In a society where two-thirds of migrants say that media and political discourse has an impact on their sense of belonging, it’s important that the media landscape is constantly scrutinised, including the question of who gets to speak. This becomes even more important during unprecedented situations such as the Covid-19 pandemic, when social inequalities – many…
Just a few weeks on from promising to create a just immigration system, the Home Office seems to have become obsessed with deporting people. Whether it’s Jamaicans who have served a prison sentence and are now facing their second, crushing punishment; asylum seekers whose claims have been refused; or someone who finds themselves without a bed for the…
Not all Immigration Acts go down in history. Most are forgotten almost as quickly as they are superceded. But the Immigration Act 2020 is different – and in our view, its passing should go down in history as a dark moment in the story of Britain and migration. By ending free movement, failing to introduce promised reform,…
Rasoul and Shiva, and their children Anita and Arnim, died while trying to reach safety in the UK. Their deaths were preventable and should shame us all. They were not the first to lose their lives on this route – but there are people with the power to make policies that can make sure they’re…
Last week, the Home Office published their “Comprehensive Improvement Plan” – their in-depth response to Wendy Williams highly critical report into the Windrush scandal. Announcing the plan, the Home Secretary promised to “transform the Home Office” – and, unusually, the transformation being proposed was a welcome one, foregrounding words such as equality, human rights, and human impact. Yet…
There seemed to be a tiny spark of hope for thousands of international students at a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on 10 September. Permanent Secretary for the Home Office Matthew Rycroft agreed on camera that his Department should offer a way for students wrongly accused of cheating and wrongly stripped of their visas six…
We recently spoke to a number of young Eritreans being held inside Zintan detention centre in Libya and others living on the streets of Tripoli. Their words were a cry for help. Many of those who are attempting the dangerous crossing from France to the UK fled the same horrors in their home countries as…
While Parliament is in recess, we need to see talk of Home Office reform being turned into action – and action that goes far beyond the specific scandals of Windrush. Currently, the prospect of such action being taken is a distant one. In response to the Wendy Williams review into Windrush and broader Home Office…
The details of the UK’s Points-Based System, published by the Government today, make for dismal reading. This is the system we feared all along – one that would see our communities become financially, socially and culturally poorer, and many of those eager to come and work in the UK and contribute to our society barred. Since…
The recent announcement that the government will accept all 30 of the recommendations from the Windrush Lessons Learned Review was a refreshing sign of a willingness to listen at the top. Never before has the Home Office committed to embark on a cultural reform programme of this scope on migration and race. This has the potential to be a…
