part of the Alternative Security Review. As well as the formal research activities that sought the opinions of ordinary people, such as the surveys and photovoice research, we ran a several informal projects as part of the ASR.

In the early stages of the project, we convened a series of Roundtable Discussions with Civil Society to explore the state of human security issues in the UK. What do groups working on or experiencing insecurity think about the government’s attitude towards and policy on human security? Where are the links with militarised ‘national security’? Does ‘national security’ harm the human security of certain groups within the UK? And what about climate breakdown?

Read more on the different components of the project here, and read the Executive and Full Reports: https://rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/alternative-security-review/

The Historical Roots of the Windrush Scandal

26 September 2024: Gov.uk: Independent report : Historical Roots of the Windrush Scandal: independent research report

‘What this history tells us, above all, is that individual episodes or events do not happen in chronological isolation. Government departments operate in societies with long and complex histories which affect both the formulation and also the effects of policy. In the case of the Windrush Scandal, the ‘hostile environment’ policies implemented in the 2010s did not consider properly the people whose lives and heritage have been defined by the events described in this report.’

Executive summary: Learning lessons from history

This report tells two stories alongside one another. The first story it tells is that of the administration of what might loosely be called ‘immigration policy’ in the United Kingdom, in which the movement of people across the borders of the British Isles was periodically restricted and controlled. The second story it tells is that of the history of black people and other ethnic minorities in Britain, whose lives were profoundly shaped by the politics of race in the British Empire and, latterly, the United Kingdom.

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NGOs refuse to be complicit in removals

JCWI: 34 UK and international NGOs write joint letter to Home Office warning of dangers of making NGOs complicit in removing migrants from the UK

This is a letter signed by STatusNow4All: In September 2024, the UK Home Office published a contract – it’s offering to pay NGOs in the UK and abroad millions of pounds to help it take people away from their communities and remove them from the UK.

This contract is dangerous, and deeply unethical. Along with 33 other organisations in the UK and overseas, we wrote to the Home Secretary, rejecting this attempt to make NGOs complicit in the Government’s anti-migrant agenda.

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Demonstration to end immigration detention on 19 October 2024

17 September 2024: from our network members – Right to Remain and No To Hassockfield demonstration on 19 October 2024 – to end immigration detention

STOP PRESS – These Walls Must Fall and the No to Hassockfield campaign call for the national demonstration to end immigration detention on 19 October 2024 at Hassockfield/Derwentside

We call on our communities to join us to say no to immigration detention and the government’s detention expansion plan!

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Call for simpler routes to regularisation for undocumented migrants

Via our signatory organisation, Migrant Voice:

3 September 2024: Migrant Voice: Please find below the letter that was sent to Yvette Cooper

The reasons people become undocumented can be varied, and are often through no fault of their own. People who have lived in the UK for decades, people with families and friends, people just living their lives, stripped of their residence status overnight for the simplest of things.

Together with more than 80 other organisations, and with more than 145 signatories in total, we have written an open letter to the Home Secretary to implement policies which make it easier for people to secure a recognised status.

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Women fleeing rape face coercion and control by Home Office contractors

3 September 2024: Guardian: Women fleeing rape face coercion and control by Home Office contractors

Survey says refugee women are subjected to voyeurism and sexual harassment by male staff at hotels

Women who have fled rape, forced marriage and sexual exploitation are being subjected to coercion and control by Home Office contractors in hotels, according to new research.

The charity Women for Refugee Women has carried out the first research specifically focusing on the experiences of women in Home Office asylum seeker hotels. The researchers include seven women who have previously lived in such accommodation.

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UK immigration strategy increases risk of exploitation, say charities

30 August 2024: Guardian: UK immigration strategy increases risk of exploitation, say charities

Home secretary urged to to make it easier for undocumented migrants to regularise their immigration status

The government’s policy of ramping up immigration raids and detaining and deporting undocumented migrants is driving more people underground and increasing their risks of exploitation, dozens of charities have warned.

In a letter on Friday, coordinated by Migrant Voice, more than 80 organisations including Care4Calais, City of Sanctuary UK, Anti-Slavery International, Doctors of the World UK and Safe Passage International are calling on the home secretary to make it easier for undocumented migrants to regularise their immigration status so they can work with less risk of falling prey to exploitative employers and human trafficking gangs.

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JCWI statement on the racist attacks across the UK

6 August 2024: JCWI: Our statement on the racist attacks across the UK

The escalation of far-right, racist and Islamophobic violence against our communities in recent days is horrifying. These targeted attacks on migrants, Muslims and people of colour do not occur in isolation – they are the direct result of years of racist, dehumanising policies and language being peddled by our politicians and the media.  

The far right has been emboldened by hateful media narratives and a race to the bottom in migration policies, with established parties battling it out to see who can enact the most cruelly and publicly.  

Now, we see the results – people up and down the country are scared for their lives, terrified that they have a target on their backs because of the colour of their skin or the way they speak. That fear is very real, because the violence is very real. Look at events in Rotherham – an attempt to burn down a hotel housing people seeking sanctuary is an attempted mass murder, and it’s time we named that.  

For too long, politicians and the media have scapegoated our communities to distract from the very real issues we all face. We’re living through a cost-of-living crisis that makes life harder for all of us, huge NHS waiting times and the ever-growing impacts of climate breakdown. Those in power, and those who support them, have preferred to distract us from these issues by demonising people who move, and targeting Muslims and people of colour. 

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Immediately suspend in-person immigration appointments

6 August 2024: It’s a matter of safety

Right to Remain and other organisations are calling on the Home Office to immediately suspend all in-person immigration reporting and all other appointments, on account of the overwhelming fear of violent racist attacks in our communities.

There are people travelling all the way to reporting centres on a weekly basis who are only inside for 2 minutes – and in the current situation this is very stressful. In person reporting should be stopped immediately as it was during Covid for different safety reasons..

Read more: Suspend immigration reporting now!

We call on the Government to actively protect and uphold all of our human rights. 

5 August 2024: Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association – ILPA: ILPA Statement in Response to Racist, Anti-Migrant Violence and the Targeting of Immigration Lawyers

“We condemn, in the strongest terms, the racist, anti-migrant, Islamophobic, and far-right violence and aggression we have witnessed in the past week. It is designed to threaten and intimidate members of our communities.

We stand in solidarity with migrants to this country, including those who have fled dangerous places to seek safety here, only to be met with violence. We stand in solidarity with those targeted based on their appearance. We stand in solidarity with all those who are supporting targeted communities, through the provision of legal and other services. 

We call on the Government to actively protect and uphold all of our human rights. 

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Hate has no place in our communities

5 August 2024: Migrant Voice: It’s time to change the narrative. Hate has no place in our communities

The violence and hate we have seen run riot through our communities with the far right did not come out of nowhere. The tragic and hideous attack against children in Southport has been used as an excuse, but it is just that, an excuse. At a time when we should be thinking about the young children who were brutally murdered, we are faced with far right thugs, as the Prime Minister rightly called them, attacking people on the streets and attempting to burn them where they live.

They have targeted minorities, migrants, people based on skin colour and perceived religion. They are spreading division and hate. Calling for violence against those they perceive as different, but it is our very diversity in this country which will show that they do not stand for the majority of people

We have seen hate like this in the past, and it is in the past which it should remain. Instead though it has been emboldened by years of hostile rhetoric from politicians, and misinformation about migration in the media.

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Official statement on Southport attack and Far Right riots

5th August 2024: Show Racism the Red Card release crucial statements, following the ongoing violence that has occurred the past few days in the UK.

First of all, our Honorary President, Shaka Hislop has important words he would like to share, in light of recent events:

See the website here: https://www.theredcard.org/news/official-statements-on-southport-attack-and-far-right-riots/

Following Shaka’s message, Chief Executive of Show Racism the Red Card, Ged Grebby, shares:

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