Border pushbacks endanger lives

Editorials

Border pushbacks endanger lives

FRIDAY 24 SEPTEMBER, 2021 Is this what protection looks like now? In the latest, tragic example of migrants dying at Europe’s borders, this week, four migrants died of hypothermia and exhaustion at the border between Poland and Belarus. All they had sought was safety and protection - and they have lost their lives because of it. We recently signed a letter in solidarity with our colleagues in Lithuania, criticising the Lithuanian government for its treatment of migrants, which has violated their human rights. Such is the concern for migrants at…

FRIDAY 24 SEPTEMBER, 2021 Is this what protection looks like now? In the latest, tragic example of migrants dying at Europe’s borders, this week, four migrants died of hypothermia and…

Channel crossings: time to change course

Tuesday August 31, 2021 It’s time to change course. The ill-thought-out strategy of trying to deter asylum seekers from crossing the Channel, pursued by this and previous governments over the past many years, doesn’t work. The many restrictions introduced – measures to try to deter asylum seekers from reaching the UK at any cost – are fundamentally wrong and merely add further risk to already dangerous journeys. The new Nationality and Borders Bill which sets out to indefinitely penalise those who make their own journey to the UK is a…

Tuesday August 31, 2021 It’s time to change course. The ill-thought-out strategy of trying to deter asylum seekers from crossing the Channel, pursued by this and previous governments over the…

Give Afghans protection now

Friday 20 August, 2021 Every Afghan whose life and rights are at risk must immediately be granted refugee protection by the UK government. The government has pledged to resettle 20,000 Afghans over the next five years, but you cannot put an arbitrary number on people’s lives. We also fear whether the government will even meet the target of its resettlement scheme, given its previous record. Of the 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children the government pledged to support in 2016, only 380 were helped. The resettlement scheme needs to be vastly scaled…

Friday 20 August, 2021 Every Afghan whose life and rights are at risk must immediately be granted refugee protection by the UK government. The government has pledged to resettle 20,000…

Shutting down the UK asylum system: the new immigration bill

Monday 19 July, 2021 Migrant Voice and Amnesty International have released a joint briefing for MPs for the second reading of the government’s Nationality and Borders Bill on 19 July. The vast majority of this Bill seems to have the purpose of shutting down the asylum system. We therefore strongly oppose most of this Bill, which will undermine the human rights of people affected by our immigration laws. The only element of the Bill we support is Part 1, which seeks to dismantle historical inequalities which have deprived some people…

Monday 19 July, 2021 Migrant Voice and Amnesty International have released a joint briefing for MPs for the second reading of the government’s Nationality and Borders Bill on 19 July.…

End of an era: fresh uncertainty for EU nationals

Tuesday 29 June, 2021 The 30th June marks the end of an era: it is the deadline for the UK’s EU Settlement Scheme. It is a symbolic day. For the millions of Europeans living in the UK, their lives will change from this point on. Indeed, for many their lives have already changed over the last few years, but from 1 July there are fresh concerns: now that they will have to prove their status at every turn, through a new digital only status, will their rights be denied? Will…

Tuesday 29 June, 2021 The 30th June marks the end of an era: it is the deadline for the UK’s EU Settlement Scheme. It is a symbolic day. For the…

Our report exposes harrowing impact of Covid-19

Monday 7 June, 2021 The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed how damaging the UK’s immigration policies and processes are for migrants and refugees. Our new report released on 6 June revealed the harrowing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on migrants with limited or insecure status. The report is part of the Building Resilience partnership project between Migrant Voice, RAPAR and Kanlungan Filipino Consortium. The Releasing Resilience and Building Networks of Resilience report involved a survey of 198 migrants across England including migrant workers with no recourse to public funds (NRPF); those…

Monday 7 June, 2021 The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed how damaging the UK’s immigration policies and processes are for migrants and refugees. Our new report released on 6 June revealed…

EU citizens are the guinea pigs of the new digital border system

We are gravely concerned by reports of the Border Force’s treatment of EU nationals at the UK border in recent months – especially as the Home Office gears up to introduce a fully digital border by the end of 2025. Last week, the Guardian reported on the stories of EU nationals detained upon entry to the UK, despite having the right to be in the country. This included a German citizen who was detained at Heathrow airport, even though he had Settled Status, Indefinite Leave to Remain and had applied…

We are gravely concerned by reports of the Border Force’s treatment of EU nationals at the UK border in recent months – especially as the Home Office gears up to…

Asylum plans signal the end of protection as we know it

The Home Office’s New Plan for Immigration on their proposals to overhaul the asylum system is part of a worrying trend across Europe: the end of protection as we know it. These proposals would create a two-tier system that punishes those who manage to find their own route to safety and condemns them to a life in limbo with restricted rights. Indeed, the UK government’s plans effectively seek to criminalise the act of seeking asylum, by making it easier to deport people who are seeking sanctuary in this country –…

The Home Office’s New Plan for Immigration on their proposals to overhaul the asylum system is part of a worrying trend across Europe: the end of protection as we know…

Protecting protection

Home Secretary Priti Patel’s proposed “biggest overhaul of the UK’s asylum system in decades” is based on false premises – particularly on the actual availability of legal routes – and tears apart the principle of the right to claim asylum. The proposals create a two-tier system that punishes those who manage to find their own route to safety and condemns them to a life in limbo with restricted rights. People fleeing persecution and death have the right to seek sanctuary. That is the starting point, and no policy should undermine it. We are…

Home Secretary Priti Patel’s proposed “biggest overhaul of the UK’s asylum system in decades” is based on false premises – particularly on the actual availability of legal routes – and tears apart the…

UK's asylum housing shame

The appalling conditions for asylum seekers housed at the Penally Camp and Napier barracks have been exposed in a damning report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration and the prisons inspectorate. This can come as a surprise only to those who do not listen to migrant voices. It’s shocking nonetheless. The report says that the Home Office disregarded advice by Public Health England and Public Health Wales that the dormitory accommodation was not Covid-safe (up to 28 in a room at one point); did not give contractors time to prepare the…

The appalling conditions for asylum seekers housed at the Penally Camp and Napier barracks have been exposed in a damning report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration and the prisons…

Border pushbacks endanger lives

Editorials