Helping EU Migrants navigate uncertainty in the wake of Brexit

3rd February 2019 by ficheb

Migrant Action is seeing first-hand the increased vulnerability faced by EU migrants who have settled in the UK. Many have lived here for years and to some the UK is ‘home’ but many EU citizens are anxious due to the uncertainty surrounding their status and rights to stay in the UK after BREXIT. This uncertainty is causing emotional distress and in some cases exacerbating poor physical health. Many more are victims of bad legal advice and financial exploitation in their pursuit of securing their legal status in the country.

Migrant Action is assisting EU migrants to navigate the uncertainty and exploitation by offering advocacy support, information, advice and guidance as well as referrals to specialist advice. As part of our work we are forming partnerships with other organisations such as the 3Million-Yorkshire and InLimbo-Our Brexit Testimoniesto reach out to Eastern European citizens in need of support. Through our services and working collaboratively with other agencies, we aim to provide practical support to all EU migrants to ensure that they engage with the EU Settlement Scheme.

If you would like Migrant Action to help you with information and guidance please email us at info@migrantaction.org.uk

Caption: Katrine from Migrant Action meeting Vie ClercLusandu from the3MillionYorkshie and InLimbo-Our Brexit Testimonies.

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Who we are

Service provision for non-asylum seekers is undefined and limited. In Leeds, migrants seeking information, guidance, advice, advocacy and integration support struggle to find where to go to for help. Many vulnerable migrants are confined to the ‘edges’ of society and face daily, the real risk of exploitation, destitution, child poverty, detention, forced removal and deportations without access to justice. Vulnerable migrants with entrenched complex needs encounter restricted access to service provision which has far reaching implications for their health and well being.

Migrant Action is set up in response to this gap in service provision working with other vulnerable migrants who are not asylum seekers.Migrant Action is an Advocacy and Rights based organisation providing information, guidance, advocacy support and direct practical assistance to vulnerable migrants. Our work is primarily focused on migrants who do not fit into the ‘neat’ categories of migration including those who have fallen through the cracks of the system. Through our work, we create a safe space and enabling environment for new and vulnerable migrants to explore their issues and options in order to make informed choices.

By delivering early and proactive interventions, we aim to reduce vulnerability across categories of migrants and navigate positive pathways to integration. Through the support we offer, we mitigate the impact of the government’s ‘hostile environment’ policies on vulnerable migrants.
We do not work with asylum seekers and refugees but signpost them to the appropriate agencies.

Working in partnership with other agencies, Migrant Action facilitates access to justice, social integration and contributes to wider migration advocacy and policy change.

How do we do this?

We adopt an early intervention, prevention and proactive in our work with migrants.

Provide a welcoming and safe space
Provide information and guidance to help migrants make informed choices
Help migrants to navigate and access good legal/immigration services
Provide advocacy support and facilitate access to mainstream services
Support integration- help migrants navigate community and social networks, training, volunteering, employment and other pathways for social integration
Activism- Working with other agencies to advocate and influence policy and social change

Who we work with

Migrant Action is set up to work with Migrants who are NOT asylum seekers.

Vulnerable migrants (trafficked victims, unaccompanied minors, visa over stayers, undocumented/irregular migrants, people with insecure immigration status and anyone who do not fit into the neat migration categories)
New migrants ( EU and Non-EU migrants)

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