Chief Executive- Fidelis Chebe
“Migrant Action is a story of resilience, empowerment, and the pursuit of equity of rights, and justice for migrants. Migrant Action’s work confronts the reality (historical and contemporary) of migrants encountering the systemic injustices of the UK immigration system and its harmful effects (direct and indirect) on people subjected to immigration controls. Our work encapsulates a vision for a fair, humane, and human rights-based immigration system through transformational change.
Anchoring our work on lived experience and community resilience, Migrant Action’s work in solidarity with migrant communities and other rights and justice-led organisations, challenges the systemic infrastructure that sustains injustice and harm to migrants. Through advice, casework, advocacy, humanitarian & integration assistance, research, campaign, capacity building, leadership, and organisational development, Migrant Action’s work mitigates the harmful effects of policies whilst building resilience in individuals, organisations, and communities to ensure rights, justice, and wider social change.
Migrant Action’s work sets out to fill a gap in service provision for vulnerable migrants who fall through the cracks of the UK immigration system and are ‘neglected’ by mainstream services. Often, they are exploitable and live precariously at the margins of society.
I enjoy my responsibility as head of Migrant Action pioneering support exclusively for other vulnerable migrants that are non-asylum seekers/refugees. Working collaboratively with a dedicated small team of staff, volunteers and steering committee members. Our aim is to build an organisation that is caring and compassionate towards the needs of vulnerable migrants whilst challenging structural injustice. Each day brings a new challenge but with each new challenge comes new opportunities and hopes. With a strong team, our partners, and supporters, we are committed to our vision: empowering migrants and ending vulnerability ensuring that the people we support assert their rights and realise their full potential.
Outside work, I enjoy walks, football, good movies, and spending time with my family which helps me stay sane and focused. I also undertake research & publication and social action-oriented activities.”
Advocacy & Integration Worker – Babita
“My name is Babita and I am Indian by birth. I have lived in Barnsley for over 15 years. In the last 10 years, I have worked as a housing officer with 13 local councils in the UK including; Lincoln, Wolverhampton, and London -Tonbridge-Malling, Tonbridge-Wells, Royal Greenwich, Enfield, Watford, Brent, Barnet and Haringey.
I am looking forward to this new exciting challenge of working with the rest of the team at Migrant Action to empower migrants to overcome barriers and access rights and justice. I am passionate about supporting individuals to feel welcome, integrate, and rebuild their lives in the UK.”
Volunteers and Interns
Nova
‘I’ve been at Migrant Action for over a year now. My work mostly focuses on fulfiling the structural change part of our strategy through public education and community engagement. This includes managing communications, conducting research and facilitating events like workshops and panel events. I am passionate about ensuring more people know about the barriers to and realities of migration in this country, and changing the harmful narratives around migration which are at the forefront of media and politics. I want to see the conversation shift, so we can more meaningfully work to create a welcoming environment.’
Holly
‘I have just graduated from the University of Bristol after studying Law. My long term career aspiration is to be a solicitor, and I will be going back to Bristol next year to complete my Solicitors Qualifying Exams. I wrote my dissertation about migrant women in immigration detention, specifically upon the gendered harms that they experience and the way that the recent Illegal Migration Act 2023 is underpinned by racist rhetoric. This sparked my interest in migration as an academic pursuit, but I wanted to volunteer with Migrant Action to put that theoretical understanding into action to actually generate real world change.’
Emma
“I’m passionate about tackling injustice in our society and supporting local spaces and initiatives, particularly those helping to amplify the voices of communities often marginalised or unheard. I currently work in the Data and Insights team of a national youth mental health charity and have previously worked in research roles across a range of social and public sectors with the opportunity to engage with diverse groups. At Migrants Action, I’ll be helping with writing insights blogs, research and any other data related work to support their important mission. I believe that data and research are powerful tools which should be used to uplift and amplify voices often unheard on key policies and broader issues, giving people a say in the decisions that affect their own lives.”
Estella
Estela is a dedicated volunteer with extensive experience in both client management and education, focusing on supporting migrants and refugees. Originally from Albania, Estela’s journey with migration issues began during her student years when she frequently helped migrants who crossed the borders of her country, offering interpretation services to local authorities in need.
Estela graduated as a teacher and holds a MA in English Language and Literature Teaching. She worked as a teacher and lecturer for 16 years. Apart from teaching, has worked as a client manager in the Client Relationship Department of the Canadian organization Aportunita branch in Tirana, where she helped individuals navigate various immigration pathways to Canada. She also taught at the Memorial International School of Tirana, where the studies were conducted in English and followed the British curriculum. There, she worked with a diverse group of students, including children of diplomats, business professionals, and refugees. As a teacher, Estela went beyond academics, helping her students address social challenges and overcome the barriers they faced as migrants, supporting their full integration into a new country.
After initially approaching Migrant Action for assistance, Estela was warmly welcomed and offered the chance to volunteer. She feels proud to volunteer for Migrant Action. The organization provided training, and now Estela feels like part of a family, helping grateful individuals alongside the kind and supportive staff. Having lived in the UK for five years, her personal experience of migration has deepened her understanding of immigration laws and regulations, allowing her to connect more meaningfully with the migrant community. Now, she volunteers using her compassion and expertise to assist others in their immigration journeys.
Adedunni
Adedunni is a passionate advocate for migrant success and empowerment, with a strong background in health, education, and administration. Born and raised in Nigeria, she moved to the UK to pursue a master’s degree in international health, bringing with her a deep commitment to driving positive change in both the health and education sectors.
Adedunni currently volunteers with Migrant Action, where she channels her passion for supporting fellow migrants, helping them navigate the challenges of settling and thriving in the UK. Her work is focused on fostering opportunities for migrants to succeed, leveraging her own experiences and expertise to inspire others to pursue their goals. With her drive to make an impact, Adedunni continues to play an active role in empowering migrant communities and contributing to their overall wellbeing and success.
Georgia Hawthorne
Having recently moved to Leeds to begin a Masters in Global Development, I wanted to invest both time and energy into supporting the local community whilst also addressing structural issues that exist on a much broader scale. I have a keen interest in gender, especially with how gender intersects with other forms of identity, including nationality and citizenship. I hope to explore this interest as part of my Masters and during my time here at Migrant Action. As part of the team, I will be looking particularly at raising awareness of and challenging issues which impact migrants who identify as a marginalised gender. Whilst completing my undergraduate degree in English, I participated in a variety of advocacy-oriented projects which supported predominantly women and non-binary people within my college and beyond. I plan to use the organisational skills that I developed at undergrad to facilitate fundraising events for Migrant Action, and some of my creative skills to craft new forms of information and knowledge to be put out on Migrant Action’s various platforms.
Migrant Action pioneer interns & volunteers ( they laid a strong foundation and legacy for volunteering, and internship at Migrant Action bringing to life their activism for migration and social justice- Thank you ladies for your legacy! )
Migrant Action’s volunteers are a tremendous resource for the organisation as they bring a wide range of valuable skills, experience, and knowledge helping to enhance our capacity for development, service delivery, and engagement with our stakeholders. Our volunteer team undertakes carved-out specific roles in Research, Communications, Fundraising, and admin support. Working in small teams, they enrich the organisation with their brilliant work whilst gaining valuable insight and experience in working with all categories of migrants.
Steering Committee
Migrant Action’s operational governance is overseen by a 5 person steering committee responsible for the strategic and operational direction of the organisation. They are an invaluable part of the Migrant Action team offering sound guidance and support to the project director.
Julia Kinch
“Hello, I joined Migrant Action’s Steering Group in 2018. I’ve worked in both third/public-sector organisations for the last 8 years in a number of roles including volunteer management, fundraising, research, and grant-making. I currently volunteer with a number of organisations working with individuals with learning disabilities
advocacy and Holocaust Survivors.
I have a very personal connection to migration in that my grandmother moved to the UK from what was then Czechoslovakia in 1947, after having survived Auschwitz and being liberated on a death march to Bergen-Belsen on Easter Sunday 1945. I have learned through her experiences and my own, the importance of challenging discrimination and prejudice, and how challenging it can be to navigate new systems and bureaucracy.
I was really keen to join Migrant Action because they capture the needs, empower, and support groups of migrants who are often unseen and forgotten by many and for whom there is often little support.”
Dr Bassey Ebenso
Bassey Ebenso is a medical doctor by training and currently works as a lecturer in International Public Health at the University of Leeds. He has over 25 years of experience in global health focusing on strengthening health systems in low- and middle-income contexts the first 15 years of which were in management positions in disease control programs in
Nigeria and the Niger Republic, including working as Country Director of The Leprosy Mission International.
Mike Winter PhD
Mike Winter Ph.D., formerly a researcher in Agricultural Biosciences, now with a research interest in the politics of sovereignty, the development of the nation-state, particularly with respect to land, its use, ownership, power, control and borders, and the displacement of peoples from their lands, predominantly that which has arisen since the industrial revolution
up to the modern-day.
Stewart Cox
“I joined Migrant Action’s Steering Group in 2023. I previously worked in the Financial Services sector for 37 years before taking a career break from corporate life in 2020. I hold a master’s degree in business administration (MBA).
I am currently a Treasurer for the local branch of a well-known animal welfare charity and was the Treasurer of another charity in South Yorkshire that provided English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) until November 2022.
It was whilst at that charity where I realised a real passion for helping migrants in need and disadvantaged within their communities, and who needed help to integrate socially and to become economically empowered. I was delighted to join the Steering group at Migrant Action and to support the growth of their valuable services to vulnerable migrants for whom there is often very little alternative support.
Outside of work, I live with my Partner in Leeds and have a grown-up Son and Daughter and 4 beautiful Grandchildren who live on the South Coast. I really enjoy taking my dog for long walks (well I walk on my own and she runs all over the place) and socialising with friends and family.”
Dr Jon Burnett
Jon Burnett is a lecturer in Criminology, at the University of Hull. His research focuses on and interrogates carcerality, political economies of work and punishment, and state violence and state racism. He has published extensively in a range of academic as well as non-academic fora.
Jon has previously worked at Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (PAFRAS), Medical Justice and the Institute of Race Relations. He has been a witness at the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on the Human Rights of Migrant and Refugee Peoples, and is a former co-editor of Justice, Power and Resistance: an international, peer-reviewed journal promoting critical analysis and connecting theory, politics and activism. In 2023 he was awarded an ISRF political economy fellowship, expanding on themes developed in his monograph Work and the Carceral State (2022).
Dr Melissa Mendez
Melissa Mendez joined Migrant Action in January 2024 and is a lecturer in Criminology at Cardiff University. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, with a background in law, Melissa is interested in ensuring that migrants, particularly the most vulnerable, are afforded dignity, equality, and justice. Melissa’s research, teaching, and publications focus on disadvantaged and marginalised groups with a view to addressing and dismantling structural injustice.
Keya
Keya is a community lawyer and Co-Founder of Sistren Legal Collective – a community of lawyers committed to working in partnership and solidarity with minoritised communities and grassroots organisations to fight for equity and meaningful change.
Keya’s own lived experience as a migrant and of navigating the UK’s immigration system has impacted her life deeply and informs her work. She is proud to support Migrant Action as a board ally and to develop reciprocal, partnership-based models of learning and support.
Keya was born and raised in India and moved to the UK to study law, where she first qualified as a commercial lawyer at Linklaters LLP in London, and then practiced at Bates Wells, a purpose-driven law firm. She has worked and seconded with a range of organisations, including in India, Jamaica, the United States and the UK, on a number of issues, ranging from violence against women to social housing. She is also currently the Director of Programmes and Policy the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers. She holds a BA in Comparative Literature from Hamilton College (USA), an LLB from the University of Cambridge (UK) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Rights Law from the National Law School (India). Outside of work, she loves doing bits of writing, reading, and adventuring with her two kids.
Samara
Samara is the Co-Founder of Sistren Legal Collective. She is a non-profit lawyer with a passion for supporting organisations which advocate for social and racial justice. Samara has a BA in Politics from SOAS, University of London and following her conversion to law, she trained and qualified at magic circle law firm Linklaters LLP. Samara then followed her passion for the non-profit sector and worked at the leading charity law firm Bates Wells for four years, where she supported a wide range of non-profit organisations, including Black Lives Matter UK, the Baobab Foundation, Mission 44 on their set up and legal structuring.
Samara’s desire to better support community focused organisations led her to co-found Sistren Legal Collective with Keya. Together they have trialled bringing legal support to Migrant Action in the form of board allyship, which allows them to play the role of allies to co-create supportive spaces on boards for lawyers, allowing their knowledge to be shared and utilised in an effective way. Samara hope is that through their allyship with Migrant Action, they can support the organisation to thrive in the often-complicated political landscape of charitable status and ensure that the pursuit of migrant justice is at the forefront of society.
