Shantel works in a care home in Birmingham. On top of the unimaginable stress of the last few weeks, she has had to apply to renew her visa, which, at the time of writing, expires in two days. She can’t afford the extortionate fee, so she applied for a fee waiver more than a month…
Six weeks ago, we called on the Government to make eight simple changes that would make it possible for all migrants to keep themselves and others safe from Covid-19. Only one has been made (ending in-person tribunal hearings), with tinkering around the edges on some others. This lack of decisive action has left unknown numbers of migrants…
It’s been refreshing to hear so much praise for some groups of migrant workers during these first weeks of the Covid-19 lockdown. But amongst the platitudes, the Government has wasted no time in pushing ahead with its plan for a crude and discriminatory points-based immigration system that, if already in force, would have prevented many…
With Covid-19, the threat to the rights of migrants and refugees around the world is growing. Conflict and persecution do not stop during a pandemic and people still need to flee their homes to find safety. But travelling is even more difficult and dangerous than usual, and the path to refuge criss-crossed with shuttered borders.…
As Covid-19 continues to spread, urgent policy changes are required to make sure that everyone in the UK – including every migrant – is able to protect themselves and others. The Home Office is already making changes – suspending face-to-face asylum interviews and reporting requirements, and making treatment for Covid-19 non-chargeable, for example – but…
The situation at the Greece-Turkey border is the result of a shameful unwillingness to see migrants as human beings, to acknowledge their right to agency over their own lives, and to contemplate anything beyond short-term, sticking plaster approaches to the movement of human beings. Many of the migrants gathered at the border have been used…
This Government continues to treat migrants as a problem and panders to the unfounded fears of a minority of the British public, fears created and stoked by successive governments in a bid to win votes. This was made clear in the policy statement on the UK's future points-based immigration system, published on 19 February 2020.…
This week marks ten years of the journey of Migrant Voice from an idea to a well-recognised UK charity. The idea was borne out of the anger, frustration and feelings of helplessness in the face of increasingly negative perceptions and behaviour towards migrants, and the decision to turn them into positive energy and a plan…
A work-based immigration system matching the vision laid out in the recently published Migration Advisory Committee report would be a dismal one – and we call on the Government to reject these recommendations and design a system that truly works for all. The report – the result of studies commissioned by the Home Office into…
“I keep asking myself, how long am I going to live like this?” These are the words of Espoir, one of our members in Birmingham, who is originally from Cameroon and is claiming asylum here. Like many migrants and asylum seekers in the UK waiting for an immigration or asylum decision, Espoir is subjected to…
