Migration news roundup 4 June 2024

• 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

Rizwan Rahemtulla, a Ugandan-born former refugee who came to the UK at age 4 in 1972, has been appointed the first Muslim Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. (Source: BBC)

A pen-pal programme is launching a nationwide letter-writing initiative between newly-arrived children from migrant backgrounds and children who are longer-term UK residents. (Source: InfoMigrants)

International news

In Italy, the decision to extend the country’s ‘state of emergency’ response to migration has led to accusations of ‘senseless propaganda’ and that the government is using this to bypass its own immigration requirements and procedures. Also in Europe, the EU has committed an additional €2 billion to support Syrian refugees in the Middle East. (Sources: InfoMigrants, Reuters)

The Ethiopian government implemented a new digital ID system early this year, which, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, has assisted thousands of refugees to register their status, establish businesses and access public services. (Source: UNHCR)

UK borders and migration policy

A High Court judge has ordered the government to provide clarity over the date it intends to start removals to Rwanda after it changed its target date several times. This order was given in a hearing as part of an ongoing challenge from a union representing civil servants. Meanwhile, the Public Accounts Committee published a report comparing the costs of asylum accommodation and the Rwanda scheme. The committee found the Home Office has been unable to provide adequate detail on how much it expects to spend and how many people it can relocate under the Rwanda partnership. It also says planning errors relating to large-scale accommodation sites could see the costs amounting to £46 million more than if it had kept hotels open. There’s plenty of coverage and backlash to the report in the media. (Sources: Independent, UK Parliament, the Guardian)

Former Home Secretary Theresa May has acknowledged mistakes in some of the Hostile Environment policies introduced while she was in post, particularly those affecting Windrush generation migrants. (Source: BBC)

Specific migrant groups

A deal has been agreed between a local council and the Home Office over the use of a former RAF site in Scampton, Lincolnshire as asylum accommodation. This ends the council’s legal challenge against the Home Office’s planned use of the site. (Source: BBC)

This news story illustrates how a lack of available permanent accommodation can impact newly granted refugees’ ability to settle into their communities. The article focusses on a family in Northern Ireland whose children have been out of school for five months as a result of living in temporary accommodation. (Source: BBC)

The Supreme Court has ruled that safeguarding duties under the Children Act 1989 apply to children on the island of Diego Garcia. A group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers including families with children have been held on the island for up to two and half years. Litigation is ongoing regarding the case. (Source: Free Movement)

New guidance has been published on destitution support available through the Victim Care Contract for survivors of modern slavery. (Source: Home Office)

This report discusses how well Ukrainians are faring in the employment market across Western countries. It highlights a mismatch between individual educational and vocational expertise, and their current employment. It advises that language support and qualification matching are particularly important. (Source: European Migration Network)

This new briefing explains the Hong Kong BN(O) visa route in detail. (Source: Free Movement)

Another higher education institution describes the impact of net migration policy on its finances. The University of East Anglia has said that the new recent restrictions on international students bringing their families to the UK have resulted in a 40% drop in enrolment numbers by this group (Source: BBC)

Cohesion and integration

In Ireland concerns are growing that exaggerated figures and misinformation about migrants are fuelling attacks, after a site set to house 350 asylum seekers was broken into and petrol bombed. However, local politicians talked to local people who told them they would prefer people to be housed there rather than living in tents. (Source: Irish Mirror)

Lilian Seenoi-Barr becomes Northern Ireland’s first black mayor on 3 June She has faced racist abuse including death threats, but this has not deterred the North West Migrants Forum founder and FGM campaigner who says, ‘this city has given me so much,… a family,… a safe environment,… friends,… a home, so all you really want to do is give back’. (Source: the Guardian)