october

Our monthly summary of migration justice news

Local / Community Updates

As the move towards E-Visas draws closer and concerns grow, community has come together to provide E-Visa sessions by migrants, for migrants, which will build community resilience and understanding as this change draws closer. In Leeds, there are sessions being facilitated by RETAS, Migrant Action, and Leeds Refugee Forum.

DYS Academy are offering free haircuts for refugees and asylum seekers in Leeds.

The Yorkshire Integration Festival 2024 took place at The Piece Hall in Halifax featuring live musical acts, representatives of many local communities and a guest appearance from Little Amal.

Alford Gardner, Leeds resident and one of the last surviving passengers of the Empire Windrush, has passed away aged 98.

‘Sanctuary’, a musical story of an Iranian who searches for safety in a northern English church, is touring with performances in Leeds and Sheffield during early November.

Migrant Action Updates

Migrant Action hosted a workshop exploring the connection between health and migration justice which provided the community an opportunity to explore intersectional migration justice and learn ways they counter the Hostile Environment.

Migrant Action has established a peer review panel for our future publications! We hope this advances the quality of our research and re-affirms us as a trusted place for information and support.

Migrant Action CEO Fidelis Chebe and strategic partner Holly Mogford contributed to an International Forum titled ‘Intercultural Adaptation & Support in the Context of Globalisation: Challenges and Opportunities for International Students.’ Fidelis and Holly co-presented co-presented a short discourse on ‘Structural vulnerability, International students and Migration Justice’ which articulated articulated the ‘systemic’ vulnerabilities of international students and the urgency for a coordinated response by different stakeholders.

Migrant Action has launched a ‘Healing Justice’ Project, in response to the racist xenophobic attacks over the summer. This project provides a counter narrative to hate using a community created ‘Welcome Mat’, which will be visiting Doncaster, Rotheram, Barnsley, Scunthorpe and Goldthorpe and holding space for local communities to heal together, develop grassroots movements, and foster a welcome environment to counter fear. Migrant Action will be working with local communities to create their own Welcome Mats and legacy against hate.

General / National Updates

At the Labour Party conference, the Prime Minister promised to reduce net migration and address the UK’s dependency on overseas workers. The speech was followed by a Home Office announcement of further measures to tackle reliance on international recruitment in industries with skills shortages, and stricter action against employers who abuse the visa sponsorship system.

The Home Office is being urged to scrap the expensive 10 year settlement route due to the financial strain it provides on individuals, alongside concerns of racism as the majority of individuals on this scheme belong to minority ethnic groups.

Refugee Education UK released a report highlighting some challenges faced by teenagers seeking asylum in accessing education.

Micro-Rainbow released a new report highlighting the challenges faced by LGBTQI refugees. The report looks at progress in social inclusion and access to employment, health services and the job market since their 2013 report.

German and French ministers suggested that the EU should work towards an agreement on migration with the UK as the lack of such an agreement exacerbates smuggling and dangerous journeys across the Channel. Keir Starmer is reportedly reluctant to explore this possibility due to concerns it could appear similar to pre-Brexit freedom of movement

The Home Secretary confirmed that people seeking asylum will continue to be housed in hotel accommodation while the backlog of applications is cleared over the next three years.

Over 31,000 individuals claiming asylum were left in limbo under the previous government’s Illegal Migration Act 2023, which considered these claims to be inadmissible. As amendments to the regulations in July meant such asylum claims can now be processed, and research has outlined the important role of councils in the face of inevitable and increasing homelessness as the Home Office makes more decisions on asylum cases.

A 1% growth in the UK population has been attributed to immigration, without which the population would have decreased due to deaths outnumbering births.

UK universities are encouraging the government to negotiate plans with the EU to reopen the flow of EU students to the UK.

Councils across Yorkshire are being asked to sign up to a migrant work charter to protect international workers at risk of exploitation within the health and social care sector.

The Home Office updated its EU Settlement Scheme guidance for caseworkers to reflect recent changes to the Immigration Rules requiring a joining family member to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme within three months of their first arrival in the UK after the end of the transition period.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists has called on the government to review immigration policy, describing existing structures as a ‘public mental health concern’ that risks re-traumatisation.

Free movement released briefing on what work visa routes can lead to settlement, which can be found on their website.

A freedom of information request disclosed that last year, 1,500 complaints were made to the Home Office about sub-standard asylum hotel accommodation. Issues reported included sexual harassment, racism and scabies outbreaks.

New Home Office figures show a decline of 16% in study visas issued between January and September 2024 compared with the same period in 2023. The number of student dependent applications during the same period dropped by 85%.

Over 3,600 people have been removed from the UK since the new government formed in July, most recently 44 people were removed to Nigeria and Ghana on a single flight.