Welcome Nadia!

16th November 2019 by ficheb

Nadia Sokhal has joined Migrant Action’s management committee. We are delighted and look forward to her valuable expertise and contribution to the organisation’s development.

Nadia writes;

I am a qualified Immigration Supervisor at KALSI solicitors with a strong background in asylum and immigration, and Family law experience. I have witnessed how vulnerable migrants struggle to get access to legal services due to be non asylum seekers.

Originally from Algeria, I moved to the UK in 2010 and then moved to Leeds in May 2019 to open a new branch of the firm. Through my legal work with vulnerable migrants, I was drawn to Migrant Action’s ethos, advocacy and practical assistance for migrants.

I hope to use my lived experience as a migrant, organisational development and legal expertise to support Migrant Action’s work and development. My first contribution would be to develop a new partnership between Migrant Action and KARLSI solicitors to provide a free legal clinic and increase access to justice for vulnerable migrants.

I look forward to a new and positive experience at Migrant Action.

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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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