Migration news roundup 20 September 2022

• Stories that inspired us this week
• International news
• UK borders and migration policy
• Specific migrant groups
• Cohesion and integration

Stories that inspired us this week

In this first-person account Mohammad Forogh, a gay psychologist who fled the Taliban, shares how important it feels to ‘live and work openly’ as his authentic self in the UK. (Source: Metro)

Other stories highlight projects supporting refugees - an online enterprise, ‘Give Your Best’, giving out clothing for refugees with choice and dignity and ‘Giving Tree’ in Bolton providing Ukrainian refugees with shopping vouchers. (Sources: the Guardian, Bolton News)

International news

Many states in Germany have temporarily stopped taking people seeking asylum and refugees due to accommodation shortages and other services coming under strain. Only three states are still accepting Ukrainian refugees. The head of the Refugee Council for one German state thinks that continuing to accommodate refugees in private living spaces is an unrealistic goal. (Source: InfoMigrants)

Outside of Europe, Palestinian refugees living in Argentina showcase their culture and identity in Argentina’s Festival of Immigrants. The festival was born out of the desire of refugee communities to maintain their heritages and share their cultures with the host communities. (Source: Middle East Monitor)

Turkey deported more than 3,000 irregular migrants to their countries of origin during one week in September, including nearly 1,500 Afghans and over 400 Pakistanis. (Source: Middle East Monitor)

UK borders and migration policy

On Channel crossings:

• Over 28,000 people have reportedly made the crossing so far this year, higher than the total number in 2021. (Source: BBC News)
• Newly appointed Home Secretary Suella Braverman has announced her intention to end the use of this route for migrants. (Source: the Guardian)
• This 1.5 minute film provides a valuable reminder of the desperation in the Calais camps and people’s determination to make the journey. (Source: Sky News)
• Showing an apparent lack of understanding of the motivation for making this dangerous journey, people smugglers apparently offered discounts for crossings that would have enabled people to arrive in time for the Queen’s funeral. (Source: Eastern Eye)

On the Rwanda scheme:

• More evidence has emerged in court of the warnings highlighted by civil servants about the risks of the Rwanda scheme. (Source: the Guardian)
• A boy in Birmingham, whose family is seeking asylum, is so fearful his parents will be deported that he is refusing to attend school. (Source: Birmingham Mail)

This article provides some information about the new Home Office ministers and this briefing explains how UK immigration law applies to the British Crown Dependencies: the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey. (Source: Free Movement)

Specific migrant groups

On asylum, this report reveals public resistance to a new hotel site in Huddersfield. The quotes highlight some negative attitudes and problematic stereotypes about migrants, particularly of migrant men, held by the local community. The council are opposed to the site due to its unsuitability and the risk of disrupting community cohesion. (Source: Examiner)

The eligibility period for the Ukraine Extension Scheme has now been extended to 16 May 2023. This allows Ukrainians who have had permission to stay in the UK after the original eligibility date of 18 March 2022 to apply through the scheme to regularise their stay in the UK. This extension was initially announced some weeks ago but the policy change was later withdrawn by the Home Office. Also on Ukraine, a data release on homelessness and Ukrainians shows that the number of individuals facing homelessness who are presenting to local authorities has doubled since the previous month. The release contains data from a voluntary survey with local authorities on Ukrainians they had a duty to assist. (Sources: Home Office, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

On children and young people, calls have been made to urgently protect vulnerable young people seeking asylum who are at risk of suicide. This is after a Freedom of Information request confirmed that at least five unaccompanied asylum-seeking children aged 14 to 25 died by suicide between 2018 and 2022. Da’aro Youth Project, which works with asylum seekers from the Horn of Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia), believes the scale of the problem is much bigger. (Source: Gal-dem)

On Hong Kong British National Overseas (BNOs), a 26-minute BBC programme explores lives of Hongkongers who moved to the UK on a BNO visa and their experiences of settling in. Meanwhile, Hongkongers who are claiming asylum experience delays with decisions and “feeling hopeless”. (Sources: BBC World Service, Epoch Times)

On modern slavery, an estimated 50 million people worldwide experienced modern slavery in 2021. This is an increase of 10 million since 2016 estimates. 28 million people are estimated to have been in forced labour, which includes sexual exploitation, and 22 million people trapped in forced marriage. Focusing on the example of the fashion industry, this article argues that the hostile environment in the UK has made it harder to identify and protect modern slavery victims. (Sources: International Organization for Migration, Free Movement)

Cohesion and integration

This report on the history of citizen-stripping powers in the UK argues that the increasing power of the UK government to remove citizenship without justification or notice has led to the creation of a second-class citizenship for migrants and ethnic minorities, particularly British Muslims. (Source: Institute of Race Relations)

Read about the history of the wide-spread fostering of Black African children by White British parents during the 50s and 60s. The article examines how fostering was seen to integrate children from a migrant background, and the clashing cultural identity that followed as a result. (Source: the Guardian)

This article looks at how the experiences of migrants and refugees are being shared through opera. It explores community projects across the UK that are using migrant consultants and voices to inform their new musical productions. (Source: Big Issue)