Migration news roundup 21 November 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

The visit of King Charles III to Yorkshire included an exhibition by the Leeds Jamaica Society, a performance by one of the Yorkshire Integration Festival acts, ‘Punjabi Roots’, and a meeting with young leaders including Britain’s first female hijabi boxer and a Rohingya refugee who now owns ‘Sizzling Lounge’ restaurant in Bingley. (Source: Yorkshire Post)

Luca Silvestrini, director of dance theatre company ‘Protein’, reflects on his experiences as a migrant to the UK and how he uses theatre and dance to provide refugees and asylum seekers a voice. (Source: Metro)

International news

Italy’s new right-wing government is clashing with France and Germany on migration over how to respond to migrants arriving on boats across the Mediterranean. France made a U-turn on an earlier agreement to take 3,500 migrants from Italy after Rome refused to let a migrant ship disembark on its shores. (Sources: Euractiv, BBC)

UK borders and migration policy

On people crossing the Channel in small boats:

• It’s almost a year since at least 27 people tragically died attempting this journey. A new documentary revisits the events of the night. (Source: the Guardian)
• A new deal with France will increase the number of French patrol officers from around 250 to 350, one of a range of interventions under the agreement costing the UK £63 million, £8 million more than last year. The agreement has been widely criticised including by Conservative MPs. (Sources: BBC, the Guardian, Telegraph)
• There are reports that government is considering legislative changes on human rights and modern slavery to make it easier to remove people who have arrived via this route. (Source: Daily Mail)
• The National Crime Agency has said that Albanian crime gangs are staffing cannabis farms with Albanians arriving on small boats. It claimed that migrants are coached to say they are trafficking victims, if arrested. (Source: Evening Standard)

Controversy over the Rwanda policy continues: 

• It emerged that Home Office officials were told in April that self-harm rates among asylum seekers had increased following the announcement of the plan. (Source: the Guardian)
• A poll revealed the majority of voters think safe and legal routes would be more effective than the plan to remove people to Rwanda. (Source: Independent)

Nepali workers recruited via the seasonal worker scheme have been told there is no more work for them, despite having been here only two of the planned six months. They’re not allowed to work elsewhere and face returning home with large debts. (Source: the Guardian)

Specific migrant groups

Freedom of Information data shows that over 120,000 people are awaiting an initial decision on their asylum claim. Nearly 41,000 of these have been waiting one to three years, and 725 have been waiting more than five years. The article provides an example from a person waiting in Yorkshire. (Source: Refugee Council)

This personal account from the north of England illustrates how the cost of living crisis is exacerbating the pressure on people in the asylum system. (Source: the Guardian)

The use of hotels to accommodate people seeking asylum remains high profile:

• Immigration Minster Robert Jenrick calls for an end to ‘Hotel Britain’, claiming that arrangements for housing asylum seekers act as a pull factor. He mentions an ‘innovative pilot’ in Home Office’s Leeds office that doubled the productivity of decision makers on asylum claims. (Source: The Telegraph)
• More councils are reportedly contemplating legal measures to prevent hotel use in their areas. (Source: Independent)
• Several Conservative MPs said they will continue to name asylum hotels despite a request not to do so, due to safety concerns. (Source: BBC)

In a statement the Children’s Commissioner prioritises proper safeguards for unaccompanied children arriving in the UK. Meanwhile, concerns are repeatedly being raised around children being wrongly assessed and placed in adult hotels or exposed to other risks, such as a young person who was found sleeping on a restaurant floor. (Sources: Children’s Commissioner, the Guardian, Surrey Live)

A two-part documentary ‘Hong Kong’s fight for freedom’ covers the pro-democracy protests and events that led to the creation of the BNO visa. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong welcome guide has been updated to cover difficulties in obtaining a certificate of no criminal convictions (CNCC) from Hong Kong, as part of UK checks. (Sources: BBC, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

Cohesion and integration

The death of a two-year child from a Sudanese refugee family in Rochdale due to poor housing highlights cultural assumptions being made by housing professionals and the persistent inadequacies of the social housing system. (Source: the Guardian)

An increasingly militarised approach to immigration and ‘border spectacularisation’ over the past 12 years is analysed in this article. The author argues harsh policies need public consensus, so by drawing attention to immigration in this way, the public is encouraged to associate ‘migration’ with ‘illegal’. (Source: The Conversation)

Meet ‘Sisterhood FC’, a football club for Muslim women that has found practical ways to combine the players’ Islamic identity with their love of playing the sport. (Source: the Guardian)