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Happy New Year from Migrant Action

31st December 2021 by ficheb

Dear friends of Migrant Action,

In a few hours, we will be saying ‘good-bye’ to 2021 and ‘welcome’ to 2022. Thank you for your solidarity and support helping to strengthen Migrant Action’s advocacy and pursuit for migrants’ rights & justice in an increasingly challenging and complex environment. The essence of our work is even more relevant now!

Context

BREXIT, the ‘New immigration bill which reinforces the ‘hostile environment’ policy targeting migrants, the Climate crisis, Covid-19, Systemic racism, negative press narratives fuelling anti-migrant sentiments by sections of the media, protracted conflicts, political violence, human rights violations, economic exploitation, and political marginalisation of the global south.

These developments constitute a disturbing environment for migrant’s rights & justice. Firstly, it engineers and sustains vulnerability and the precarious conditions that trigger more mobility of migrants across and within countries. Secondly, it entrenches and exacerbates an infrastructure that undermine migrants’ capacity to access justice, deepen inequality, racial & social injustice and routinely negate migrant rights and dignity. In essence, such an environment poses an existential threat to the dignity and humanity of migrants.

Our Response

Migrant Action is adapting and responding to this changing and complex context. We have expanded provision and adapted service delivery model to proactively support vulnerable migrants during the pandemic and beyond. We enhanced our delivery of crisis interventions to prevent homelessness & destitution, increased access to immigration advice for people with insecure immigration, increased integration support for new migrants, assisted more EU migrants to regularise their immigration status in the UK after Brexit. Our advocacy work continues to promote equity of rights and justice for migrants. Essentially, Migrant Action continues to a lifeline and safety net for vulnerable migrants in this challenging environment.

Migrant Action has also strengthened its capacity and resilience in pursuit of transformational social change. The current context demands more urgency to challenge anti-migrant sentiments and policies, tackle structural inequalities, climate change, systemic racism, and social injustice. To this vein, our strategic advocacy through ‘Strengthening Hands’ partnerships to grow migrant ‘voice’, as well as our collaborative research, capacity building and campaign-based activities have been impactful.

Looking to the future

Migrant Action anticipates operating in an even more challenging context as it grapples with the issues undermining rights and justice. However, we have emerged from 2020/21 with more capacity and resilience to respond to present and future challenges working as a team with staff, volunteers, trustees, partners, funders and of course, those we serve- migrants. Therefore, we look forward to 2022 with greater hope and fierceness commitment to rights and justice for migrants, a fair and humane immigration system and for a more equal, just, and peaceful society in which everyone including migrants can realize their full potential.

Dear friends, your solidarity remains invaluable and integral to our success, even more so, now!

Thank you and Happy New Year!

Fidelis Chebe

Director

The Migration Partnership Barnsley- MPB

12th November 2021 by ficheb

As we emerge from the pandemic, we are faced with pre-existing, entrenched and new
challenges amidst uncertainty. For the people in communities disproportionately
impacted by the pandemic including migrants, the effects remain raw and acutely
present.

In order to effectively engage and respond to the needs of the most vulnerable, but more
importantly transform the structures that exacerbate vulnerability and undermine
resilience, Migrant Action and its local partners including Feels Like Home, ELSH &
Polska Biblioteka are developing a new collaborative model- The Migration
Partnership.

The Partnership sees its primary role being to ensure sustainable collaboration,
effective communication and community engagement, building resilience and
enhancing strategic advocacy for migrants in Barnsley. Achieving these aims will
lead to attaining our goal of helping communities not only ‘bounce-back’ from the
pandemic but thrive beyond the pandemic. It will also enable meaningful integration
and stronger communities in Barnsley.

If you would like to know more about the Migration Partnership Barnsley, please
contact Fidelis Chebe, Director of Migrant Action by email;
fidelis@migrantaction.org.uk or Joanna Sutcliffe joannasutcliffe@barnsley.gov.uk

‘Little Amal’ Sanctuary Not Hostility!

12th November 2021 by ficheb

By the end of 2020, 82.4 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of
persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations. This is an increase of 2.9 million people
over the previous year. The world’s population of forcibly displaced people remained at a record
high.
In 2020, there were 26.4 million refugees in the world—the highest ever seen and 35.5 million
children were living outside of their country of birth- Not their choice! Over the last few months,
people across Britain were poignantly reminded about the plight of these children by Little Amal, a
towering puppet of a child refugee fleeing her war ravaged country to seek sanctuary. She began
her 5,000-mile journey to Manchester from the Turkish-Syrian border back in July. Her name means
‘hope’ in Arabic – and she’s travelled across Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and
France.

On the 30th October, Migrant Action in solidarity with other organisations joined hundreds of people
including children in welcoming ‘little Amal’ to Barnsley. In an increasingly hostile migration policy
environment, the people including children who saw themselves in little Amal’s story, stretched out
their arms to welcome her echoing a towering and powerful message of welcome, compassion,
solidarity, humanity, social justice and hope.
Migrant Action’s work articulates a positive and hopeful migration discourse and advocates for the
UK being a more welcoming rather than a ‘hostile environment’ for refugees and other migrants.

Extortionate immigration Fees for migrants: Unfair & Inhumane

13th September 2021 by ficheb

Extortionate immigration Fees for migrants: Unfair & Inhumane

In the last decade, we have witnessed the exponential rise in the fees and charges attached to immigration applications for visas (permission to come or remain in the UK) made by migrants to the Home Office. Migrants and their families are crumbling under the burden of these fees & charges as some are forced into making precarious choices in order to afford the fees/charges. In February 2021, the court of appeal ruled that the immigration fees for child citizenship applications were ‘illegal’. £1,000 fees for child citizenship are illegal, appeals court rules | The Independent

At Migrant Action, we are seeing increasing levels of hardship and precarious living amongst migrants. Often, they have no recourse to public funds and in low wage jobs hence struggle to afford not just the legal fees but worse still, the extortionate immigration fees & NHS surcharges. One mother stated ‘we had to make a choice between heating and saving up for our application’. During the Covid-19 pandemic, our ‘Access to Justice’ scheme funded by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, enabled us to support vulnerable migrants/ families impacted by Covid-19 to secure legal advice and assistance with immigration applications which involved fee waiver applications.

While our ‘Access to Justice’ offers a short term solution and makes a big difference to the lives of a few migrants, the charging of extortionate visa fees, NHS surcharges and other immigration related fees are widely viewed as punitive, unfair and represents an injustice in the immigration system. A change in the immigration fee charging system is necessary and would offer fairness and equity allowing most migrants avert the throes of poverty, destitution and precarious living.

Migrant Voice has been working with numerous organisations across the migration sector as well as organisations outside of the sector such as trade unions to ensure that we have a full understanding of the impact of extortionate Visa Fees on Migrants across the UK – this Includes Migrant Action. Migrant Action is delighted to be involved in this campaign against extortionate visa fees seeking system change.

See more below about the campaign.

Join the campaign against extortionate visa fees

Migrant Voice is leading a campaign against extortionate immigration fees, which are having a devastating impact on many of our migrant members and their families.

Most visa fees have risen exponentially in the last decade, while the NHS surcharge and the extortionate cost of appointments and other associated costs add hundreds of pounds to each application. For example a family of four on the 10 year route to settlement can expect to pay in excess of £40,000. Our campaign wants to change this. We want to see all fees reduced to admin costs for adults, free for children.

Over the last months we have been listening to affected migrants and their families and gathering information from other organisations working on related issues to help shape our campaign. Through focus groups, a survey, and ongoing meetings we are developing the campaign’s strategy and plan, its priority areas, activities and recommendations. We continue to gather evidence of the impact extortionate visa fees is having and how this has been exacerbated due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Stephanie, 48, from Nigeria is one of those who wants the campaign to succeed. She is working as a healthcare assistant and has two children. She estimates she has spent close to £15,000 in visa fees to date. Her visa must be renewed every 2.5 years and at each visa renewal she must pay around £2,500 in fees, plus the £1,560 NHS surcharge.

It doesn’t have to be this way. A decade ago, fees in this country were more affordable. We believe it’s wrong for the government to continue to make a profit from migrants paying to stay in the UK,with some fees charged up to ten times the actual cost.

The costs are so high that they have a direct impact on Stephanie’s family finances: she says, “When it is time for you to renew you are looking everywhere for money. You have no money to save, for school, rent, car insurance. My son is finishing college and I want him to go into further education but that is hard, financially.” Because her visa is still temporary, she has No Recourse to Public Funds.

The costs to migrants aren’t just financial – many families suffer mental and physical health problems, with some families sacrificing food, heating and electricity to make sure they can make their payments to the Home Office when the time comes.

Stephanie works as much as she can to make ends meet, often giving up family time or sick leave. Still, she sometimes must borrow money from other people. “I work six days a week in order for me to pay for everything and it’s still not enough, I still have debt … I don’t have time with my kids because I have to work so much. There is no time to sit down with family or take them out.”

She says that her life is reduced to working in order to pay for her visa. “I don’t feel heard by the government; they don’t know what I am going through. We are human too. I want to be heard.”

Migrant Voice are currently running a survey online to collect information and experiences from people like Stephanie on their interaction with the UK Visas and immigration system and the impact it has had on them and their families. We would be grateful for anyone affected who could complete this survey, it should only take 15 minutes. Please also share it amongst your own networks to make sure we hear from those affected:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MV_Visa_Fees_Survey.

Migrant Voice are also conducting interviews with migrants and their families who have been affected by the extortionate cost of Visas in the UK. If anyone would like to participate in these interviews, or would like to know more about the campaign please contact our Campaigns Organiser Cameron Ball: campaigns@migrantvoice.org

Please join us in raising awareness of these issues. You can get involved in several ways by sharing your experiences, taking part in shaping the campaign, take part in our network meetings, training, and lobby activities, share the link to our survey and spread awareness of our campaign with people who are affected, collaborate with us on this and inter-related issues.

Migrant Voice is a migrant-led organisation working with migrants from all around the world with all kinds of status. We develop the media skills and confidence of migrants with the aim of strengthening their voices in the media and civil society in order to counter xenophobia and build support for our rights. We have offices and networks in London, the West Midlands and Glasgow.

Strong Partnerships, Serving Communities

24th August 2021 by ficheb

Strong Partnerships, Serving Communities

Covid-19 exposed and reinforced the structural vulnerabilities and inequalities in our communities. However, when communities rallied and organisations worked together, our resourcefulness and resilience triumphed.

This inspiration has informed a new exciting new partnership between Migrant Action and The Junction working together to better serve migrant communities in Doncaster in order to help transform structural vulnerabilities and inequalities towards a more equitable society.

Migrant Action will deliver weekly advice and advocacy drop-ins at The Junction to help vulnerable migrants access legal immigration advice, welfare, advocacy support, education & employment, healthcare and wider mainstream support towards effective integration.

The partnership will enable both organisations to share and develop knowledge and good practice, enhance local partnerships in Doncaster, sustain organisational resilience, increase volunteering opportunities and enhance service delivery for migrants in Doncaster.

Overall, the partnership will help to ensure greater access to migrants access their rights and justice as well as a Just and sustainable covid-19 recovery for migrants.